The Maghrib in the Mashriq

Studies in the History

and Culture of the Middle East

Edited by
Stefan Heidemann, Gottfried Hagen,
Andreas Kaplony, Rudi Matthee,
and Kristina L. Richardson

Volume 40
The Maghrib in
the Mashriq

Knowledge, Travel and Identity

Edited by
Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas
This book has been sponsored by the project “Local Contexts and Global Dynamics: al-Andalus
and the Maghreb in the Islamic East” (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE), co-directed by Maribel
Fierro and Mayte Penelas with funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Universities.

ISBN 978-3-11-071269-8
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-071330-5
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-071344-2
ISSN 2198-0853
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-

NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
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detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

© 2021 Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas, published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Contents
List of contributors | IX

Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 1

Part I: Establishing Boundaries between the Maghrib and the

Mashriq

Giovanna Calasso
Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib in Medieval Muslim
Sources | 35

Víctor de Castro León

Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 79

Part II: Integrating the Maghrib into Universal Islamic History

Abdenour Padillo-Saoud
Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 99

Philip Bockholt
Lost Somewhere in Between? On the Transmission of History from Islamic West
to East in Premodern Times: The Case of the Almohad Caliph Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb
and the Battle of Alarcos | 119

Maiko Noguchi
Communicating a Biography: A Comparison of the Maghribi-Andalusi and
Mashriqi Sources on al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ | 143

Part III: Maghribi Success in the East

Camilla Adang
A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn and Its Reception
in the Mashriq | 171
VI | Contents

Khaoula Trad
The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 213

Zohra Azgal
Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East: The Case of Abū al-
Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (538–590 H/1143–1194 CE) | 237

Iria Santás de Arcos

On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic
East | 257

Teresa Garulo
A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man
walī | 285

Part IV: Pathways of Reception from the Maghrib to the

Mashriq

Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt, by al-Suwaydī of
Damascus (d. 690 H/1291 CE) | 357

José Bellver
The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World: Ibn Sabʿīn’s
son and his Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm | 371

Kentaro Sato
Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of Knowledge in Mamlūk
Cairo | 399

Maribel Fierro
Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 411

Adday Hernández López

Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa: Andalusi and
Maghribi Works in the Horn of Africa | 435
 Contents | VII

Part V: Remaining Maghribi while in the Mashriq

Umberto Bongianino
Vehicles of Cultural Identity: Some Thoughts on Maghribi Scripts and
Manuscripts in the Mashriq | 455

Josef Ženka
A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript of the Former Marīnid Chancellor
Muḥammad Ibn Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī (d. 788 H/1386 CE) | 477

Takao Ito
Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 513

Index of Names and Places | 537

List of contributors
Camilla Adang (PhD, Radboud University Nijmegen) is Professor of Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv
University. Her main fields of research are the history of Islamic thought in al-Andalus, the
Ẓāhirī school in the Islamic West in general, and the legal, theological and political thought of
Ibn Ḥazm of Córdoba in particular. Additional research foci are social and intellectual encoun-
ters between Muslims and Jews in the Middle Ages and the Ottoman period and Arabic transla-
tions of the Bible and biblical materials. She is the author of Muslim Writers on Judaism and
the Hebrew Bible. From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm (Brill, 1996); and, with Sabine Schmidtke,
Muslim Perceptions and Receptions of the Bible: Texts and Studies (Lockwood Press, 2019).
She also co-edited several volumes, among them Ibn Ḥazm of Cordoba. The Life and Works of a
Controversial Thinker (Brill, 2013), Accusations of Unbelief in Islam. A Diachronic Perspective
on Takfīr (Brill, 2015), and Islam at 250. Studies in Memory of G.H.A. Juynboll (Brill, 2020). Her
most recent publications analyse a series of texts from the fatwā collection of the 15th-century
Moroccan scholar al-Wansharīsī.

Zohra Azgal is a PhD student at the Department of Historical and Philological Studies of the
École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres), where she is pre-
paring her thesis under the supervision of Professor Nuria de Castilla. She holds a B.A. in Ara-
bic Studies from INALCO (Paris) and a M.A. in Islamology and Qurʾānic Studies from EPHE
(Paris). She also holds several Ijāzāt in Islamic Studies. Her research field focuses on the his-
tory of the transmission of the Qurʾān and the teaching of qirāʾāt in the Middle Ages with spe-
cial attention to the production of teaching manuals. Her research works across and in be-
tween the disciplines of Codicology, Philology, History and Qurʾānic studies.

José Bellver (PhD, University of Barcelona) is a research associate at the ERC project The Origin
and Early Development of Philosophy in tenth-century al-Andalus: the impact of ill-defined ma-
terials and channels of transmission (ERC 2016, AdG 740618), conducted by Godefroid de Cal-
lataÿ at the University of Louvain. Bellver is currently preparing a monograph on the Andalusī
theologian and mystic Ibn Masarra. His primary research interest focuses on the intellectual
history of Islam, particularly on the fields of Ṣūfism, philosophy, kalām and history of science
in al-Andalus. Bellver has held a Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral position funded by the Catalan
Government at the Theology Department of Boston College, a Ramón y Cajal research position
at the Department for the History of Philosophy at the University of Barcelona, and has been
research associate at the Universität Würzburg and the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaf-
ten in Munich. In the field of Andalusī Ṣūfism, Bellver has devoted research to the 6th/12th and
7th/13th centuries, and particularly to Ibn Barrajān and his disciples. He has published in the
journals Arabica, Journal of the American Oriental Society, and Al-Qanṭara among others, and
contributes on Andalusī Ṣūfism to Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE.

Philip Bockholt (PhD, Freie Universität Berlin) is currently research associate at the Institute of
Oriental Studies, Leipzig University. He received his PhD in Islamic Studies in 2018 after study-
ing History and Islamic Studies in Germany (Bochum, Münster, and Berlin) and the Middle East
(Jerusalem, Cairo, Tehran, and Istanbul). In his PhD thesis, he examines the historiography in
X | List of contributors

Iran of early Ṣafavid times (16th century), and provides the analysis of a major historiograph-
ical work of that period, Khvāndamīr’s Ḥabīb al-siyar. In 2019 he was awarded the Annemarie
Schimmel Prize for Islamic Studies and an Honourable Mention of the S.I.E. European Award
for Iranian Studies. Furthermore, in 2020 he received the Classical Islamic World Book Prize of
Gorgias Press. A number of research fellowships led him to Saint Petersburg (State University),
Madrid (CSIC), and Jerusalem (Hebrew University). At the moment, he is working on a project
on translations from Arabic and Persian into Ottoman Turkish in the Eastern Mediterranean
and beyond from around 1350–1750.

Umberto Bongianino (PhD, University of Oxford) is Departmental Lecturer in Islamic Art and Ar-
chitecture at the Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford. He is principally interested in
the architecture and material culture of the Islamic dynasties that ruled across the medieval
Mediterranean between the 9th century and the 13th century. His studies have focused on a
number of topics, including the Islamic components of Norman Sicilian art, ceramic production
and trade in Fāṭimid Egypt and Syria, Fāṭimid architecture and archaeology in Cairo, Tunisia,
and Libya (Ajdabiya), Arabic epigraphy and palaeography in the medieval Maghrib and al-An-
dalus. He is currently writing a book on the manuscript tradition of the Islamic West (10th–12th
centuries).

Giovanna Calasso is a former Professor of History of Arab-Islamic Civilization in the Depart-

ment of Oriental Studies at Sapienza University, Rome, where she taught until November 2016.
Her research interests mainly focus on historical-religious and cultural issues of the Islamic
Middle Ages in the perspective of historical anthropology. Religious traditions and ḥadīth liter-
ature, urban foundation narratives and representations of the city in medieval Arabic historical
and geographical literature have been her earlier areas of interest. The theme of Islamization
processes in the literary field, specifically concerning Persian epic poems, has been followed
by studies on the notion of conversion to Islam and the different forms of individual religious
experience, documented in biographical and hagiographical texts as well as in travelogues, a
contribution to the European research project Individual and Society in the Mediterranean
Muslim World (1996–2001). Several publications on Muslim travel literature, as a source for
the history and mentalities of medieval Islamic societies, led her to exploring the binary cate-
gorization dār al-islām/dār al-ḥarb in a wide range of sources and to the editing of a collective
book on the topic (Dār al-islām/dār al-ḥarb. Territories, People, Identities, Brill, 2017). Among
her latest publications are “A Wondrous Past, a Dangerous Present: the Egyptian Temple of
Akhmīm and the Martorana Church in Palermo, as Seen through Ibn Jubayr’s Travelogue” (The
Medieval Globe, 2019), and the forthcoming “The Past before their own Past. Notes on Time,
Otherness and the Monumental Remains of pre-Islamic Civilizations as seen by medieval Mus-
lim authors” (in: L. Capezzone, ed., Before Archaeology).

Víctor de Castro León (PhD, University of Salamanca). He is currently researcher in the Project
Mediterranean Nautical Cartography in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish: Islands or Gateways of
Knowledge in the Sea of Transcultural and Translinguistic Translation Processes?, directed by
S. Brentjes, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Department III, Berlin. He has been
researcher in the project Practicing knowledge in Islamic societies and their neighbours
(funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, IP M. Fierro, Anneliese Maier Award 2014)
and a team member of the Research Project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus
 List of contributors | XI

and the Maghreb in the Islamic East (FF12016-78878-R AEI/FEDER UE). His research focuses on
Andalusi historiography, the history of Naṣrid kingdom of Granada (13th–15th centuries) and
the intellectual production of the Islamic West. Among his latest publications is “Ibn al-Ḫaṭīb,
cronista oficial de la dinastía nazarí: teoría y práctica política” (in: V. Lamazou-Duplan, ed.,
Écritures du pouvoir, Ausonius, 2019).

Maribel Fierro (PhD, Universidad Complutense) is Research Professor at the Institute of Lan-
guages and Cultures of the Mediterranean, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). She has
worked and published on the political, religious and intellectual history of al-Andalus and the
Islamic West, on Islamic law, on the construction of orthodoxy and on violence and its repre-
sentation in Medieval Arabic sources. Among her publications are Abd al-Rahman III: The first
Cordoban caliph (Oneworld, 2005), The Almohad revolution. Politics and religion in the Islamic
West during the twelfth-thirteenth centuries (Ashgate, 2012), and ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, the first Al-
mohad caliph (forthcoming). She is the editor of volume 2 of The Western Islamic world, elev-
enth-eighteenth centuries of the The New Cambridge History of Islam (Cambridge University
Press, 2010), Orthodoxy and heresy in Islam (Routledge, 2013), and Routledge Handbook on
Muslim Iberia (Routledge, 2020). She has co-edited The legal status of dimmi-s in the Islamic
West (Brepols, 2013), and Accusations of Unbelief in Islam. A Diachronic Perspective on Takfīr
(Brill, 2015).

Teresa Garulo (PhD, Complutense University) is Professor of Arabic language and literature, at
the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies (now Lingüística General, Estudios Árabes, He-
breos y de Asia Oriental = General Linguistics and Oriental Studies), Complutense University of
Madrid. After a first approach to Arabic linguistics and Arabic loanwords in Spanish (Los ara-
bismos en el léxico andalus (según los datos del «Atlas Lingüístico y Etnográfico de Andalu-
cía»), Instituto Hispano-Árabe de Cultura, 1983), her work focuses on Arabic Literature from al-
Andalus (La literatura de al-Andalus durante el siglo XI, Hiperión, 1998), some of whose poets
she has studied and translated (al-Ruṣāfī of Valencia; Ibn Sahl of Seville) and edited (Ibn Ṣāra
al-Shantarīnī; Abū Tammām b. Rabāḥ of Calatrava), as well as the poetry written by Andalusi
women (Dīwān de las poetisas de al-Andalus, Hiperión, 1986). Her interest in Arabic treatises
on love brought her to study and translate the Kitāb al-Muwashshā, by the Baghdadi man of
letters al-Washshāʾ (d. 325 H/937 CE) (El libro del brocado, Alfaguara, 1990). More recently, hu-
mor and obscene poetry had attracted her attention and she has written some papers on these
topics as they appear in works describing al-Andalus (Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī, al-Maqqarī), but
also in poetic anthologies written in the Middle East (Ibn al-Muʿtazz). Another field of her inter-
est is the strophic poetry of al-Andalus and its migration to the East.

Adday Hernández López (PhD, Complutense University) is Postdoctoral researcher Juan de la

Cierva–Incorporación (IJCI-2017-31351) at the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Medi-
terranean, CSIC. She specializes in Islamic law in the pre-modern Islamic West (economic legal
doctrines and practices, religious minorities), in the intellectual history in the same area (circu-
lation of texts and ideas), and in the Arabic literature of the Horn of Africa. She has contributed
to three research projects, two of them funded by the European Research Council (KOHEPOCU:
Knowledge, Heresy and Political Culture in the Islamic West (eighth-fifteenth centuries), and
IslHornAfr: Islam in the Horn of Africa. A comparative Literary Approach, held at the University
of Copenhagen, 2015–2019), and a third one funded by the CSIC (Manuscritos fechados en al-
XII | List of contributors

Andalus: Repertorio y análisis). She has published two books related to the Islamic law on
usury (El valor del tiempo. Doctrina jurídica y práctica de la usura (ribā) en el Occidente
islámico medieval, Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2016; El Kitāb al-ribā de ʿAbd al-Malik b.
Ḥabīb (m. 238/852), CSIC, 2017), and several articles, some of them related to the Arabic and
Islamic manuscripts produced in the Horn of Africa, such as “The Ajamization of Islam in Ethio-
pia through esoteric textual manifestations in two collections of Ethiopian Arabic manuscripts”
(Islamic Africa 8, 2017).

Takao Ito (PhD, University of Munich) is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Humani-
ties at Kobe University, Japan. His research focuses on the social and cultural history of the
premodern Mashriq (eastern Arab world), particularly Mamlūk and early Ottoman Egypt and
Syria, and on post-classical Arabic historiography. Among his publications are “Al-Maqrīzī’s
Biography of Tīmūr” (Arabica 62, 2015), “Al-Suyūṭī and Problems of the waqf” (in: Antonella
Ghersetti, ed., Al-Suyūṭī, a Polymath of the Mamlūk Period, Brill, 2016), “The Last Mamluk Prin-
cess, Her Endowment, and Her Family History” (Orient 54, 2019), “Careers and Activities of
Mamluk Traders: Preliminary Prosopographical Research” (forthcoming), and “A Collection of
Histories of the Mamluk Sultanate’s Syrian Borderlands: Some Notes on MS Ahmet III 3057
(TSMK, Istanbul)” (forthcoming).

Maiko Noguchi (PhD, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo) is a postdoctoral Research Fellow of Ja-
pan Society for the Promotion of Science at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, Univer-
sity of Tokyo. She has published articles on the history of the Almoravids and Berbers in the
medieval period, such as “The bayʿa and Legitimation of Almoravid Rule” (The Toyo Gakuho:
The Journal of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 96, 2015), and “The Almoravids in
the Maghrib in the First Half of the 12th Century: Examining the Governing System through
Analysis of the Relationship between Governors and the Ulama, Sufis and Saints” (The world of
Islam 88, 2017), in Japanese.

Abdenour Padillo-Saoud is a predoctoral fellow at the School of Arabic Studies (EEA), Spanish
National Research Council (CSIC). Prior to earning a Master’s degree in Arab and Hebrew Cul-
ture at the University of Granada in 2016, he earned his B.A. in Arabic and Islamic Studies at
the same institution in 2015. From 2016 to 2017 Padillo-Saoud joined the Ibn Tufayl Foundation
for Arabic Studies as a pre-doctoral researcher; there he worked on different projects related to
the mobility of the Andalusis ʿulamāʾ to the East during the Islamic period in the Iberian Penin-
sula. In addition to a research stay at the Université Abdelmalek Essaaâdi in Tetouan (Morocco)
in 2014, he has taken several courses on digital humanities and published an article and sev-
eral biographical entries for the third volume of the Alhadra journal. His research focuses on
the historiography of the pre-modern Islamic world, while his PhD thesis deals with the impact
of Andalusi intellectual activity on the Mamlūk historiography of the Bahrī period.

Mayte Penelas (PhD, Autónoma University of Madrid) is Tenured Scientist at the School of Ara-
bic Studies, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Currently she is also the director of this
research institute located in Granada. Her PhD thesis on the Arabic translation of the Orosius’
Historiae adversus paganos (5th c.) made in early 10th-century al-Andalus resulted in the pub-
lication of this text (Kitāb Hurūšiyūš, CSIC – AECI, 2001) and a number of articles. She has also
published several articles on the Christian Arabic texts contained in MS Raqqāda 2003/2. She
 List of contributors | XIII

has participated in six national research projects, and is currently co-director – along with
Maribel Fierro (ILC, CSIC) – of the research project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-An-
dalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East (AMOI) (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE). She also
participates in the EC Project Mediating Islam in the Digital Age. Present issues and past expe-
riences of technological revolutions (MIDA) (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018, no. 813547). She has been
involved in the elaboration of the PUA database (www.eea.csic.es/pua), and participates in the
Bibliotheca Maqriziana series of Brill, with the edition and translation of Al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar
ʿan al-bašar, Vol. V, Section 6: The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths (2020).

Iria Santás de Arcos (PhD, University of Salamanca). She currently teaches Arabic Language in
the Faculty of Classical and Christian Literature, University San Dámaso of Madrid. She is a
team member of the Research Project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the
Maghreb in the Islamic East (FF12016-78878-R AEI / FEDER UE). Her research focuses on Anda-
lusi adab, the history of food and nutrition in Islamic and Arabic societies, Christian Arabic Lit-
erature and the intellectual production of the Early Islamic West. Among her latest publications
is “Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi. ¿Legitimador de la dinastía omeya? Cuestiones de poder en el ʿIqd al
farīd” (in: V. Lamazou-Duplan, ed., Écritures du pouvoir, Ausonius, 2019).

Kentaro Sato (PhD, University of Tokyo) is associate professor of Oriental History at Hokkaido
University, Japan. He specializes in the history of al-Maghrib and al-Andalus. He has published
on various topics in this field and his publications include: “Yannayr and al-ʿAnṣara: Seasonal
Festivals in the Medieval Muslim West” (The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies 30, 2012), “Sufi
Celebrations of Muḥammad’s Birthday (al-Mawlid al-Nabawī) and the Ulama’s view on it in al-
Andalus and al-Maghrib, 1300–1400” (The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies 24, 2006), and
“Slave Elites and the Ṣaqāliba in al-Andalus in the Umayyad Period” (in: T. Miura & J.E. Philips,
eds., Slave Elites in the Middle East and Africa, Kegan Paul, 2000). He is also co-editor of The
Vellum Contract Documents in Morocco in the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries (2 vols., Toyo
Bunko, 2015, 2020), and author of a chapter on al-Andalus in History of Spain (Yamakawa,
2008, in Japanese). He is currently collaborating on a translation project of the autobiography
of Ibn Khaldūn, for which he was awarded “Prix Ibn Khaldoun” in 2016 by the Programme Med
21 at Tunis.

Khaoula Trad is a Research Associate within the ERC Project “Contemporary Bioethics and the
History of the Unborn” and a PhD student working on “The Imagination of the Unborn in the Is-
lamic West: Al-Maghrib and al-Andalus between the 12th and the 13th Centuries”. She ob-
tained her MA of Arabic and Hebrew cultures from the University of Granada in 2014 after re-
ceiving an Erasmus Mundus Al-Idrissi scholarship. She also holds a MA and a BA in Spanish
literature and linguistics from the University of Manouba where she worked as a teacher of
Spanish as foreign language between 2014 and 2016.

Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva has a degree in Romance Philology from the University of
Oviedo, where he is a professor of Arab and Islamic Studies. Interested in the relationships be-
tween Arabic and the Romance languages, he deals with the study of Aljamiado literature, the
Romance language of al-Andalus, translations and Romance versions of Arabic scientific
works, Arabisms in Romance and medieval Latin, as well as the history of Arab-Romance stud-
ies. Secretary of the journal Aljamía, he founded and directs the Seminario de Estudios Árabo-
XIV | List of contributors

Románicos (SEAR) of the University of Oviedo and its editorial collections. He is co-author of
Glosario de voces aljamiado-moriscas (Universidad de Oviedo, 1994; 2nd ed., 2015). Among
his publications are “Towards the study of the Romance languages in the Kitāb al-Mustaʿīnī”
(in: C. Burnett, ed., Ibn Baklārish’s Book of Simples, Oxford University Press, 2008), “Alja-
miado reprobar ‘someter a prueba’” (in: H. Döhla et al., Lenguas en diálogo, Iberoamericana –
Vervuert, 2008), “Recetarios médicos aljamiado-moriscos” (in: F. Gambin, ed., Alle radici
dell’Europa, vol. II, SEID, 2010), “Los manuscritos aljamiado-moriscos: hallazgos, colecciones,
inventarios y otras noticias” (in: Memoria de los moriscos, BNE, 2010), “Un papel de Francisco
Antonio González sobre ‘códices escritos en castellano con caracteres árabes’ (Real Academia
de la Historia, año 1816) y noticia de las copias modernas de Leyes de Moros” (in: R. Suárez
and I. Ceballos, eds., Aljamías, Trea, 2012), and “Historia de Muça. Un relato aljamiado entre
los descendientes de moriscos exiliados en Túnez” (Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa 51,
2015). He is currently preparing a work under the title Farmacología árabe y lenguas romances.

Josef Ženka (PhD Charles University of Prague) is Assistant Professor of Islamic History at
Charles University in Prague. In 2017–2018 he was a research fellow at the Annemarie-Schim-
mel-Kolleg “History and Society during the Mamluk Era (1250–1517)” at University of Bonn
where he worked on autograph manuscripts of Andalusi immigrants to the Mamlūk sultanate.
His research interests focus on the manuscript and documentary culture of Naṣrid Granada
with a special focus on scribal and legal practice of notaries-scribes and Granadan scholars
living in the Mamlūk sultanate. His recent works include a study “A Manuscript of the Last Sul-
tan of al-Andalus and the Fate of the Royal Library of the Naṣrid Sultans at the Alhambra” (Jour-
nal of Islamic Manuscripts 9, 2018). His second line of research examines the History of Orien-
talism. In this framework, he edited two volume autobiography of Czech-American specialist in
Andalusi and Romance literatures A. R. Nykl: Padesát let cest jazykozpytce a filosofa (Univerzita
Karlova – Národní muzeum, 2016) and Poznámky k revoluční akci v Chicagu, 1914-1918 (Univer-
zita Karlova – Národní muzeum, 2017). He is the author of the Czech translation of Nubdhat al-
ʿAṣr fī Akhbār Mulūk Banī Naṣr and Historia de los Reyes Moros de Granada of Hernando de Ba-
eza published together as Pád Granady a Zánik al-Andalusu (Argo, 2011).
Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas
The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge,
Travel and Identity. Introduction

I am the sun shining in the sky of knowledge

But my fault is to have risen in the West.
Had I risen in the East,
Great would be the plunder of my lost renown.
—Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/1064 CE)1

Are you not unjust in judging us, oh, people of the East? ...
Why do they not admire what is good and stop despising what is of value? ...
We recite what one of our poets said:
“Your merits make us rejoice,
Why do you refuse to accept ours?
Do not envy us if some stars
Shine in our firmament;
And, if you have more outstanding feats to be proud of,
Do not treat with injustice the few we have”.
—Ibn Diḥya (d. 633 H/1235 CE)2

Ha, thou hast had thy day,

Proud jewel of Cathay!
My ruby I acclaim,
My Andalusian flame.
—Ibn Ḥazm3

||
1 Ibn Bassām, al-Dhakhīra (1978–81), 1/1: 173–174; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 81. English
translation by Camilla Adang.
2 Ibn Diḥya, al-Muṭrib (1429/2008), 128. Our English translation is based on the Spanish trans-
lation by Gazi 1953, 180–181, http://institutoegipcio.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Vol.-I-Re-
vista-del-Instituto-Egipcio-de-Estudios-Isl%C3%A1micos-1952-1.pdf. We thank Teresa Garulo for
her help.
3 Ibn Ḥazm, Ṭawq al-ḥamāma (1978), 182; English translation by Arberry, http://www.muslim-
philosophy.com/hazm/dove/chp19.html (accessed Jan. 21, 2020).
||
Note: This contribution has been written within the project Local contexts and global dynamics:
al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE), co-directed
by Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas with funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Inno-
vation and Universities. English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas, published by De Gruyter. This work is
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-001
2 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

In his 1970 book The History of the Maghrib, Moroccan historian Abdallah Laroui
pointed to the need “to trace the genesis of the concept of the Maghrib and to
discover how it took on an objective definition”.4 The Maghrib – the ‘West’ in Ara-
bic – inevitably refers to its pair, the Mashriq – the ‘East’ – and is often used in a
binary spatial opposition assumed to convey an inherent meaning on its own.
However, this meaning must nevertheless be contextualized in time, while rec-
ognizing that each element, East and West, likewise involves internal boundaries
and other possible oppositions. For example, does al-Maghrib include al-Anda-
lus? Can it include Egypt? When do Arabic sources use the term al-Maghrib to
refer to the lands that today correspond to parts of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and
Morocco, and why? Moreover, binary oppositions always run the risk of distorting
the realities on the ground, which inevitably involve shifting boundaries, cross-
currents and interactions.5 If space and time are basic elements to be discussed
when using the terms Maghrib and Mashriq, the latter also convey certain hierar-
chical assumptions about a cultural, intellectual and religious centre and a pe-
riphery, as reflected in the poems quoted above.6 These assumptions, again, need
to be fleshed out in all their details and temporal variations, and should be
opened up to discussion and rethinking. The study of knowledge exchange and
scholarly mobility across regions in the same cultural and/or religious domain
often reveals that binary oppositions between innovative centres and imitative
peripheries obscure flows of exchange that go both ways, not just from the cen-
tres to the peripheries, but also in reverse, and at times using channels that di-
rectly connect periphery to periphery, bypassing the centre altogether.7 One ex-
ample among many is the one that follows below.
The Kufan traditionist Abū Bakr Ibn Abī Shayba (159–235 H/775–849 CE)
compiled many traditions, Prophetic and otherwise, in his Muṣannaf.8 The Cor-
doban Baqī b. Makhlad (201–276 H/817–889 CE) studied this work with its author
during his stay in the East on his journey in search of knowledge, at a time when
ḥadīth and its science (ʿilm al-ḥadīth) were reluctantly being introduced in al-An-
dalus. There is a record of the transmission in al-Andalus of Baqī b. Makhlad’s

||
4 Laroui 1977, 8. For the context in which he wrote see Jebari 2015,
https://www.academia.edu/30848750/The_production_of_critical_thought_in_the_Ma-
ghrib_Abdallah_Laroui_and_Hichem_Dja%C3%AFt_1965-1978 (accessed Jan. 9, 2020).
5 See for example the introduction in Hamdani 2014.
6 For an illuminating case of the enduring conception of the Maghrib as an intellectual periph-
ery in the Islamic world see Saleh 2011. Cf. for the case of al-Andalus in a European context, Curta
2011.
7 Melchert 2012.
8 Pellat, “Ibn Abī Shayba”, EI2.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 3

recension (riwāya) of Ibn Abī Shayba’s Muṣannaf over almost three centuries. In-
deed, the text seems to have been central in the training of scholars who were
interested in the study of ḥadīth and were critical of traditional Mālikism.9 Why
Ibn Abī Shayba’s Muṣannaf disappeared starting in the mid-6th/12th century
from the lists of works transmitted, as reflected in the Andalusi fahāris genre, re-
mains a topic for future research,10 but it can most probably be interpreted as a
reaction against the Almohad policies that aimed at substituting Mālikism with a
return to the original sources of Revelation. Baqī b. Makhlad’s recension of the
Muṣannaf is of great interest for the study of the local transmission and produc-
tion of ḥadīth-related knowledge, but it also transcends the local context. As
such, it has been described as an “Andalusian11 book that records a Kufan per-
spective”.12 Two manuscripts of the work are preserved in Turkish libraries
(Süleymaniye and Topkapı), another indication of the strong presence that
knowledge produced in the Western regions of the Islamic world enjoyed in Ot-
toman centres of learning.13 Another manuscript is located still further East, in
the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, and it was precisely in India that Ibn Abī
Shayba’s Muṣannaf was first printed, by ʿAbd al-Khāliq Khān al-Afghānī. While
the figure of the Iraqi Ibn Abī Shayba is of interest for the many scholars of differ-
ent academic and national backgrounds whose research deals with early Islamic

||
9 It was mostly transmitted via a Sevillian family, the Banū al-Bājī al-Lakhmī. The last member
recorded as a transmitter is Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. ʿAbd al-Malik ... b.
Sharīʿa (d. 532 H/1138 CE). Famous Andalusi traditionists such as Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/1064 CE),
Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463 H/1071 CE) and Abū Muḥammad Ibn ʿAttāb (d. 520 H/1126
CE) also transmitted Ibn Abī Shayba’s work. The riwāya by al-Wakīʿī (3rd/9th century), another
of Ibn Abī Shayba’s students, also circulated in al-Andalus. This information has been taken
from the Historia de los Autores y Transmisores de al-Andalus (HATA), directed by Maribel Fierro,
available online at http://kohepocu.cchs.csic.es/.
10 At around the same time (first half of the 6th/12th century), another early work, a compilation
of legal questions by the Cordoban al-ʿUtbī (d. 255 H/869 CE), also seems to have stopped being
transmitted. In this case, the fact that Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520 H/1126 CE) had incorporated its
text into his commentary, which explained and updated the contents of al-ʿUtbī’s work, made
its independent transmission redundant. See Fernández Félix 2003.
11 Since the term “Andalusian” also refers to modern Andalucía, it can lead to confusion when
used in reference to the Arab past. For this reason, throughout this collective volume we have
used the term “Andalusi” in reference to al-Andalus, except in quotations from other authors.
12 Lucas 2008, 287.
13 While imperial dynamics were clearly at work in this process, this Andalusi presence is a
topic that deserves to be studied in its specifics. The presence of mystical works such as those by
Ibn Barrajān can be linked to the impact of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī. See Küçük 2013a; Küçük
2013b. For other fields see for example İhsanoğlu 2015; El-Rouayheb 2015; Vázquez Hernández
2018; Riedel (in press).
4 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

matters in the central lands of Islam, the figure of the Andalusi Baqī b. Makhlad
has mainly elicited the interest of Spanish and Moroccan scholars.14 While this is
perhaps to be expected, the interest expressed by Pakistani and Indonesian
scholars is less self-evident.15
Are scholars from regions considered peripheral from an Arab point of view
bound to find interest today in what happened in other regions that in the past
were also regarded as peripheral? Does the Andalusi/Maghribi16 scholar Baqī b.
Makhlad’s decisive role in the preservation of a seminal early Mashriqi ḥadīth
work make him, too, a central figure? How does one establish when (and if) pe-
ripheries and peripheral figures cease to be considered as such? How are we to
categorize scholars whose travels and engagement in knowledge networks saw
them overcome barriers of space and time? Can we isolate the study of figures of
the past from their representation in the present?17 These and other questions are
addressed in this collective volume that aims to explore how travel, knowledge
and identity intersected in the circulation and impact of Andalusi/Maghribi
scholars and their works in the Mashriq.
In December 2016, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universi-
ties granted funding for a research project under our direction entitled Local con-
texts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East, to be
carried out over four years.18 Drawing inspiration from Richard W. Bulliet’s call to

||
14 Marín 1980; Ávila 1985; Muʿammar 1988; Muʿammar 1996.
15 Raisuddin 1988; Raisuddin 1993. Muhammad Akmaluddin wrote his MA Thesis on Silsilah
Riwāyah al-Aḥādīth fī al-Andalus: Dirāsah Jīniyālūjiyyah li Taṭawwur Riwāyah al-Aḥādīth fī al-
Qarn al-Thānī wa al-Thālith al-Hijrī, at the Tafsir and Hadith Department, Faculty of Theology
and Humanities, State Islamic University (UIN) Walisongo, Semarang Central Java, 2015. See also
Akmaluddin 2017.
16 As explained by Luis Molina in “The Integration of al-Andalus in Islamic Historiography. The
View from the Maghrib and the Mashriq” (Molina 2020), and by Giovanna Calasso in the paper
here included, while a difference is made between al-Andalus and the Maghrib by some authors
and in certain periods, al-Andalus was also at times considered to be part of the Maghrib. We use
Andalusi/Maghribi to reflect this convergence when appropriate: Baqī b. Makhlad was an Anda-
lusi scholar, but for Moroccans today – who consider themselves the inheritors of the legacy of
al-Andalus – he is a Maghribi scholar. For a general background of the subject see Calderwood
2018.
17 See respectively for the last two questions al-Musawi 2015 and El Shamsy 2020.
18 Contextos locales y dinámicas globales: al-Andalus y el Magreb en el Oriente islámico (AMOI),
FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE. The other members of the project are: Camilla Adang (Profes-
sor of Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University), José Bellver (post-doctoral researcher at the Uni-
versité Catholique de Louvain), Víctor de Castro (post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck In-
stitute for the History of Science), Teresa Garulo (Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at
Complutense University), Aurora González Artigao (pre-doctoral researcher at the Institute of
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 5

look at the Islamic world from the edge,19 as directors of the project our main in-
terest in this first stage has been threefold: to map what has been written on the
topic in general with the aim of producing an annotated bibliography available
online; to concentrate on the study of the impact that knowledge produced in al-
Andalus/the Maghrib had in the fields of historiography, law and the religious
sciences, poetry and literature, and mysticism; and to explore the possibilities
that the digital humanities have to offer for our study. What we are presenting
here is the result of the first international conference we convened, held on 20–
21 December 2018 at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid.20 Not all the papers
presented there have been included,21 and we have also added some new papers
that were not presented at the original conference. In this process our collabora-
tion with our colleagues in Japan has proven especially fruitful; we are particu-
larly thankful to Professor Kentaro Sato, who organized a panel at the Sixth Con-
ference of the School of Mamluk Studies (Waseda University, Tokyo, 15–17 June
2019) on Intellectual activities across the regions in the Mamluk period: Views from
al-Andalus and Khurasan, which included Maribel Fierro’s contribution to this
volume. We are also very grateful to Professor Giovanna Calasso for contributing
to the volume with her study on how the Maghrib was represented in medieval
Arabic sources, an important step forward along the path indicated by Abdallah
Laroui.
In what follows, we will trace, through the different contributions included
in this volume, the main threads that guided us during the conference in Madrid.
Parts I and II examine how knowledge produced about the Maghrib was inte-
grated in the Mashriq, starting with the emergence and construction of the con-
cept ‘Maghrib’. Parts III and IV discuss how travel not only enabled knowledge
produced in the Mashriq to be received in the Maghrib, but also allowed locally
produced knowledge to be transmitted outside the confines of the Maghrib, in
addition to the different ways in which this transmission took place. In Part V, we
will see how the Maghribis who stayed or settled in the Mashriq manifested their

||
Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean, CSIC), Abdenour Padillo (pre-doctoral researcher
at the School of Arabic Studies, CSIC, and the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Medi-
terranean, CSIC), Maxim Romanov (Universitätsassistent für Digital Humanities, University of
Vienna), and Iria Santás (lecturer at the Universidad Eclesiástica San Dámaso).
19 Bulliet 1994. Cf. Fierro 2018.
20 http://cchs.csic.es/en/event/conference-maghrib-mashriq.
21 Javier Albarrán’s paper, “From the Islamic West to Cairo: Malikism, Ibn Tūmart, al-Ghazālī
and al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s death”, will appear in María Marcos Cobaleda, ed., Artistic and Cultural Dia-
logues in the Late Medieval Mediterranean.
6 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

identity. Lastly, we will offer our thoughts on future avenues of research that still
lie ahead.

Part I: Establishing Boundaries between the

Maghrib and the Mashriq
In his autobiography, the emir of Granada ʿAbd Allāh b. Buluggīn – a member of
the Berber Zīrid family – recounts the moment when the Almoravid emir, the
Ṣanhāja Berber Yūsuf b. Tāshufīn, had to decide what policy to pursue regarding
the Iberian Peninsula (al-Andalus).22 In this account, when asked about his inten-
tions, Ibn Tāshufīn prefaced his answer by proudly stating, “I am a Maghribī”.23
Indeed, the Maghrib and related terms acquired special saliency and became a
token of pride following the establishment of the Berber empires, first with the
Almoravids and especially under the Almohads (5th–7th/11th–13th centuries).24
However, this had not always been the case, as Giovanna Calasso demonstrates
in the study that opens this collective volume.
Calasso provides us with a historical overview of the conceptualization of
the terms maghrib and mashriq from early times up until the 7th/13th century,
especially in geographical writings and travelogues, and paying attention to the
semantic web formed by other terms through which Muslims made sense of the
world they inhabited, both in its own right and in relation to other human
groups. The expressions dār al-islām (abode of Islam) and dār al-ḥarb (abode of
war)25 that made their first appearance in legal treatises were rarely used by
Eastern geographers active between the 3rd/9th century and the 4th/10th cen-
tury, who favoured expressions such as bilād al-rūm (the lands of the Byzan-
tines/Romans/Christians) and bilād/mamlakat al-islām (the lands/kingdom of
Islam). They inserted in their works well-documented descriptions of the West-
ern regions of the bilād al-islām, most especially Ifrīqiya (Tunisia), which paid
allegiance to the ʿAbbāsids. Al-Yaʿqūbī (late 3rd/9th century) devoted limited
space to the Maghrib, conceived as the westernmost part of the Islamic lands’

||
22 On the equivalence of the term “al-Andalus” with the Iberian Peninsula see García Sanjuán
2003.
23 ʿAbd Allāh b. Buluggīn al-Zīrī, al-Tibyān (1995), 167; ʿAbd Allāh b. Buluggīn al-Zīrī, al-Tibyān
(1986), 163.
24 Mehdi Ghouirgate has paid special attention to this issue in, for example, “Al-Lisān al-ġarbī :
la langue des Almohades” (in press).
25 Calasso/Lancioni 2017.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 7

“western rubʿ”, to which Syria and Egypt also belonged, and he did not include
any comparison with the East. There is no indication of a frontier in his work ei-
ther, nor of a hierarchy. By contrast, Ibn al-Faqīh (3rd/9th century) did include a
hierarchical view, according to which the Maghrib corresponded to the “worst
part” of the world – perhaps a reflection of the negative view left by the Berber
rebellions that had caused much trouble to the Umayyads, and by the Andalusi
bid for autonomy from the ʿAbbāsids. Starting in the 2nd/8th century, political
independence under the Cordoban Umayyads in fact gave al-Andalus an identity
of its own that was constructed against the Mashriq,26 but only up to a point. It
could not have been otherwise: after all, the Umayyads came from the Mashriq,
where their ancestors had been caliphs, and their hatred of the ʿAbbāsids did not
stop them from imitating and emulating them. The East – especially Iraq – was
much valued for its cultural achievements, so much so that the poet Ibn Shuhayd
(382–426 H/992–1035 CE), at the time of the collapse of the Cordoban Umayyad
caliphate, criticized the inhabitants of Córdoba for “Berberizing, Westernizing,
and Egyptianizing” (tabarbarū wa-tagharrabū wa-tamaṣṣarū).27 For some Anda-
lusis, it was in fact the ‘other shore’ of the Strait of Gibraltar (al-ʿudwa), the land
of the ‘Berbers’, that functioned as the main focus of alterity.28 Thus, the poet-
king of Seville al-Muʿtamid (d. 488 H/1095 CE), jailed at Aghmāt near Marrakesh
by the Almoravid emir, referred to himself as a “stranger in the land of the ‘West-
erners’” (gharīb bi-arḍ al-maghribiyyīn).29
The distinction/opposition between Mashriq and Maghrib – the latter under-
stood as Northern Africa west of Egypt – emerged in the works of the 4th/10th-
century geographers Ibn Ḥawqal and al-Muqaddasī. Behind it was the boundary
between the Sunnī ʿAbbāsid caliphate and the Ismāʿīlī Fāṭimid caliphate, first es-
tablished in Ifrīqiya. This separation would again resurface in the 6th/12th cen-
tury with the establishment in North Africa and al-Andalus of the Almohad cali-
phate, built against the Almoravids, who had paid allegiance to the ʿAbbāsids.30
By the 5th/11th century, the Andalusi al-Bakrī (d. 487 H/1094 CE) held that al-
Andalus, as a frontier of the mamlakat al-islām with the Christian world, was an

||
26 Criticisms of the Mashriq can be documented since early times. See Fierro 2019. See also al-
Munajjid 1963; El Erian El Bassal 2013.
27 Ibn Shuhayd, Dīwān (1969), 110. The term tagharrub has its counterpart in the tasharruq used
to define the Ismāʿīlīs/Fāṭimids in North Africa, a derogatory term through which they were dis-
missed as foreigners. See Ibn al-Haytham, al-Munāẓarāt (2000), 22–23.
28 Rouighi 2010; Rouighi 2019.
29 Apud Ibn Bassām, al-Dhakhīra (1978–81), 3: 75; López Lázaro 2013, 273.
30 On how this period was viewed in the East see Ben El Hajj Soulami 2014.
8 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

extension of the Maghrib. Once al-Andalus was incorporated into the Berber em-
pires of the Almoravids and the Almohads, it became, in fact, an integral part of
the Maghrib. Between the end of the 6th/12th century and the 7th/13th century,
authors of travelogues and geographers from the Maghrib such as Ibn Jubayr (d.
614 H/1217 CE), al-ʿAbdarī (fl. ca. 688 H/1289 CE) and Ibn Saʿīd (d. 685 H/1286-7
CE) compared the East and the West of the Islamic world, emphasizing differ-
ences and offering criticism of the Mashriq, admired for its knowledge, but
blamed for its deficiencies in the sphere of religion. This represents the emer-
gence of a new reverse hierarchy, which had its precedents among the North Af-
rican Ibāḍīs, who had been pioneers in praising the merits of the Berbers and
consequently of the land they inhabited.31
In 6th/12th–7th/13th-century geographical works and travelogues, Egypt is
usually represented as the gateway to the East. Ibn Saʿīd (d. 685 H/1286-7 CE),
usually known in Eastern sources as Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī, left al-Andalus in
636 H/1238-9 CE and lived the rest of his life abroad, mostly in Egypt. His schol-
arly interests included poetry, belles-lettres (adab), history and geography. As
shown by Víctor de Castro’s contribution, Ibn Saʿīd’s Kitāb Basṭ al-arḍ fī al-ṭūl wa-
l-ʿarḍ, also known as Kitāb Jughrāfiyā, became a source for a number of Eastern
authors such as Abū al-Fidāʾ (d. 732 H/1331 CE), Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī (d.
749 H/1349 CE), al-Qalqashandī (d. 821 H/1418 CE), and al-Maqrīzī (d. 845 H/1442
CE). In it, Egypt appears sometimes as part of the West, sometimes as part of the
East. The variations in Ibn Saʿīd’s conceptualization of Egypt do not end here: in
his compilation of poetry entitled al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib, the Maghrib is
taken to encompass not only Ifrīqiya, the rest of the Maghrib, and al-Andalus, but
also Egypt. While we find that in general the limits of the Maghrib may vary from
one author to another, this is the only instance where they are taken to include
Egypt. Ibn Saʿīd’s unusual choice in the Mughrib, moreover, was not followed by
other members of his family: for his uncle ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd
al-Malik b. Saʿīd (d. 616 H/1220 CE), Ifrīqiya represented the door to the East. As
one might expect, Ibn Saʿīd’s ‘Maghribization’ of Egypt led to controversy, espe-
cially among Mamlūk authors in Egypt, with Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī being the
most forceful in his disagreement. He replied to Ibn Saʿīd by dedicating volume
five of his Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār to this issue. In it, al-ʿUmarī ac-
cuses Ibn Saʿīd of partiality and favouritism towards the Maghribis. As for scholar
Abū al-Fidāʾ, his criticism was based mainly on issues related to latitudes and
longitudes. The fact that for Easterners the West was often perceived as inferior

||
31 Felipe 2018; Aillet (forthcoming; we thank the author for allowing us to quote his un-
published article).
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 9

meant that Ibn Saʿīd’s attempt at integrating Egypt into the Maghrib was doomed
to be rejected by the Egyptians. The reasons that moved him to include Egypt are
still unclear. The Maghrib and Egypt had been politically united under the
Fāṭimids; was Ibn Saʿīd proposing a similar union under the rule of the Ḥafṣids,
who touted themselves as the rightful heirs to the Almohad caliphate?32

Part II: Integrating the Maghrib into Universal

Islamic History
Luis Molina has studied how Eastern Muslim historians, after the period of the
Islamic expansion, almost completely ignored the events taking place in the re-
gions west of Egypt.33 Later Eastern interest in the Maghrib, especially evident in
Ibn al-Athīr (d. 630 H/1233 CE), chronologically coincides with the rise of the Al-
mohad caliphate, and was highly dependent on historical sources written in al-
Andalus and the Maghrib that circulated in the East in close connection with the
travels and emigration of Andalusi and Maghribi scholars.34 At the same time,
some historical works were written in the East by Maghribi authors who had set-
tled there,35 with the patronage of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn b. Ayyūb (d. 589 H/1193 CE) – bet-
ter known as Saladin – being hugely influential.36
In Abū al-Fidāʾ’s Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, a work that spans from the
creation of the world up to the year 729 H/1329 CE, al-Andalus appears as an un-
stable region on the periphery of the Islamic world. Abdenour Padillo-Saoud
analyses how the Syrian historian approaches al-Andalus in a work in which he
summarizes the information found in his sources on the political events that took
place in a given year. His main sources for al-Andalus were, unsurprisingly, Ibn

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32 On the political dynamics between Ḥafṣid Ifrīqiya and Egypt see Chapoutot-Remadi 1979.
33 Molina 2020.
34 The literature on this topic is abundant, a representative handful of references being: Pouzet
1975; Marín 1995; Baadj 2019.
35 As in the case of al-Yasaʿ b. Ḥazm (d. 575 H/1179 CE), author of the Kitāb al-Mughrib fī akhbār
maḥāsin ahl al-Maghrib, which he wrote for Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, and ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Marrākushī (d.
after 621 H/1224 CE), author of Kitāb al-Muʿjib fī talkhīṣ akhbār al-Maghrib, which he wrote for a
vizier of the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Nāṣir (d. 622 H/1225 CE). See respectively Fierro 1995 and Benhima
2009.
36 Not only in the field of history but also in others such as poetry. See Bray 2019a and Bray
2019b.
10 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

al-Athīr’s al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh37 and Ibn Saʿīd’s Mughrib. Abū al-Fidāʾ includes rec-
ords of around one hundred historical events that took place in al-Andalus, in-
terspersed with other information whose only common trait is having occurred in
the same year. Abū al-Fidāʾ’s account begins with the arrival of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I
(d. 172 H/788 CE), whereas his main source, al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh, offers an exten-
sive account of the conquest of al-Andalus and its aftermath. Abū al-Fidāʾ largely
skims over the Umayyad period, perhaps because he himself was a prince of the
Ayyūbid dynasty whose founder, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, had recognized the pre-eminence
of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate. Abū al-Fidāʾ seems more interested in al-Manṣūr b. Abī
ʿĀmir, or Almanzor (d. 392 H/1002 CE), the de facto ruler of al-Andalus towards
the end of the Umayyad caliphate, whose military campaigns against the Chris-
tians gained him fame and with whom Abū al-Fidāʾ – who took part in multiple
campaigns against the Crusaders – may have felt affinity. After dealing with the
period of the collapse of the Umayyad caliphate (fitna) and the subsequent taifa
kingdoms, when it comes time to cover the Almoravids and Almohads Abū al-
Fidāʾ only focuses on events in North Africa and, likewise, shows no interest in
the Naṣrid Kingdom of Granada.38
Both Ibn al-Athīr and Abū al-Fidāʾ lived in Syria, a region where the memory
of the Umayyad past was likely to arouse interest in al-Andalus,39 as was indeed
the case later on when the Maghribi al-Maqqarī (d. 1041 H/1632 CE) was asked by
a Syrian patron to write about the memory of a land that had by then been irre-
mediably lost to the Christians.40 Such an interest is not to be expected in regions
further east, but, as explained by Philip Bockholt in his contribution, even if they
had wanted to, historians in 10th/16th-century Iran would have been hard-
pressed to find knowledge on far-off regions of the Islamic world like al-Andalus
and the Maghrib. While works like the Tārīkhnāma written by Balʿamī under the
Sāmānids in the 4th/10th century devote only a few lines to the history of the
Islamic West, chronicles composed in Īlkhānid-Mongol times (ca. 655–755 H/
1257–1355 CE) contain more information, even including accounts of Christian
Iberia. Nevertheless, Khvāndamīr (d. 942 H/1535-6 CE) did not have any infor-
mation on hand about events taking place in the western parts of Islam from the
7th/13th century onwards, even though he belonged to a family of historians and
had access to the libraries of Herat, at that time one of the main cultural centres
in the eastern lands of Islam. However, Khvāndamīr’s Ḥabīb al-siyar fī akhbār

||
37 Al-Darwīsh 2015.
38 On this topic see Maḥmūd al-Baṭūsh 2016.
39 Borrut/Cobb 2010.
40 Elger 2002; Moral 2014; Adil 2019.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 11

afrād al-bashar does include materials about the early times of Islam in the Ibe-
rian Peninsula, and also covers the history of the Berber Muslim dynasties of the
Almoravids and Almohads (ca. 455–668 H/1063–1269 CE) at length. Among the
Almohad rulers, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb (d. 595 H/1199 CE) is given special attention.
Khvāndamīr first presents his life, before going on to provide an account of the
591 H/1195 CE battle of Alarcos, in which the Almohad caliph defeated the Chris-
tians. However, Khvāndamīr mistakenly refers to it as the “the battle of al-Zal-
lāqa”, another victorious Muslim campaign against the Christians that had taken
place in the year 479 H/1086 CE under the rule of the Almoravid emir Yūsuf b.
Tāshufīn (d. 500 H/1106 CE). Khvāndamīr’s only source for the chapters dealing
with the Almohad dynasty, and hence for the battle of Alarcos, was Mirʾāt al-
janān by the Yemenite scholar al-Yāfiʿī (d. 768 H/1367 CE). The latter mainly cop-
ied the information given in Abū Shāma’s (d. 665 H/1267 CE) Dhayl al-Rawḍatayn
and in Ibn Khallikān’s (d. 681 H/1282 CE) Wafayāt al-aʿyān. Among the sources
for Ibn Khallikān’s account were members of the Maghribi community in Damas-
cus, including the famous mystic Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī, who died in Damas-
cus in 638 H/1240 CE. Ibn al-Athīr’s Kāmil contains a similar, though not identi-
cal, strand of Arabic historiography about the battle of Alarcos. Later authors
based their narratives on al-Kāmil, as well as on Abū Shāma and Ibn Khallikān.
It was via their books that authors in Iran had access to knowledge about events
in the West.
If the political history of the Maghrib was of interest to historians writing es-
pecially for a readership at the ruler’s court, the lives of scholars and men of let-
ters from the western regions of Islam were more likely to prove relevant for other
scholars and men of letters living elsewhere.41 This was bound to happen when
Andalusi and Maghribi scholars settled in the East and became part of the local
intellectual and religious landscape.42 But what about those who never left their
homeland, or returned to it after having travelled to the East? Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (476–

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41 Both types of information were combined by al-Dhahabī (d. 748 H/1348 CE) in his massive
work Tārīkh al-islām. Maxim Romanov has used the ṭabaqāt included in this work to study,
among other topics, the interregional connections between Iberia and the Levant from 1100 to
1600, using digital humanities tools. See Romanov 2017, esp. 241–243, figures 10–13. The Estu-
dios Onomástico-Biográficos de al-Andalus series, published by the CSIC in Madrid and Granada
(with 18 volumes to date, since 1988), includes a number of studies on biographies of Andalusis
found in Eastern biographical dictionaries, information that may now be studied from a digital
humanities approach.
42 A case in point is that of the Jewish man of letters Yehūda al-Harīzī, who left the Iberian
Peninsula and settled in Ayyūbid Aleppo, where he lived until his death, and whose biography
was recorded in Eastern Arabic sources. See Sadan 2002.
12 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

544 H/1083–1149 CE), a scholar from Ceuta whose travels for study never took
him outside the region, is among the Maghribi scholars who have elicited the
most sustained attention across the Islamic world through the centuries.43 This
mostly has to do with the huge success of his al-Shifāʾ bi-taʿrīf ḥuqūq al-Musṭafā
– a work on the prerogatives and merits of the Prophet Muḥammad – among Mus-
lims both past and present.44 Even during his own lifetime, entries on Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s
life and intellectual production were already included in a number of biograph-
ical dictionaries not only in the Maghrib, but also in the Mashriq. In her contribu-
tion, Maiko Noguchi carries out a detailed comparison of the descriptions of Qāḍī
ʿIyāḍ in these biographies. Through her analysis, she reveals how certain ele-
ments are given more or less emphasis, and how the differences in the resulting
portrayals are related to the biographers’ various contexts. Her study contributes
to our understanding of how intellectual networks are created that transcend di-
rect physical connections. If students of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, and students of his students,
were decisive in making him and his work known outside the Maghrib, the inclu-
sion of entries on Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ in Eastern biographical dictionaries gave him – in
connection with the circulation of his work – a ‘life of his own’.

Part III: Maghribi Success in the East

Having risen to power in the far-western and central Maghrib toward the end of
Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s life, the Almohads sought to re-centre the Islamic world around the
figure of their Mahdī, the Berber Ibn Tūmart (d. 524 H/1130 CE). Characterizing
him as an impeccable imām and inheritor of the station of prophecy (wārith
maqām al-nubuwwa),45 his successor ʿAbd al-Muʾmin (d. 558 H/1163 CE) promoted
the view that the centre of Islam had shifted from the Mashriq to the Maghrib,
touted as the new Hejaz, with a sanctuary in Tinmal in the Atlas mountains where
the Mahdī and his successors, the Muʾminid caliphs, were buried. This shift inev-
itably bolstered Maghribi identity and pride, and lent new significance to an oft-

||
43 There is a famous saying that states: “If it were not for Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, the Maghrib would not
have been known”. See, e.g., al-Ifrānī 2000, 33; Ibn Tāwīt 1402/1982, 59.
44 Dagmar Riedel studied the spread of this work as a Marie-Curie fellow at the Institute of Lan-
guages and Cultures of the Mediterranean, CSIC (2017–2019), with a project entitled Making
Books Talk: The Material Evidence of Manuscripts of the Kitāb al- Shifāʾ by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 1149) for
the Reception of an Andalusian Biography of the Prophet between 1100 and 1900.
45 Fierro 2016, 83.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 13

cited Prophetic tradition whereby Muḥammad predicted a special role for the Ma-
ghrib.46 Ibn Jubayr’s (d. 614 H/1217 CE) Riḥla reflects this new attitude of confi-
dence and pride, and finds confirmation in the fact that, in a variety of ways, the
Ayyūbids showed an inclination to Maghribi emigrant scholars and favoured
them.47
Before Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s time, it was by no means guaranteed that Andalusi and
Maghribi scholars – no matter how relevant their contribution to Islamic learning
and culture – would make their way into general ṭabaqāt and tarājim works, nor
that their accomplishments would be celebrated or recorded. For example, Ibn
al-Nadīm’s (d. 380 H/990 CE) Fihrist, a bio-bibliographical repertoire document-
ing authors and works known to him in Baghdad, includes only one author from
Ifrīqiya.48 We have seen how the 3rd/9th-century geographer Ibn al-Faqīh de-
scribed the Maghrib as the worst part of the world, and, to be sure, it seems that
in the Baghdadi cultural sphere there was a prevailing notion that the West had
little to offer,49 an idea that still resonated in Ibn Khaldūn’s (d. 808 H/1406 CE)
time.50 Andalusis and Maghribis often complained about this state of affairs, put-
ting down in writing their conviction that in the East – and especially in Bagh-
dad – their contributions were purposely ignored or dismissed.51 This conviction
led some of them to record their achievements in the religious and intellectual
domains, as in the case of Ibn Ḥazm’s (d. 456 H/1064 CE) Risāla fī faḍl al-Andalus,
which lists authors and titles intended to demonstrate that Andalusis were equal

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46 “The inhabitants of the West (ahl al-gharb) will always be on the side of truth until the Hour
comes”. See, for example, Dhikr bilād al-Andalus (1983), 15 (Sp. trans. 22). In Almohad times it
acquired special saliency. See Buresi 2020.
47 Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla (1907), 278, 285; Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla (1952), 289, 298. See also Cahen 1973.
48 Maribel Fierro, “The Maghreb and al-Andalus in Ibn al-Nadīm’s Fihrist”, paper presented at
the 29th Conference of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, Münster University,
10–14 September 2018; see also Fierro 2018, 357, n. 2. One of the first biographical dictionaries to
include Andalusi scholars was that of Ibn Mākūlā (d. 430 H/1038 CE); see Marín 1985. Before
him, the Egyptian historian Ibn Yūnus (d. 347 H/958 CE) had written on the foreigners who trav-
elled to Egypt, including Maghribis and Andalusis, but his work is lost (although there has been
a recent attempt at reconstructing it on the basis of quotations by later authors). See Fierro 1987.
49 This is illustrated by a famous anecdote about the vizier al-Ṣāḥib b. ʿAbbād (d. 385 H/995 CE),
whereby when an adab work by the Cordoban Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi (d. 328 H/940 CE), al-ʿIqd al-
farīd (The Unique Necklace), fell into his hands, he exclaimed: “This is our merchandise brought
back to us! I thought it would contain notices on their country (al-Andalus) but it merely contains
notices about our own country. We do not need it!” See Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-udabāʾ
(1414/1993), 1: 464; trans. by Toral-Niehoff 2015, 64.
50 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Muqaddima (2006–2007), 2: 180; Ibn Khaldūn, al-Muqaddima (1967), 2: 431.
51 As shown in the poems quoted at the beginning of this contribution. See also Fierro 2009; al-
ʿĀmirī 2015.
14 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

and sometimes even superior to their Eastern counterparts.52 For all his pride in a
(possibly made-up) Iranian background, Ibn Ḥazm was in fact not much inter-
ested in what the East had to offer – for example, in the field of theology, he was
an acerbic critic of Ashʿarī doctrines;53 he never performed the riḥla and in his
quotations of Prophetic traditions in his work al-Muḥallā, he made a point of
quoting local riwāyāt. The idea that former cultural centres could decline and
new ones arise seems to have been very much present in 5th/11th-century al-An-
dalus, perhaps in connection with the collapse of the Cordoban Umayyad cali-
phate, and the myriad of new courts that arose in the newly formed taifa king-
doms. The decline of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate also contributed to this appraisal,
even under the Almoravids, who paid allegiance to them. Ibn al-Sīd al-Baṭalyawsī
(d. 521 H/1127 CE), who wrote a commentary on Ibn Qutayba’s (d. 276 H/889 CE)
Adab al-kātib, put it succinctly: li-kull dahr dawla wa-rijāl (‘each period has its
dynasty and its men’).54
One of Ibn Ḥazm’s students, al-Ḥumaydī (d. 488 H/1095 CE), left al-Andalus
never to return and, having settled in Baghdad, became one of the mediators who
helped integrate Andalusi and Maghribi scholarship into the worldview of Islam.
He accomplished this in different ways, for example through his biographical dic-
tionary of scholars, Jadhwat al-muqtabis fī dhikr wulāt al-Andalus wa-asmāʾ ruwāt
al-ḥadīth wa-ahl al-fiqh wa-l-adab wa-dhawī al-nubāha wa-l-shiʿr, which he wrote
in Baghdad, having to rely heavily on his memory for lack of relevant sources in
the local libraries. It was later used by Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī (d. 626 H/1229 CE), al-
Dhahabī (d. 748 H/1348 CE) and al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 H/1505 CE).55 There is, however,
little hard evidence that al-Ḥumaydī was instrumental in spreading Ibn Ḥazm’s
works in the East.56 This is one Camilla Adang’s conclusions in her contribution
to this volume. In it she concentrates on al-Ḥumaydī’s al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn,
in which the author rearranged the traditions found in the ḥadīth collections
(Ṣaḥīḥ) of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. The book, although not the first in this genre,
was much praised. As shown by Adang, from the 5th/11th century to the 9th/15th
century it was constantly being copied, studied, taught, excerpted and com-
mented upon by members of all four Sunnī schools of law, and to a lesser extent

||
52 Pellat 1954.
53 Schmidtke 2012.
54 Ibn al-Sīd al-Baṭalyawsī, al-Iqtiḍāb (1996), 1: 138; see also Soravia 2019.
55 Al-Najmī 2015.
56 In addition to the influence of Ibn Ḥazm’s student Shurayḥ (d. 539 H/1144 CE) indicated by
Adang in her contribution to this volume, Chodkiewicz 1991 has highlighted Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn
ʿArabī’s influential role in making the work and doctrines of the Andalusi Ẓāhirī school known
in the East.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 15

also by Twelver Shīʿī scholars, who used al-Ḥumaydī’s work mainly for apologet-
ical or polemical purposes, as a source for traditions about ʿAlī and his family.
Among the Sunnīs, Mālikīs were the ones who showed the least interest in al-
Ḥumaydī’s work, due on the one hand to the fact that the Jamʿ was mainly trans-
mitted in the Mashriq, where the Mālikīs were a minority, and on the other hand,
because in the predominantly Mālikī West one could find several works from the
same genre by local scholars. The fact that al-Ḥumaydī was associated with Ibn
Ḥazm and Ẓāhirism may have been an additional reason for Mālikīs’ reluctance
to study and transmit the work.
It took some time for the science of Prophetic tradition and the Prophetic tra-
dition itself to circulate in earnest in the West. There were exceptions, such as
Abū ʿUbayd’s (d. 224 H/838 CE) Gharīb al-ḥadīth, which enjoyed great popularity
in the Maghrib since very early times.57 By the 4th/10th century, however, the
transmission and study of ḥadīth flourished, and soon this important branch of
religious knowledge saw a great deal of local output. Khaoula Trad traces in her
contribution both the history of the ḥadīth-commentary tradition in the Maghrib
and the impact that some of these ḥadīth commentaries had on the rest of the
Islamic world, focusing in particular on Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s Ikmāl al-Muʿlim fī sharḥ
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim and on Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī’s (d. 656 H/1258 CE) al-Mufhim li-
mā ashkala min talkhīṣ kitāb Muslim. These works reflect the fact that Ṣaḥīḥ Mus-
lim seems to have been preferred over Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī in the western Islamic
lands, one of many features that differentiated the Maghrib from the other re-
gions.58 While Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s Ikmāl al-Muʿlim was read and used by the famed Syr-
ian author al-Nawawī (d. 676 H/1277 CE) in his Minhāj al-ṭālibīn, Abū al-ʿAbbās
al-Qurṭubī’s works on both Muslim and al-Bukhārī (namely, Ikhtiṣār Ṣaḥīḥ al-
Bukhārī) were used by Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 H/1449 CE).
Importantly, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī settled in Egypt, where he taught and
died. Having students in the East was a determining factor in establishing his
fame and reputation, as was also the case with al-Ḥumaydī, Abū al-Qāsim al-
Shāṭibī and Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī.59
Together with Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (d. 590 H/1194 CE) is one
of the most successful Andalusi/Maghribi authors of all times.60 Zohra Azgal
highlights in her paper the profound impact that the field of Qurʾānic readings,

||
57 Abū ʿUbayd, Gharīb al-ḥadīth (2019).
58 As already noted by Goldziher 1967–71, 2: 234.
59 As already pointed by Takeshi Yukawa, who highlighted the importance of differentiating
between two types of scholars: transit and settler. See Yukawa 1979.
60 Fierro (in press).
16 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

as developed in al-Andalus, had on the Islamic East, a process that can be traced
back to scholars such as Makkī b. Abī Ṭālib al-Qayrawānī (d. 437 H/1045 CE) and
Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī (d. 444 H/1053 CE),61 and one that culminated with Abū al-
Qāsim al-Shāṭibī’s versification of al-Dānī’s al-Taysīr fī al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ. Known
as al-Shāṭibiyya, this didactic poem became “the teaching handbook’s bestseller
for Qurʾānic readings” as Azgal describes it. The spectacular development of the
qirāʾāt genre in al-Andalus deserves further study in order to explain why it hap-
pened when it happened: mostly in the 5th/11th century, reaching its peak in al-
Andalus in the 6th/12th century.62 Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī left al-Andalus in
572 H/1176 CE. Having settled first in Alexandria before moving on to Cairo, he
devoted himself to teaching and transmitting Qurʾānic readings. In the ṭabaqāt
books, Azgal has identified thirty-one of al-Shāṭibī’s students from different re-
gions of the Islamic world, many of whom attained important positions that
helped them spread their teacher’s work on a large scale. The success of his work
and the centrality it acquired in the pedagogical process across space and time
explains the fact that in al-Qasṭallānī’s (d. 923 H/1517 CE) book on al-Shāṭibī, the
latter is presented as a walī, a saint who never sinned and was endowed with
many divine gifts. Azgal has also identified a large number of copies of al-
Shāṭibiyya and in her PhD dissertation will focus on studying the production of
manuscripts of his work in order to clarify its uses and functions, as well as the
process through which the Andalusi qirāʾāt school eventually prevailed in the
Muslim world.
We have seen above that Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī left al-Andalus in 572 H/
1176 CE, supposedly under the pretence of performing the ḥajj. In fact, it was not
uncommon for scholars who found themselves in trouble with the authorities to
use the pilgrimage as an excuse to leave the country, with the hope of returning
once the political situation had settled down. In the meantime they also accumu-
lated useful cultural capital, as the example of the reputed scholar Abū Bakr Ibn
al-ʿArabī (d. 543 H/1148 CE) has shown.63 A century later, problems with the new
Naṣrid ruler made Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī and his father decide to leave al-Andalus
in 636 H/1238-9 CE for the East, as explained by Iria Santás de Arcos in her con-
tribution. She focuses on the continuous writing and rewriting of Ibn Saʿīd’s most
famous book, al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib, in terms of its sources, its authorship
by different members of the same family, its structure and methodology, and its

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61 Nasser 2013.
62 This has been shown by Zanón 1997, 556.
63 Garden 2015.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 17

impact on the East.64 While in Egypt, the Ayyūbid ruler al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ (d.
647 H/1249 CE) gave Ibn Saʿīd access to the royal libraries and in 640 H/1243 CE
he was able to complete a first version that was very well received in Cairo. An
important moment in Ibn Saʿīd’s life that contributed to the dissemination of his
work was the year 644 H/1246 CE, when he met the scholar Ibn al-ʿAdīm (d.
660 H/1262 CE) and left Cairo to accompany him to Aleppo. From there he went
on to Damascus, Homs, Mosul, Baghdad, Basra, Armenia, Mecca and Iran. In
675 H/1276 CE he finally returned to Tunis, where he stayed until his death in
685 H/1286-7 CE. Besides Ibn Saʿīd himself, three other scholars played a promi-
nent role in the spread of the Mughrib: Muḥammad b. Hamūshk al-Tinmalī,
Sharaf al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Yūsuf al-Tīfāshī, and Ibn al-ʿAdīm. For
Mamlūk authors the Mughrib constituted a valuable source, especially the part
covering al-Andalus and North Africa. However, not many copies appear to have
existed; today there is only one extant manuscript, preserved at Dār al-kutub al-
miṣriyya in Cairo, which seems to have been produced by the author himself.
Later, this copy reached al-Ṣafadī’s (d. 764 H/1363 CE) hands and those of other
scholars, including Ibn Duqmāq (d. 809 H/1407 CE). The notes they left in the
copy confirm that at the end of the 8th/14th century the manuscript was already
in Cairo. Of fundamental importance in this process was the presence of a copy
(perhaps the one preserved today) in the 9th/15th century in the library of the
Muʾayyadiyya, which granted many scholars access to it, thus rendering the pro-
duction of new copies less necessary. A number of other copies are known to have
existed, in particular those made by Ibn Hamūshk and perhaps by al-Tīfāshī, but
no Maghribi manuscript has been preserved.
Verses included in Ibn Saʿīd’s Mughrib were transmitted orally, having been
committed to memory. The ways in which poetry spreads are not always easy to
trace, just as it is not always apparent why specific poems or verses struck a chord
with audiences of the past. An Andalusi invention in strophic poetry, the mu-
washshaḥa, is a case in point. Brought by Andalusi/Maghribi travellers to Egypt,
Syria, Iraq and beyond, the muwashshaḥāt were embraced outside their place of
origin in the second half of the 5th/11th century and especially during the
6th/12th century.65 Ibn Khaldūn wrote how much the Easterners liked these poetic
compositions,66 but gave no explanation as to why. Ibn Ẓāfir al-Ḥaddād (d. ca.

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64 On the impact of Andalusi works on the literary field under the Mamlūks see Sālim al-Na-
wāfaʿa 2008.
65 Afandī 1999. As for the related form of the zajal, see Özkan 2018.
66 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Muqaddima (2006–2007), 2: 566–602; Ibn Khaldūn, al-Muqaddima (1967),
3: 440–480.
18 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

525 H/1131 CE), an Egyptian Fāṭimid poet from Alexandria, composed at least two
muwashshaḥāt that seem to be the earliest examples from the East. Teresa
Garulo’s contribution concentrates on a specific muwashshaḥa by ʿUbāda b. Māʾ
al-Samāʾ (d. 421 H/1030 CE). His muwashshaḥāt were a novelty within the new
genre, as he was the first poet to insert internal rhymes in the parts of the poem
called the aghṣān; so successfully, in fact, that the previous rhyme schemes seem
to have been forgotten. In Mamlūk Egypt and Syria, Cordoban poet ʿUbāda b. Māʾ
al-Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa beginning with the words “Man walī” became hugely
popular, and yet there is no trace of it in Andalusi or Maghribi sources. Perhaps
al-Ḥumaydī, whose teacher Ibn Ḥazm praised ʿUbāda’s book on the poets of al-
Andalus in his Risāla fī faḍl al-Andalus, was instrumental in transmitting it east-
ward. Ten emulations (muʿāraḍāt) of Man walī were produced in Syria and Egypt,
in addition to one by a Yemeni poet, from the 6th/12th century all the way to the
20th century. Nobody found it necessary to explain why this poem attracted such
attention. It probably had a musical accompaniment: Kallilī, the muʿāraḍa by Ibn
Sanāʾ al-Mulk (d. 608 H/1211 CE) – or Muẓaffar al-ʿAylānī (d. 623 H/1226 CE) – was
sung from the beginning, and continues to be sung even today. As an Andalusi
song, Kallilī’s prelude and first strophe appear in Kunnāsh al-Ḥāʾik, the compila-
tion of the texts of songs deriving from Andalusi music still sung during the life-
time of its author, Muḥammad al-Andalusī al-Tiṭwānī (12th/18th century). Per-
haps the music itself was the greatest attraction of the muwashshaḥāt.

Part IV: Pathways of Reception from the Maghrib

to the Mashriq
Ibn Khaldūn pointed to the linguistic barriers to Easterners’ appreciation of the
zajals written by Andalusis because they were written in Andalusi colloquial Ara-
bic. Likewise, among the texts that travelled with the scholars from al-Andalus
and the Maghrib, those dealing with pharmacology involved foreign medical
terms that required identification and clarification. Juan Carlos Villaverde
Amieva concentrates in his paper on the Andalusi Romance terms found in the
book by the physician ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq b. Muḥammad b. Ṭarkhān al-Suwaydī
(or Ibn al-Suwaydī) (d. 690 H/1291 CE), Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt, a reper-
tory of names of simple medicines that is known for its linguistic richness. Arabic
and its numerous dialectal variants is the language best represented in it, to-
gether with other languages from the Middle East (Nabataean, Coptic) and other
geographical regions (Nubia, Armenia, the land of the Turks, Greek...), as well as
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 19

Berber. Al-Suwaydī’s references to al-Andalus exceed by far his references to any

of the other regions, including the author’s native Syria. These are references to
different plants or medicinal substances found in the Iberian Peninsula and to
these substances’ Andalusi names and synonyms. The information provided re-
flects an Arabic/Romance duality in al-Andalus that, however, does not neces-
sarily reflect a persistent bilingualism in al-Suwaydī’s times. In fact, together
with the Arabic terms used specifically by Andalusi botanists, some of which be-
long to the Andalusi dialect, there are also references to their synonyms in Ro-
mance, generally referred to as laṭīniyya (‘Latin’), but also as ʿajamiyyat al-Anda-
lus. Al-Suwaydī’s source is the famed Andalusi botanist Ibn al-Bayṭār (d. 646 H/
1248 CE), and his book is another piece of evidence to add to our knowledge of
the extraordinary textual dissemination of Ibn al-Bayṭār’s pharmacological work.
There are many copies of his Kitāb al-Mughnī fī al-adwiya al-mufrada and even
more of his Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ li-mufradāt al-adwiya wa-l-aghdhiya.67 These books
must have already become widely distributed during their author’s lifetime, es-
pecially in Damascus where Ibn al-Bayṭār settled and died, and where al-Suwaydī
may have studied with him.
The 7th/13th-century catalogue of the Ashrafiyya Library in Damascus has
revealed that books from the western Islamic world were abundant in the original
collection, either brought to Damascus by Maghribi travellers, or transcribed in
Syria by Maghribi migrants.68 We have also seen how the first non-Andalusi mu-
washshaḥāt were written in Alexandria, a Mediterranean commercial entrepôt
where many Muslims, Christians and Jews from inside and outside dār al-islām
arrived both by land and by sea.69 Like other port cities, Alexandria was trans-
regional, trans-religious and trans-cultural, a trading zone in which knowledge
flowed in all directions. How did the transmission of knowledge interplay with
long-distance trade routes, different forms of economic exchange and flows of
merchants, pilgrims and travellers in general?70
Some of these travellers were mystics from the Maghrib and al-Andalus, from
such towering figures as Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638 H/1240 CE) down to
minor saints.71 José Bellver studies in his paper a specific case of the vast influ-
ence that Andalusi and Maghribi Ṣūfism had outside the Iberian Peninsula, an

||
67 Fierro (in press).
68 Hirschler 2016, 38 (the works of Ibn al-Bayṭār and of Ibn Sabʿīn’s son, studied by Bellver, are
not listed).
69 Walker 2014.
70 Marín 1998–99.
71 Ṣafī al-Dīn ibn Abī al-Manṣūr, Risāla (1986); Marín 1994.
20 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

influence that affected not only Muslims but also other religious communities,
especially the Jews.72 Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn was the son of the most
renowned intellectual mystic born in al-Andalus after Ibn al-ʿArabī, Ibn Sabʿīn
(d. 668 or 669 H/1270-1 CE), who had settled in Mecca, where he lived until his
death. Thus, his son Yaḥyā may therefore have been born in the East. Yaḥyā b.
ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn’s Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm – edited and translated
by Bellver – is a short Ṣūfī text that summarizes some of his father’s insights into
Ṣūfism, developing the concept of muḥaqqiq and depicting some metaphysical
correspondences of the pair muḥaqqiq/murīd, i.e. realizer/aspirant. Although
written from a Neoplatonic perspective, it manages to avoid the use of philosoph-
ical terminology. The only known manuscript is preserved today at the Süley-
maniye library in Istanbul. Its copyist was ʿAbd al-Qādir b. Muṣṭafā al-Ṣafūrī al-
Dimashqī (d. 1081 H/1670 CE), the teacher of the Ṣūfī scholar ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-
Nābulusī (d. 1143 H/1731 CE), thus providing a new context for the latter’s interest
in Ibn Sabʿīn.
Textual transmission as explored in the previous contributions is also pre-
sent in Kentaro Sato’s study of how Ibn Khaldūn presented himself in Mamlūk
Cairo as a Maghribi scholar in possession of a Maghribi tradition of knowledge.
In his first lecture on Mālik b. Anas’s (d. 179 H/796 CE) Muwaṭṭaʾ at the Ṣar-
ghitmish madrasa in Cairo, he made use of an isnād in which only Maghribi and
Andalusi scholars appeared as transmitters, stretching back to Yaḥyā b. Yaḥyā
al-Laythī’s (d. 234 H/849 CE) riwāya, the quintessential ‘Western’ recension of the
foundational text of the Mālikī legal school. As pointed out by Sato, almost no
Mashriqi – including Egyptian – scholars ever went to the Maghrib to study this
riwāya. Those who were interested – such as Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī – could study
it in Cairo under Maghribi scholars, but its value was limited in the Egyptian con-
text, where it lacked the strong emotional resonance it had in the Maghrib. More-
over, it had to compete with other recensions that attached Mālik b. Anas’s Mu-
waṭṭaʾ to other regional contexts.
One of Ibn Ḥajar’s teachers had an isnād of Mālik’s Muwaṭṭaʾ that went back
to the Andalusi Abū Bakr al-Ṭurṭūshī (d. 520 H/1126 CE), a seminal figure in the
re-establishment of the Mālikī legal school in Egypt after he settled in Alexandria.
The presence of Mālikī jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in post-Fāṭimid
Egypt is studied by Maribel Fierro in her paper. Statistics drawn from the ṭabaqāt
works by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and Ibn Farḥūn (d. 799 H/1397 CE) clearly show that the
Ayyūbid and Mamlūk periods saw an increase in the numbers of Mālikīs, some of
whom were of Maghribi origin. Whatever their background, the Egyptian Mālikīs

||
72 Wasserstrom 2000.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 21

who left behind a written production could not but refer in their works to the An-
dalusi/Maghribi Mālikī tradition. However, Baybars’s novel 663 H/1265 CE crea-
tion of four judgeships representing the four Sunnī legal schools led to a specific
development, which Mohammed Fadel has called “the rise of the mukhtaṣars”,73
legal handbooks that offered the predominant doctrine of the school to be applied
in the judicial court. Because this predominant doctrine had most often been es-
tablished in the Maghrib, one would expect the Maghribi Mālikīs to have wel-
comed the mukhtaṣars with open arms. However, the introduction of the
mukhtaṣar genre from Egypt to the Maghrib coincides with the composition of
numerous compilations of Mālikī fatāwā – a genre that is absent among the Egyp-
tian Mālikīs. Fierro’s proposal is to see in such activities a way of deflecting the
potential impact of the Egyptian mukhtaṣars on the Maghrib.
The impact that Andalusi and Maghribi Mālikism had in West Africa is well
known, given the north-south direction of the process of Islamization in the re-
gion.74 Adday Hernández’s contribution focuses on a less explored area, the Horn
of Africa, and on more recent times (19th and 20th centuries). Works from the
Islamic West represented in the libraries and collections selected are classified
into five categories: Ṣūfism and theology; linguistics and grammar; Qurʾānic sci-
ences; jurisprudence; and others, including adab and medicine. As one might
expect, her research has turned up an abundance of basic summarized texts on
easy-to-memorize subjects, such as versified didactic works, which were very
common in al-Andalus and the Maghrib. Specifically, we find Ibn Faraḥ’s (d.
699 H/1300 CE) poem on ʿilm al-ḥadīth, the Shāṭibiyya, Ibn Mālik’s (d. 672 H/
1273 CE) Alfiyya, and al-Sanūsī’s (d. 895 H/1490 CE) Umm al-barāhīn. A Mālikī le-
gal manual that falls into this category of user-friendly and easy-to-consult
books, Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī’s (d. 386 H/996 CE) Risāla fī al-fiqh, is also rep-
resented. The establishment of the Tijāniyya order in the area explains the pres-
ence of certain Ṣūfī works that travelled mainly from Mecca-Yemen and second-
arily from Egypt-Sudan. The two most popular Ṣūfī works throughout the Horn
– both of Maghribi origin – are al-Jazūlī’s (d. 869 H/1465 CE) Dalāʾil al-khayrāt
and Ibn ʿAẓẓūm’s (d. 960 H/1552 CE) Tanbīh al-anām, consisting of collections of
prayers for the Prophet Muḥammad. The works studied represent around ten per-
cent of those catalogued within the project Islam in the Horn of Africa: A compar-
ative literary approach (dir. Alessandro Gori), that is, approximately 200 out of
the more than 2,000 works analysed.

||
73 Fadel 1996.
74 See Anderson 1954, and more generally Usman 2009.
22 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

Part V: Remaining Maghribi while in the Mashriq

Andalusi identity in different areas and from different perspectives has been the
subject of a number of studies.75 For example, focusing on the specific field of
astronomy, Abdelhamid I. Sabra has stated that “the Andalusian sense of identity
went further than self-praise and actually expressed itself in the creation of sys-
tems of ideas that were distinctly Andalusian and consciously directed against
intellectual authorities in the Eastern part of Islam”.76 The case of the Maghrib,
however, is more complex, as it covers a broader geographical area and a variety
of different polities, at times even encompassing al-Andalus, as was the case dur-
ing the period of the Berber empires. Travelogues by Andalusi and Maghribi au-
thors, then, are one tool that offers particular insight into how these travellers
viewed themselves.77 For example, famous Jewish Andalusi thinker Mūsā b. May-
mūn al-Qurṭubī, better known as Maimonides (d. 1204), discusses the regional
divide in explicit terms, highlighting the difference between the customs in
Egypt, where he finally settled, and those “chez nous in the West (ʿindanā fī al-
maghrib)”.78
In his contribution, Umberto Bongianino offers a preliminary survey of man-
uscripts that reveal Maghribi emigrants’ use of their local scripts as enduring ve-
hicles of cultural identity in the Mashriq. Some of these manuscripts were
brought from back home in the West, while others were produced in the East, and
all of them were read, annotated, and deposited in the mosques and madrasas of
the eastern Islamic Mediterranean between the 6th/12th century and the 7th/13th
century (in Bongianino’s study we once again see the crucial role of Alexandria).
The distinctive appearance of such manuscripts reflects the intellectual pursuits
and identity of scholars for whom the use of Maghribi scripts was a way to main-
tain a link with the cultural background from which they came. It was a trait they
shared with others, and a link that was not at odds with adaptation and even ac-
culturation to their new contexts, as with some of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī’s
autograph manuscripts, whose script and layout include a number of distinctive
Mashriqi features.
Josef Ženka’s contribution also revolves around manuscripts and identity,
being part of a wider, innovative and seminal research project that is recovering
the manuscript legacy of Naṣrid Granada. In this case, he concentrates on a

||
75 For example, in Martínez-Gros 1997; Marín 1999; Weber 2000; Marín 2001.
76 Sabra 1984, 143. Cf. for the field of grammar Carter 2011.
77 Ferhat 2001; Marín 2005; Ghouirgate 2010; Calasso 2014.
78 López Lázaro, 2013, 263, quoting Anidjar 2002. See also Brann 2000 and Alfonso 2008.
 The Maghrib in the Mashriq. Knowledge, Travel and Identity. Introduction | 23

unique manuscript – a holograph of the Marīnid Chancellor Muḥammad Ibn Ḥizb

Allāh al-Wādī Āshī (d. 788 H/1386 CE) – that offers a valuable example of how
Maghribis in the East represented themselves and were represented by others. By
skilfully combining different types of source material, Ženka opens up new pos-
sibilities for assessing the cultural acts of expression that migrants performed ac-
cording to their context and the persons involved, and the transformations in
meaning that writings were subject to in time and space. In these circumstances,
the evidence of how these migrants related to one other is of particular interest.
Takao Ito brings us back to another famous Maghribi, Ibn Khaldūn (d.
808 H/1406 CE), paying attention to the biographies written by his contemporary
and near-contemporary authors. He shows how Maghribi sources from the 9th–
10th/15th–16th centuries refer to him less than those produced in the East, espe-
cially in the Mamlūk sultanate. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī – who as noted above was
partial to the Maghribi isnād of Mālik’s Muwaṭṭaʾ – criticized Ibn Khaldūn for
stubbornly clinging on to Maghribi-style clothing instead of adopting the clothes
worn by Egyptian judges.

Next steps forward

The Eastern legal scholar and theologian al-Juwaynī (d. 478 H/1085 CE), when
dealing with the nature and requirements of consensus (ijmāʿ), defined it as “the
consensus of all those upon whom the sun has shone in the East and the West
and by the agreement of the views of all scholars collectively”.79 This inclusive
attitude in the fields of law and theology was not always paralleled in other
spheres: of Ibn Diḥya (d. 633 H/1235 CE) it is said that he wrote his Muṭrib min
ashʿār ahl al-Maghrib because Eastern authors of poetic anthologies routinely ex-
cluded poets from the West.80 The engagement of Eastern scholars with the
knowledge produced in the West took some time, one of the first cases being the
writing of a refutation of the Cordoban Ibn Masarra’s (d. 319 H/931 CE) works by
the Eastern author Abū Saʿīd Ibn al-Aʿrābī (d. 341 H/952 CE). This started a long
chain of such reactions that later included, for example, al-Dhahabī’s refutation
of Ibn al-Qaṭṭān’s (d. 628 H/1231 CE) commentary on Ibn al-Kharrāṭ’s (d. 581 or
582 H/1185-6 CE) al-Aḥkām, al-Radd ʿalā Ibn al-Qaṭṭān fī kitābihi Bayān al-wahm

||
79 Al-Juwaynī, Ghiyāth al-umam (1401/1980), 23; trans. by Hassan 2016, 101.
80 Gallega Ortega 2004, 66.
24 | Maribel Fierro/Mayte Penelas

wa-l-īhām.81 The study of this type of works – especially when not limited to big
names such Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī and Ibn Khaldūn – will do much to ad-
vance our knowledge about the reception of Andalusi/Maghribi intellectual pro-
duction outside the Maghrib. Attention should be paid not only what was re-
jected, but also to what was absorbed or found useful, as in the case of Ibn
Taymiyya’s use of Ibn Rushd.82 There is certainly room for a monograph on the
inclusion of Andalusi/Maghribi scholars in Eastern biographical dictionaries,83
and about Eastern scholars who travelled to the Maghrib.84 We have already men-
tioned the question of how the transmission of knowledge interplayed with long-
distance trade routes, different forms of economic exchange, and the flows of
merchants, pilgrims and travellers in general. In terms of the wave of migration
to the East that took place especially from the 6th/12th century onwards, a study
is needed into any networks of solidarity that the emigrants may have estab-
lished, as well as the consequences that this ‘brain drain’ had on the Maghrib.
The impact that the emigrants had outside scholarly circles is also in need of
study.85 Finally, a comparative perspective with similar processes affecting other
regions of the Islamic world would considerably enrich our understanding of the
case of the Maghrib. It is our hope to continue this project over the coming years
in order to produce some of the studies here listed as desiderata.

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|
Part I: Establishing Boundaries between the
Maghrib and the Mashriq
Giovanna Calasso
Constructing the Boundary between
Mashriq and Maghrib in Medieval Muslim
Sources

1 Categorizing the world

The classification of the world’s many facets – its territories, populations, lan-
guages and history – is one of the fields where the differences between cultures
become most evident. Likewise, within a single cultural milieu, such classifica-
tions reveal the changes that occur over time in the way of conceiving oneself and
others. It is also a field where the need to separate, to establish differences, and
thus identities, is continuously held in check by networks of relationships that
prove divides wrong, contradicting labels and classifications.
The second volume of the New Cambridge History of Islam, entitled The West-
ern Islamic World: Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, is a case in point. At first
glance, it follows a rather unusual geopolitical structure, including, apart from
the predictable first section on “Al-Andalus and North and West Africa (Eleventh
to Fifteenth Centuries)”, a second one on Egypt and Syria (11th c. until the Otto-
man conquest), as well as a third one on Muslim Anatolia and the Ottoman Em-
pire. It then returns to “North and West Africa (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centu-
ries)”, and concludes with a chapter dedicated to the “Ottoman Maghreb”. Thus,
the label “Western Islamic World”, considered over a period spanning from the
11th century to the 18th century, applies here to a much wider geographical do-
main than one might expect. However, as can be inferred from Maribel Fierro’s
introduction to the volume, the Mediterranean orientation of the political powers
and commercial trends, as well as the encounter/clash with Christian Europe, are
the main elements binding together geographical areas that are not always
strictly “western”. Meanwhile, the regions viewed as the Islamic East – including
Iran and Central Asia – were much more profoundly influenced by the encoun-
ter/clash with Indian and Chinese civilizations.1 Yet, as observed by the editors
of the volume dedicated to The Eastern Islamic World, “crudely severing the lands

||
1 Fierro 2010, 1–2.
||
Note: English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Giovanna Calasso, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-002
36 | Giovanna Calasso

of Islam into two halves can easily generate the impression of a much greater di-
vergence than was the case in reality”,2 while at the same time the features that
identify each of the two halves do not necessarily constitute a unitary reality. As
Elton Daniel points out, if “Iran and the Islamic east can be understood as refer-
ring to those parts of the Islamic oecumene that had formerly been part of the
Sasanian empire and where Islam came to be the dominant religion, but where
Arabic did not establish itself as the vernacular language of the majority of the
population”,3 in fact “the Islamic east was not ‘a region’ so much as a group of
regions […] with great variations in terms of relations both with each other and
with the greater commonwealth of the caliphate”.4
But how was the Islamic world seen from within, particularly by its own his-
torians and geographers, as the actual or alleged unity of the great Caliphate
stretching from Iberia to India progressively crumbled and new political powers
came to the fore, while conflicts as well as diplomatic and commercial contacts
with Europe – or, conversely, with India and China – shaped culturally diversi-
fied areas?
The aim of this chapter, then, is to explore when and how a boundary be-
tween Mashriq and Maghrib was conceived in medieval Muslim sources, and
which elements can be identified as being at the basis of this dichotomy, as ex-
plicitly or implicitly found in geographical and historical works by Eastern and
Western Muslim authors from the 3rd–4th/9th–10th century to the 6th–7th/12th–
13th century, as well as in travel literature. The relationship between mapping
the world in terms of dār al-islām and dār al-ḥarb – “the abode of Islam” and “the
abode of war”5 – and mapping the world of Islam itself in terms of East and West
– mashriq and maghrib – will also be the object of some comparative remarks.
Indeed, this study revolves around words which outline boundaries and convey
different categorizations of the world and its inhabitants – us/them or inside/out-
side dichotomies – describing divisions even within the Islamic world. Such cat-
egorizations and dichotomies reflect, with varying degrees of clarity, different
historical moments marked by major changes inside and outside the world under
Muslim rule.
The binary dār al-islām/dār al-ḥarb was conceived by jurists of the entourage
of the ʿAbbāsid caliphs in Baghdad following the stabilization of the vast Arab-
Muslim territorial expansion, which had reached its peak under the Umayyads.

||
2 Morgan/Reid 2010, 2.
3 Daniel 2010, 448.
4 Daniel 2010, 449.
5 On this topic, see Calasso/Lancioni 2017.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 37

Devised by jurists as a necessary analytical instrument to deal mainly with the

laws of warfare, it would also become the framework in which rules were estab-
lished to manage a reality made up of movements, exchanges and relationships
between individuals residing both inside and outside the domains of Islam.6 More
importantly, apart from their technical meaning in legal texts, dār al-islām and
dār al-ḥarb are two terms which have to do with the crucial issue of how to con-
ceive of oneself and others, and how to translate this conception into words. In
fact, these words were at first a terminological array that at a certain point crys-
tallized into two conventional formulas,7 constituting an oppositional pair, which
would persist up to modern and contemporary times.
Unlike the dār dichotomy, the pair maghrib/mashriq, which has also per-
sisted up to the present, arose in the 4th/10th century in Eastern geographical
texts describing the lands of Islam. In the following pages it will be shown that
also this binary – as used by Muslim geographers and travellers between the
4th/10th century and the 7th/13th century – reveals a complexity which goes far
beyond descriptive geography, insofar as it introduces a dichotomy within “the
realm of Islam”. As Ralph Brauer has demonstrated in his thorough analysis of
3rd–6th/9th–12th-century Muslim geographical sources, “apart from sea fron-
tiers, sharply defined boundary lines within the Islamic empire were either non-
existent or of little practical importance”.8 This is true even after the breakup of
the empire and the formation of numerous dynastic domains. Yet, does this ne-
glect of inland boundaries between different (Muslim) political entities – as can
be found in cartography, in geographical and historical writings, as well as in
travelogues – “reflect certain fundamental traits of the intellectual or religious
culture of the Islamic empire”? In other words, should this neglect be considered
a consequence of “embedded attitudes” of Muslim culture?9 If we consider Mus-
lim geographers and travellers’ mental maps of their own world, we will find that
internal boundaries clearly did exist, albeit between broader regions including
the domains of multiple dynasties. However, to understand exactly what kinds of
boundaries are at play here, it is crucial to highlight the historical framework in
which they developed.

||
6 Calasso 2010, 281–286; Calasso 2017, 25, 29–31.
7 See Lancioni 2017, 415–425.
8 Brauer 1995, 36.
9 Brauer 1995, 40–44.
38 | Giovanna Calasso

2 Dār al-islām/dār al-ḥarb, bilād al-islām/bilād

al-rūm, the Rūm and the Ifranj
Since the Persian Empire was removed from the political scene of the Near East
in the mid-7th century CE, the territorial and political reality of dār al-ḥarb largely
overlapped with the Byzantine Empire, mostly referred to by Muslim geographers
and historians as bilād al-Rūm. Even in the works of 4th/10th-century geogra-
phers, who deliberately focused on describing Islamic lands, almost completely
neglecting the “outside world”,10 the expression dār al-islām rarely occurs – fur-
ther proof of its being an abstract legal category. However, geographers did make
use of other general and equally all-embracing expressions, such as bilād al-
islām or mamlakat al-islām, as well as the word islām itself used in a spatial sense.
Thus, on the whole, their perception of the existence of two distinct realms, one
of which was identified by the reference to Islam, was similar to the binary emerg-
ing from legal texts.
As for Muslim historians, they do not usually employ the two oppositional
terms coined by jurists either, and, even when describing the wars of conquest,
simply name enemy territories after their inhabitants, i.e. bilād al-Rūm. For these
territories, in particular for the Byzantine-Anatolian borders, which, still at the
time of Hārūn al-Rashīd (r. 170–193 H/786–809 CE), the Muslims’ jihād cam-
paigns continued to target primarily, geographers and historians even created a
specific frontier terminology, thughūr and ʿawāṣim.11 This is also the period in
which jurists such as Abū Yūsuf (d. 182 H/798 CE) and al-Shaybānī (d. 189
H/805 CE) – both disciples of Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150 H/767 CE) – started to use sys-
tematically the notions of dār al-islām and dār al-ḥarb in their works. Even so, the
boundary between the two dārs is not mentioned in their writings, although it
implicitly represents the raison d’être of this binary. Rather, they constantly
evoke it through verbs of movement, mainly dakhala fī / kharaja min (to enter/to
exit), since it is crossing this unspoken frontier which will have legal conse-
quences.
Starting from the end of the 5th/11th century, a major historical change oc-
curred, whereby the dār al-ḥarb par excellence became the Christian Europe or

||
10 Zayde Antrim, however, suggests that Ibn Ḥawqal’s text is actually much more engaged with
lands outside “the realm of Islam” than his regional divisions might suggest. See Antrim 2012,
119. See also Martinez-Gros 1998, 326–327.
11 See Bonner 1994, who outlines the long process that resulted in the ʿawāṣim and thughūr
system, even though most sources agree in attributing it to the reign of Hārūn al-Rashīd.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 39

Latin Christendom of the Ifranj, while much of Anatolia by now included territo-
ries subject to Muslim authority. But the words – at least certain words – persist
over time. Muslim jurists’ categories and terms – dār al-islām/dār al-ḥarb –
would continue to be used up to modern times, with shifting meanings and
boundaries,12 as did the words Rūm and rūmī until the late Middle Ages, becoming
less precise and more all-embracing in their use.13 Although al-Ifranj was the
name Eastern Muslim historians used for crusaders and, more generally, Latin
Christians, in contrast to Rūm/rūmī – Byzantine Christians – in many cases the
latter designation would eventually be used interchangeably for both. Out of
many possible examples, it would be enough to quote a passage from Ibn Jubayr’s
Riḥla (late 6th/12th century) in which the traveller, when mentioning the great
defensive works Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin) was building in Cairo, such as the citadel
and the city walls, writes: “The forced labourers on this construction (…) were the
foreign Rumi prisoners whose numbers were beyond computation”.14 In this con-
text, the “Rumi prisoners” can only be Latin Christians who were captured during
the constant military expeditions taking place between Muslims and crusaders.
The looseness of the terms Rūm/rūmī has received the most attention in stud-
ies of medieval texts concerning commercial relations. For instance, Jessica Gold-
berg, who has recently carried out a thorough critical analysis of the Cairo Geniza
materials and their interpretation, observes:

The eleventh-century Geniza does not record a single profitable trading venture to the
north, within the frontiers of the large area known undifferentiatedly as balad al-Rūm –that
is, the land of the Romans. To the Geniza merchants the people of these regions were Rūm,
Romans – regardless of whether they were from the Northern Italian maritime republics,
Byzantine Italy, Greece, or Asia Minor.15

Thus, Jews living in Muslim lands used the same basic terminology for the Chris-
tian world as those used by Muslims.16 The Geniza commercial documents reveal

||
12 Besides the different theoretical orientations of Muslim jurists, the changes in historical cir-
cumstances inevitably gave rise to different ways of understanding the two terms through time.
Over the centuries, Muslims constituted by turns a minority ruling over a majority made up of
members of other religious communities, a ruling majority, a religious majority under non-Mus-
lim political rule, and, in different contexts in early modern and modern times, a minority resid-
ing in “non-Muslim” countries (see Calasso 2017, 39). On this last issue see Abou El Fadl 1994.
13 Examples of the persisting undifferentiated usage of the term Rūm for Byzantium/Byzantines
and for Europeans as well, can be found in Lev 2017, 63–73.
14 See Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 43; Riḥla (1907), 51 (al-asārā min al-rūm).
15 Goldberg 2012, 306–307.
16 See Lev 2017, 72.
40 | Giovanna Calasso

a similar lack of precision regarding the area called the Maghrib and its people,
the Maghāriba. Shelomo Dov Goitein was the first to call attention to the broad
geographical meaning of terms such as Maghrib, comprising the entire Muslim
Mediterranean world west of Egypt (North Africa, al-Andalus and Sicily) and
Rūm, in the Geniza commercial documents designating both Byzantium and
Christian Europe in general. According to Goitein,

The terminology [in the Geniza documents] betrays the existence of a deep barrier between
the Muslim East and the Muslim West and between both and Europe (including Byzantine
Asia Minor). When a person describes another as a Rūmī or a Maghribī, without specifying
his city or country, he shows lack of familiarity with, or interest in, the latter’s permanent
or original domicile.17

However, Goitein’s conclusions do not entirely correspond to reality,18 and do not

apply to Muslim authors in general, be they geographers, historians or travellers.
Terminology – as Lev has pointed out – is often more rigid or schematic than re-
ality: whereas we perceive only the opaque outer shells of these words, when
used by medieval authors, their meaning is fluid, full of nuances that would not
have been lost on their contemporaries.

3 Maghāriba and Mashāriqa

As for the people of the Maghrib, the word maghāriba, according to Muhammad
Talbi, firstly

denotes the Arabic-speakers of the Muslim West as opposed to those of the East, known as
Mashāriḳa. This division of Arabic-speakers into Mashāriḳa and Maghāriba (…) may be
traced from its origins. The frontier between the two major groupings – Muslim Spain in-
cluded, in spite of its special circumstances and its separate destiny – is still located east of
Tripoli, at Lebda, which accounts for the peculiar situation of Libya, constantly divided be-
tween its Maghribī and Oriental associations.19

Besides the linguistic reference (“the Arabic speakers of the Muslim West as op-
posed to those of the East”), and the identification of a linguistic “frontier” be-
tween Maghrib and Mashriq, what stands out in Talbi’s remarks is the fact that
these definitions are essentially a matter of mutual perception: “The Arabs, who

||
17 Goitein 1967, 43–44.
18 See Lev’s remarks on this issue (Lev 2017, 67, 69, 71).
19 Talbi, “Maghāriba”, EI2, 5: 1159.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 41

settled on a permanent basis in the West, rapidly became sufficiently Maghri-

bised or Hispanised to appear different from their racial compatriots who had re-
mained in the East”. Similarly, in the opening paragraph of the “Mashāriḳa” en-
try of the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Talbi states, “The concern
here is rather with the Mashāriḳa who were perceived as such in the West by the
Maghāriba”.20
Indeed, some revealing anecdotes are found in biographical dictionaries by
Western Muslim authors. For example, in the Tartīb al-madārik, al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d.
544 H/1149 CE) describes how certain maghāriba living in the first two centuries
of Islam were seen by their fellow Muslims in the East during their journey in
search of knowledge. One such Westerner is the Tunisian of Persian origin Abū
Muḥammad Ibn Farrūkh – a student of both Abū Ḥanīfa and Mālik b. Anas (d.
179 H/795 CE), who called him “the faqīh of the Maghrib”. According to al-Qāḍī
ʿIyāḍ, he was scorned (izdarāhu) by Ẓufar b. al-Hudhayl (d. 158 H/775 CE), one of
Abū Ḥanīfa’s most important disciples,21 on account of his Maghribi demeanour
(li-l-maghribiyya).22 However, Ibn Farrūkh ultimately got the better of Ibn
Hudhayl (qataʿahu bi-l-ḥujja) in a dispute, and the latter was reproached by the
master. Another is the famous Asad b. al-Furāt (d. 213 H/828 CE), who would be-
come one of the most eminent jurists of Kairouan. During his apprenticeship in
Medina, Mālik b. Anas reportedly allowed him to attend his lectures within the
group of Egyptian students, because the teacher had noticed “his thirst for
knowledge” (li-raghbatihi fī al-ʿilm), although initially, being a Maghribi, he had
had to attend the group of the ʿāmma, or common folk. Mālik’s full admissions
hierarchy, in fact, was as follows: first the Medinese, then the Egyptians, and
lastly, ordinary students, the ʿāmma.23 As Talbi observes, “Peu importe que ces
anecdotes soient vraies ou fausses: l’esprit qu’elles traduisent est authentique”.24

||
20 Talbi, “Mashāriḳa”, EI2, 6: 712. Italics mine.
21 On this little-known figure and his doctrines, see Cilardo 2008. Although Ẓufar b. al-Hudhayl
was an important disciple of Abū Ḥanīfa, it was Abū Yūsuf and al-Shaybānī who would come to
be regarded as the master’s two main companions (Heffening/Schacht, “Ḥanafiyya”, EI2, 3: 162–
164.
22 Talbi 1968, 44. For the entire biography of Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Farrūkh al-Fārisī
in Tartīb al-madārik by al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, see Talbi 1968, 40–51. Born in al-Andalus in 115 H/733 CE,
he eventually settled in Kairouan. He made two study trips to the East and died in Egypt on the
way back from his pilgrimage (Talbi 1968, 50–51). See also al-Mālikī, Riyāḍ al-nufūs (1994), 176–
187, where the above-mentioned episode is found in slightly more detail (al-Mālikī, Riyāḍ al-
nufūs [1994], 181).
23 Talbi 1968, 53 (full biography 52–70).
24 Talbi 1966, 20: “It is of little importance whether these anecdotes be true or false: the spirit
which they express is authentic”.
42 | Giovanna Calasso

According to Talbi, the examples show that the Maghrib at the very least had an
inferiority complex vis-à-vis the Mashriq, a fact that would lead the Andalusi poet
Ibn Bassām in the 6th/12th century to write indignantly in his Dhakhīra: “The
people of our lands are eager to ape the Orientals…”.25
In addition to their presence in biographical dictionaries – of which we have
seen only a glimpse, as it is a field still to be systematically explored – as well as
in sources such as the Geniza commercial documents,26 the maghāriba also show
up in geographical and historiographical texts in reference to the military. Lastly,
customs, linguistic peculiarities, and ordinary people’s devotional practices are
mainly to be found in travelogues.
As for the military, historical accounts of the Samarra period make repeated
references to a regiment of soldiers called the Maghāriba.27 The establishment of
the regiment seems to date back to 210s H/830s CE, late in the reign of al-
Maʾmūn’s (r. 197–218 H/813–833 CE). Al-Yaʿqūbī (d. ca. 292 H/905 CE) in the sec-
tion of his Kitāb al-Buldān dedicated to Samarra’s topography, states that the area
inhabited by the Maghāriba was among the first neighbourhoods created by al-
Muʿtaṣim (r. 218–227 H/833–842 CE) in his new capital, Samarra.28 But who were
the soldiers who constituted this Maghāriba corps? In a passage concerning al-
Muʿṭasim’s campaign against the Byzantine city of Amorium, al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 H/
923 CE) says: “On the third day the battle was fought by the Commander of the
Faithful’s own troops in particular, together with the Maghāribah and Turks”.29
As noted by Bosworth, the sources give little exact information about the ethnic
or local origins of these “Westerners”, in contrast to the detailed information on
the Khorasanians and Transoxianans.30 Different hypotheses have been sug-
gested: either they were Berbers from the Maghrib31 or it was an ethnically mixed
regiment: Arab tribes from the Delta region of Egypt, Berbers from North Africa,

||
25 Talbi, “Maghāriba”, EI2, 5: 1159.
26 In Muslim geographical works commerce is mostly referred to as an exchange between re-
gions, Maghrib and Mashriq, rather than between the inhabitants of these regions.
27 The main sources are al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Ṭabarī and al-Masʿūdī. See Gordon 2001, 37–38; Kennedy
2001, 119, 125–126. According to al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 263, together with Turkish troops
and those from Ferghana and Khorasan, in Samarra there were also the Maghāriba, “who were
granted lots near the river port on the Tigris” (Kennedy 2001, 119).
28 Gordon 2001, 38. More precisely, al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 263, states that “The place
known as al-Azlakh, which was where the Maghāriba foot-soldiers (al-rajjāla al-maghāriba)
lived, was one of the first parts of Samarra to be laid out” (al-Yaʿqūbī, Works [2018], 1: 97).
29 Al-Ṭabarī, History (1991), 113.
30 Al-Ṭabarī, History (1991), 113, n. 317.
31 Talbi 1986, 1160.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 43

and possibly blacks brought as slaves from East Africa.32 However, as pointed out
by Gordon, the only specific reference to the origin of the Maghāriba troops, that
of al-Masʿūdī (d. 345 H/956 CE), associates them solely with the Ḥawf (Delta re-
gion): “(Al-Muʿtaṣim) had shaped/trained (iṣṭanaʿa) a group from the two ‘dis-
tricts’ of Egypt (min ḥawfay Miṣr), (that is) from the ‘district’ of Yemen, and from
the ‘district’ of Qays. He called them the Maghāriba”.33 In all likelihood, accord-
ing to both Gordon and Kennedy, it was a corps made up of prisoners captured
by Abū Isḥāq, the future caliph al-Muʿtaṣim, when he was sent to Egypt by his
brother al-Maʾmūn to suppress unrest and bring the province firmly under the
caliph’s control.34
Thus, these “Westerners”, who made up an important corps in the army of
Samarra,35 where they had their own estates, were in all likelihood Arabs from the
Delta region (Ḥawf), “not descendants of the original conquerors, but offspring
of later immigrants who had been moved from Syria in Umayyad times”.36 Their
name, “the Westerners”, in this case has a relative meaning within the context of
Samarra’s troops, most of whom were Turks or soldiers from distant Ferghana in
modern-day Uzbekistan. By comparison, troops from Egypt were certainly “West-
erners”.
The term Maghāriba, then, as employed in 3rd–4th/9th–10th-century East-
ern historiographical sources with reference to this ʿAbbāsid army corps, seems
to have been used just as loosely as in the Geniza documents with reference to
the Maghāriba merchants of the Mediterranean area between the 5th/11th century
and the 6th/12th century.

||
32 Al-Ṭabarī, History (1991), 113, n. 317. According to Gordon 2001, 38, this is not a very plausible
hypothesis, since mixing different ethnic groups in one regiment was rare in this period.
33 Gordon 2001, 38. The region to the east of the eastern branch of the Nile was called al-Ḥawf,
the central region of the Delta was al-Rīf, while the land to the west of the western arm was called
al-Buḥayra, and later al-Ḥawf al-Gharbī (see Kramers 1995, 39). The term “districts”, in Gordon’s
translation of the passage, refers therefore to the two Ḥawfs, the two areas of the Egyptian desert,
to the east and west respectively of the Nile Delta, where Arab tribes, from Qays and Yemen, had
settled. In this passage Al-Masʿūdī reports that al-Muʿtaṣim had already enrolled military forces
of different origins such as Turks, whom he favoured, but also the “Maghribis”, as well as sol-
diers from Khorasan, Ferghana and Ushrūsana, in Baghdad, before Samarra was founded. See
al-Masʿūdī, Prairies (1873), 118.
34 Gordon 2001, 38; Kennedy 2001, 125–126.
35 As for their number, Bosworth refers to al-Bayhaqī’s Kitāb al-Maḥāsin wa-l-masāwī, written
in the first decades of the 4th/10th century, where “it is mentioned, on the authority of the rāwī
Ḥamdūn b. Ismāʿīl, that 4,000 Maghāribah were involved in a ceremonial parade on the occa-
sion of the ʿīd” (al-Ṭabarī, History [1991], 113, n. 317).
36 Kennedy 2001, 125.
44 | Giovanna Calasso

However, a small but telling detail in a passage from al-Ṭabarī’s History re-
veals something more: the contemptuous way in which the “Easterners” re-
garded these “Westerners”. It is the passage where al-Ṭabarī reports how Mazyār,
rebel lord of Tabaristan, denounced general Afshīn for having instigated his re-
volt against the caliph and having proposed an alliance between them. In a list
of the military forces that the caliph al-Muʿtaṣim would have had at his disposal
to combat them, three groups are mentioned, “the Arabs, the Maghariba, and the
Turks”. Quoted as direct speech, the following comment is reported: “As for the
flies” – meaning the Maghāriba – “they are only a handful”.37 It is an interesting
passage both in terms of al-Afshīn’s disdainful remark about the Maghāriba
– could the term “flies” refer to their swarthy complexion, as Bosworth sug-
gests38, or, perhaps more likely, to their presence being considered annoying,
however harmless? – as well as for the fact that al-Ṭabarī, himself a Persian, per-
fectly understands who the expression hints at and feels the need to explain it to
the reader.
It is known, however, that it would be in the Fāṭimid context that the Ma-
ghāriba were to enjoy a leading role in the military, first in Ifrīqiya, and then well
into the Egyptian period. The Kutāma Berbers supplied the major contingents of
the Fāṭimid army, and it is in Cairo that the antagonism between Maghāriba and
Mashāriqa (which apparently predates the Fāṭimid conquest)39 became particu-
larly violent, starting with the passage from al-ʿAzīz’s caliphate (r. 365–386 H/
975–996 CE) to al-Ḥākim’s (r. 386–411 H/996–1021 CE). The Westerners, as Walker
points out, “comprised Arabs as well as Berbers, true Maghribis from Ifrīqiya
along with the Ṣiqillis (and possibly Andalusis) – that is any one from west of
Egypt”.40 They contrasted with the Mashāriqa, mainly Turks and Daylamis, who
al-ʿAzīz had started importing in droves to create his own regiments of profes-
sional soldiers from the East, and to whom he offered prominent positions in the

||
37 Al-Ṭabarī, History (1991), 191. Italics mine. Various degrees of contempt are also expressed in
what is said about the other two groups: “As for the Arab, he is like a dog; i will throw him a
scrap of food and then beat his brains out with a mace [...] As for the sons of devils – meaning
the Turks – it is only a short period of time before they have loosed off their arrows, and then the
cavalry [...] will destroy them to the last man”.
38 Al-Ṭabarī, History (1991), 191, n. 548.
39 Brett 2001, 161, traces back to the year 323 H/935 CE the rivalry between Mashāriqa (Turks)
and Maghāriba, according to him “probably a combination of Berber and Black squadrons and
regiments”.
40 Walker 2008, 48.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 45

army as well as in the government. It is in fact during al-ʿAzīz’s reign that “the
standing of the Kutāma steadily diminished and that of the Turk rose”.41
Egypt is therefore the place where the Western and Eastern military forces –
mainly Berbers and Turks, who took turns enjoying the Fāṭimids’ favour – faced
off, struggling for power as of the first half of the 4th/10th century, which fits its
characterization, across many writings and contexts, as a watershed between
East and West.
And this leads us back to the analysis of the terminological pair Mashriq/Ma-
ghrib, first of all in geographical works, where the two terms arose as descriptive
categories starting in the late 3rd/9th century.

4 Maghrib and Mashriq in Eastern geographical

texts: al-Yaʿqūbī’s view (late 3rd/9th century)
As Claude Cahen observed five decades ago in an article full of both insight and
unanswered questions,42 Eastern Muslim historians almost completely ignored
the part of the Islamic world known as the Maghrib – roughly the region west of
Egypt43 – until Ibn al-Athīr (d. 630 H/1233 CE). Unlike his predecessors, he
devoted to it a considerable part of his “universal” history al-Kāmil fī al-taʾrīkh
(which covers events until 628 H/1231 CE), having got hold of enough material
“pour écrire, sur l’histoire aussi bien du Maghreb ou de l’Espagne que de l’Asie
Centrale, des chapitres d’une qualité qui en fait pour nous mêmes une source à
consulter à égalité des sources autochtones”.44

||
41 Walker 2008, 49.
42 Cahen 1970, 41–49.
43 In addition to Cahen’s remarks on the Arab historians’ scant interest in the events related to
the territories west of Egypt, it is also worth mentioning the following observation by Goodchild:
“The Arab documentary sources, relatively detailed in their account of the conquest of Egypt,
dry up almost completely once the army of ʾAmr ibn al-Aasi moved westward from the Delta”.
Even the fullest and most reliable account of the expedition, that of Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, after
stating that the Luwāta Berbers had long occupied Anṭābulus (Pentapolis) or Barqa, says no
more than: “ʾAmr ibn el-Aasi now entered the land with his horsemen and reached Barka, with
whose inhabitants he made a treaty” (Goodchild 1976, 255).
44 Cahen 1970, 47. Cahen’s evaluation of Ibn al-Athīr’s ability to write “a number of chapters of
such quality to constitute for us a source as valuable as local ones” about the history of the Ma-
ghrib and al-Andalus, as well as of Central Asia, must now be compared with Luis Molina’s anal-
ysis of Ibn al-Athīr’s work and his use of historical sources from al-Andalus. See Molina 2020. I
am grateful to the author for providing me with a copy of his paper before publication.
46 | Giovanna Calasso

Predictably, al-Baladhurī (d. ca. 279 H/892 CE) hardly says anything in his
Futūḥ al-buldān apart from the events of the conquest. Likewise, Egyptian histo-
rian Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (d. 257 H/871 CE) dedicates three quarters of his work on
the Arab conquests in North Africa to Egypt. Even al-Ṭabarī, as Cahen observes,
in the thousands of pages of his Taʾrīkh, did not dedicate more than a few lines to
the events of the West, “dont les plus importants lui sont inconnus ou indiffé-
rents”.45 Were the events of the West unknown to him, or else uninteresting?
With reference to al-Andalus, Luis Molina46 has recently addressed the ques-
tion of Eastern historians’ silence about the events of the Islamic West after the
conquest, by focusing on the circulation of information on the Iberian peninsula
among medieval historians from the Islamic East and their use of works written
by authors from al-Andalus. The answer, supported by precise documentation,
suggests that during the early stage – until the 4th/10th century – there was in-
deed scant information and interest, limited exclusively to the events of the con-
quest. Subsequent events are almost completely ignored, possibly for ideological
reasons. In certain cases, there are grounds to believe that Eastern historians’ si-
lence responded to a conscious decision.47 A second stage – from the early
7th/13th century onwards – is marked instead, according to Molina, by a kind of
passive attitude on the part of Eastern historians, who, rather than conduct re-
search of their own, seem content to draw directly on Andalusi sources, by then
circulating in the East, and which they simply include in their own works.
However, going back to Cahen’s remarks, by contrast with historians, some
Eastern geographers between the late 3rd/9th century and the 4th/10th century
had already provided well-documented descriptions of the Maghrib region. From
this point of view, an especially enigmatic figure is historian and geographer al-

||
45 Cahen 1970, 43: “the most important of which (Western events) are unknown or uninterest-
ing to him”.
46 Molina 2020.
47 It seems to be the case with al-Masʿūdī, who, as Luis Molina observes, in the geographical
section of his encyclopaedic work Murūj al-dhahab gives many reports not only referring to the
conquest of al-Andalus, but also to historical events up until the time his work was written. How-
ever, in the second part of the Murūj, a general history of the Islamic world, there is no mention
of al-Andalus at all. According to Molina, this indicates that al-Masʿūdī was sufficiently informed
about the history of al-Andalus, and if he did not include it in the historical section of the Murūj
this was due to a conscious decision (Molina 2020). This, in turn, poses another question: why
such a difference between the historian and the geographer? A problem that, as we will see, also
concerns another Eastern author, al-Yaʿqūbī, and which perhaps has to do with the mental
boundaries established by Muslim authors between different fields of knowledge. With reference
to al-Ṭabarī, see also Calasso 2017, 26.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 47

Yaʿqūbī48, who, as Cahen has pointed out, “comme géographe, décrit avec détail
l’Afrique du Nord, où il a été, et qui, comme historien, ne connait plus rien en
dehors de l’Orient”.49
Thus it is perhaps worth taking as our starting point al-Yaʿqūbī – whose Kitāb
al-Buldān was composed in the final decade of the 3rd/9th century50 – in order to
identify the path toward the establishment of a boundary between Mashriq and
Maghrib in the writings of Muslim geographers.
Al-Yaʿqūbī’s perspective – that of a civil servant and member of the cosmo-
politan ʿAbbāsid élite – is resolutely Iraq-centric, openly stating that this region
is “the centre of the world and the navel of the earth” (waṣat al-dunyā wa-surrat
al-arḍ), in the same way as Baghdad is “the centre of Iraq” (waṣat al-ʿIrāq), and a
city that has no peer, “neither to the east nor to the west of the earth” (allatī laysa
lahā naẓīr fī mashāriq al-arḍ wa-maghāribihi). Thus, in the words of Matthew Gor-
don, “the Buldān is properly described as an ‘imperial’ digest”.51 The description
of Baghdad, the original ʿAbbāsid capital, is followed by that of Samarra, the
ʿAbbāsid capital for much of the 3rd/9th century, although by that time it had
nearly reached the end of its history as imperial hub. Al-Yaʿqūbī could not be
clearer about this, stating, “We began with them because they are the royal cities
and the seats of the caliphate…”.52 Around this centre, the other Islamic regions
(al-Yaʿqūbī still does not use the expression mamlakat al-islām) are then divided
into four “quarters” (rubʿ, pl. arbāʿ), the first being the eastern one, al-Mashriq,
from Jibal to Khorasan, to Transoxiana. Next follows the southern rubʿ: lower
Iraq, Medina, Mecca, Yemen. The third rubʿ is the northern one and, finally, the
fourth is the western one, al-Maghrib. Unfortunately, the work we have at our
disposal is incomplete. As explained by Everett K. Rowson, “A very large lacuna
has deprived us of much of the Southern quarter (and part of what survives is

||
48 Our best source on al-Yaʿqūbī’s life is Yāqūt’s entry. However, the date of Ibn Wāḍiḥ’s death
as given by Yāqūt, 284 H/897 CE, is now considered untenable and should be moved to 295 H/908
CE. See Anthony/Gordon 2018, 12–13.
49 Cahen 1970, 43: “As a geographer, he describes in detail North Africa, where he has been,
while as a historian he seemingly knows nothing but the East”. Gérard Lecomte, in a brief article,
pointed out that also Ibn Qutayba (d. 276 H/889 CE), the great Sunnī polymath and al-Yaʿqūbī’s
contemporary, in his Kitāb al-Maʿārif, only mentions Ifrīqiya twice, in reference to the conquests,
without saying anything about the founding of Kairouan, and writes but a few words about the
West, both in the Umayyad and the ʿAbbāsid periods, apart from reporting the arrival of ʿAbd al-
Raḥmān – grandson of the caliph Hishām – who took over al-Andalus (Lecomte 1957, 253–255).
50 He himself says that he wrote the Kitāb al-Buldān fifty-five years after Samarra’s foundation
(221 H/836 CE), hence around 276 H/889 CE. See al-Yaʿqūbī, Works (2018), 1: 101.
51 Gordon 2018, 6.
52 Al-Yaʿqūbī, Works (2018), 1: 102.
48 | Giovanna Calasso

mislabelled the Northern quarter), all of the Northern quarter, and the first part
of the Western quarter”.53
The route westward starts from Aleppo in northern Syria, passing through
Homs, Damascus, Jordan, Palestine, Lower and Upper Egypt, and even Nubia,
the land of gold and emerald mines. Following this itinerary there is a paragraph
describing the route from Egypt to Mecca, for the benefit of pilgrims, after which
the author at last moves on to the Maghrib proper: “from Egypt to Barqa to al-
Maghrib al-aqṣā (the far West)”. After describing the cities of Ifrīqiya, a short sec-
tion is dedicated to al-Andalus, along with directions on how to reach it from
Kairouan. The account then starts again from Tahert (in present-day Algeria),
nicknamed “the Iraq of the Maghrib”, and closes with Sijilmāsa and al-Sūs al-
Aqṣā (Morocco).54
Thus, in al-Yaʿqūbī’s five-area division – a centre, Iraq, surrounded by four
arbāʿ – the attention paid to the Maghrib is indeed limited. No more than fifteen
pages are dedicated to the region, including al-Andalus, although it is also true
that the information provided is fairly accurate55, in particular concerning the
itineraries from place to place and the inhabitants. Here, the Maghrib region is
simply the westernmost part of the “western rubʿ ” of the Islamic lands, taken to
include Syria and Egypt as well. There is still no direct comparison with the
Mashriq, nor any indication of a boundary separating the two. There is likewise
no explicit hierarchy between the East and the West; the Maghrib is the last re-
gion to be described, but this is only logical since in the structure of the work the
four arbāʿ are described from east to west.
By contrast, a hierarchical view is openly expressed in a tradition reported by
a contemporary of al-Yaʿqūbī, Iranian geographer Ibn al-Faqīh, in his Kitāb al-
Buldān (written ca. 290 H/903 CE). The same tradition is also found, in a slightly
modified yet significantly different version, at the beginning of the Egyptian his-
torian Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam’s (d. 257 H/871 CE) Futūḥ Miṣr.56 According to this tra-
dition, the earth was created in the shape of a bird, with each of the five main
parts of its body corresponding to a region, or a group of regions, of the inhabited
world: the head, in Ibn al-Faqīh’s version, corresponds to China, the right wing
to India, the left one to the Khazar region, while the chest is Mecca, Hejaz, Syria,

||
53 Rowson 2018, 26. See also al-Yaʿqūbī, Works (2018), 1: 156, n. 484, where De Goeje’s note
about this mislabelling – translated from Latin – is reported.
54 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 342–360; al-Yaʿqūbī, Works (2018), 1: 178–198.
55 For what concerns the valuable information provided on toponyms, ports and fortifications,
as well as water supplies, agricultural products and mineral resources in the section devoted to
the Maghrib in al-Yaʿqūbī’s work, see Manzano 2017.
56 Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ Miṣr (1922), 1.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 49

Iraq and Egypt. Finally, the tail corresponds to the region stretching from Dhāt
al-Ḥumām (near Alexandria in Egypt) “to the land of the setting sun” (ilā maghrib
al-shams), concluding with the remark that “the worst part of a bird is the tail”
(wa-l-sharru mā fī al-ṭayr al-dhanab).57 However, according to the version re-
ported by Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ – son
of the Muslim conqueror of Egypt – the bird’s head corresponds to Mecca, Medina
and Yemen, while Egypt and Syria are its chest, Iraq and Sind the wings, and the
Maghrib the tail. As can be seen, of the two variants of the tradition – whose ori-
gins are unknown – the one quoted by Ibn al-Faqīh refers to the whole world,
identifying China as the bird’s head and placing Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Egypt in
the centre. That of the Egyptian historian, on the other hand, limited to Islamic
countries, gives pride of place to Arabia,58 but chooses Egypt and Syria to occupy
the centre, the chest of the bird, placing Iraq on the right wing, and Sind on the
left. Both accounts, however, leave the worst part – the tail – to the Maghrib.
A similar hierarchical view does not have any explicit correspondence in al-
Yaʿqūbī’s work. What is interesting, rather, is the attention the author devotes to
the variety of ethnic components of the Maghrib and the relevant terminology. Of
the three political powers unevenly dividing Northern Africa at the time, the
Aghlabids of Kairouan, the Rustamids of Tahert and the Idrīsids of Fez, al-
Yaʿqūbī’s survey of the tribes’ distribution mostly covers the Tahert area. One of
the most significant features that emerges, too, is the fragmentation of the an-
cient tribal groups.59 However, aside from this fragmentation, what draws the ge-
ographer’s attention is more generally the mix of people who inhabit these terri-
tories, even in cities and their suburbs, mainly in Ifrīqiya: Arabs, Persians, and
ʿajam al-balad, “the non-Arab locals”,60 among whom he draws further distinc-
tions based on their various places of origin. There are also the Rūm, descendants
of the ancient Byzantines who ruled the country before the Arab conquest, as for
instance in the city of Barniq, on the Mediterranean coast (“the coast of the Salt
Sea”): it is inhabited by people descended from the ancient Romans, who in for-
mer times had made up the city’s population (wa-ahluhā qawm min abnāʾ al-rūm
al-qudum alladhīna kānū ahlahā qadīman).61 Sometimes they are also defined as
baqāyā al-Rūm, “the remaining Rūm”, in all likelihood the descendants of the

||
57 Antrim 2012, 96, 133.
58 It is still to be established whether, given this symbolic recognition of Arabia, the head or the
chest is in fact more important in Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam’s mental hierarchy.
59 Marçais 1957, 38.
60 On this autochtonous minority under the Aghlabids, see Bahri 2000, which focuses in par-
ticular on their legal and social status as well as the chronology of their Islamization.
61 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 343.
50 | Giovanna Calasso

soldiers and officials of the Byzantine Empire, who had established themselves
there two or three centuries earlier. Finally, there are the less easily identifiable
Afāriqa, who are distinguished from the Berbers by al-Yaʿqūbī and who, accord-
ing to Marçais, could essentially be identified by the language they spoke, neither
Arabic nor Berber nor Greek, but perhaps the variety of Latin spoken in the an-
cient Roman province.62
The term akhlāṭ, which indicates a “mixture”, frequently occurs in this sec-
tion of his work when referring to the people who inhabit the Maghrib region,
who are ʿarab, ʿajam and ʿajam al-balad, the latter being the group in which the
geographer includes Berbers, Rūm, and Afāriqa. As for the ʿajam, the Eastern
non-Arabs, “We can find some individuals coming from Khorasan, Basra and
Kufa (akhlāṭ min ahl khurāsān wa-min al-baṣra wa-min al-kūfa)”,63 but above all
the ʿajam are represented by the Persians of the Ibāḍī principality of Tahert,
which he refers to as the “Iraq of the Maghrib”. The term akhlāṭ is used to charac-
terise the mixture of groups in general – as in the expression akhlāṭ min al-nās
(“a mixture of people”) when speaking of Tripoli’s inhabitants – while Gabes’s
population is more precisely described as “akhlāṭ min al-ʿarab al-ʿajam wa-l-bar-
bar” (a mixture of Arabs, Eastern non-Arabs – i.e. Persians – and Berbers).64 In
Kairouan, the mixture is even more heterogeneous, made up of people from the
Quraysh and other Arab tribes, Eastern non-Arabs (Persians) from Khorasan (min
quraysh wa-min sāʾir buṭūn al-ʿarab (...) wa-bihā aṣnāf min al-ʿajam min ahl
khurāsān…) as well as “autochthonous non-Arabs” (ʿajam min ʿajam al-balad),
Berbers and Rūm.65 As for the cities of Qasṭīliya, “the inhabitants of these cities
are non-Arabs descending from the ancient Rūm, Afāriqa and Berbers” (ahl
hādhihi al-mudun qawm ʿajam min al-rūm al-qudum wa-l-afāriqa wa-l-barbar);66
and in the Zab region, a ten-day journey from Kairouan, “the mixture is made up
of Quraysh and other Arab tribes of the army, Eastern non-Arabs (Persians),
Afāriqa, Rūm (Byzantines) and Berbers” (wa-bihā akhlāṭ min quraysh wa-l-ʿarab
wa-l-jund wa-l-ʿajam wa-l-afāriqa wa-l-rūm wa-l-barbar).67
Considering that just over ten pages are dedicated to the Maghrib, the con-
centration of such detailed information on this theme is remarkable. Besides al-

||
62 Marçais 1957, 41–42, supports this hypothesis with the fact that al-Idrīsī (6th/12th century),
a much later author, claims that in Gafsa, which he refers to as “the city of the Afāriqa”, “most
people still speak the Latin language of Africa” (al-lisān al-latīnī al-afāriqī).
63 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 345.
64 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 347.
65 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 348.
66 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 350.
67 Al-Yaʿqūbī, al-Buldān (1892), 350.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 51

Yaʿqūbī’s attention to the heterogeneous ethnic composition of the Maghribi pop-

ulation, we can also perceive his concern with the temporal stratification of its
different components, in a word, with the history of these regions that witnessed
in different periods the overlapping of Berbers, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and
Persians. The recurrence of formulaic expressions such as al-ʿajam al-qudum, al-
rūm al-qudum, al-barbar al-qudum, al-jund al-qudum, al-afāriqa al-qudum, how-
ever imprecise, evokes a past tied to this ethnic diversity.
Also in the section devoted to the eastern rubʿ – particularly the area from
Nahrawan to the main cities of northern Iran (Dinawar, Qazvin, Nihavand, Isfa-
han, Rayy, Nishapur, Sarakhs) – al-Yaʿqūbī points out on almost every page that
the inhabitants are a mixture of Arabs and non-Arabs, the latter mainly called
ʿajam, and only three times by their own name: Persians (al-Furs).68 What is worth
noting with reference to the Maghrib is that when specifying what the “mixture”
is composed of, next to the well-known, longstanding dichotomy ʿarab/ʿajam, a
new entity appears, that of ʿajam al-balad, the autochthonous non-Arabs (or non-
Arabic speakers), i.e. the non-Arabs of the western regions, a category which, ac-
cording to al-Yaʿqūbī, only partially overlaps with the Berbers.69 This new com-
ponent, in symmetrical opposition to that of the Eastern ʿajam, is now given
recognition.

5 Al-Mashriq and al-Maghrib in mamlakat al-

islām: the contrasting views of Ibn Ḥawqal and
al-Muqaddasī (4th/10th century)

5.1 Ibn Ḥawqal’s Maghrib as the land of the Berbers

The first emergence of al-Maghrib as a distinct reality from al-Mashriq in mamla-
kat al-islām is to be found in the works of the 4th/10th-century Eastern geogra-
phers Ibn Ḥawqal and al-Muqaddasī, each of whom nevertheless assesses this
reality in different terms. It was still not so in the work of their predecessor – and
Ibn Ḥawqal’s teacher – al-Iṣṭakhrī, a native of Fārs, whose Kitāb Masālik al-
mamālik was written in the mid-4th/10th century. In the whole of his work, Iran

||
68 Al-Yaʿqūbī, Works (2018), 1: 103–114; al-Buldān (1892), 270–279. Three times does the author
mention also the Kurds among the non-Arabs (al-Yaʿqūbī, Works [2018], 1: 103, 104, 109).
69 See Marçais 1957, 39–42.
52 | Giovanna Calasso

– and in particular the author’s native region of Fārs – is placed at the forefront
and given ample space, even though the Arabian peninsula – diyār al-ʿarab –
comes first in the text, followed by the description of the surrounding baḥr Fāris,
by which the author means not just the Persian Gulf but the Indian Ocean as a
whole. The ensuing countries are then described as an uninterrupted sequence
from west to east, although there is no particular stress on an East/West bound-
ary.70 It is only with Ibn Ḥawqal and al-Muqaddasī, the two eminent successors
of al-Iṣṭakhrī in the 4th/10th century, that the Maghrib gains visibility in the gen-
eral framework of mamlakat al-islām.
In the eyes of Eastern Muslim geographers, Egypt seems to be the last region
of the East bordering the Maghrib, or rather, as the Palestinian al-Muqaddasī puts
it – specifically referring to al-Fusṭāṭ – it is “the point of intersection between al-
Maghrib and the lands of the Arabs (faṣl bayna al-Maghrib wa-diyār al-ʿarab)”,71
seemingly implying that the West is an ethnically different reality; does he mean
to say that it is the land of the Berbers? The comparison between Ibn Ḥawqal and
al-Muqaddasī, as we will see below, shows significant differences in this respect
and others.
The first detailed description of the medieval Maghrib can be ascribed to Iraqi
geographer Ibn Ḥawqal (fl. second half of the 4th/10th century);72 as Garcin wrote
in his important 1983 article on the subject, “Due à un oriental, elle a marqué la
place désormais acquise par ce pays dans l’empire de l’Islam”.73
Thus, the 4th/10th century officially marks the emergence of the binary divi-
sion of “the Islamic world” into Mashriq and Maghrib. Whereas the dār al-
islām/dār al-ḥarb dichotomy was conceived as such by Sunnī Muslim jurists, the
mashriq/maghrib binary as it emerged in these 4th/10th-century geographical
texts was the result of Eastern authors’ “acknowledgment” of the Western region

||
70 As for the part on the Maghrib in al-Iṣṭakhrī’s work, André Miquel has highlighted its value,
even though in terms of size and quality of information it is not comparable to the chapter Ibn
Ḥawqal dedicates to it. The Maghrib is seen by al-Isṭakhrī as divided into two halves, an eastern
and a western one, the latter coinciding with al-Andalus. Moreover, as Miquel points out, the
things al-Iṣṭakhrī leaves out of the chapter prove to be equally interesting, for instance Sicily,
which he does not perceive as part of the Maghrib (Miquel 1973, 231–239).
71 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1877), 197. In translating faṣl as “point of intersection” I
have followed Miquel 1972, 115–116.
72 The dates of his birth and death are unknown. What is known is that starting in 331 H/943 CE
he undertook a series of journeys through various regions of the Islamic world. His trail is lost
after 362 H/973 CE, when he travelled to Sicily (Miquel, “Ibn Ḥawḳal”, EI2).
73 Garcin 1983, 77: “Being the work of an Easterner, it designated the position this land had
acquired by then within the Islamic Empire”.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 53

of the Muslim territories, beginning with Ibn Ḥawqal, who devotes a lengthy
chapter to “al-maghrib”. This name designates a region with precise boundaries,
starting in the vicinity of Barqa and stretching westward over the whole of North
Africa, also including al-Andalus and Sicily. Mainly inhabited by Berber popula-
tions, this region, whose principal activity reported is trade, includes many cities
whose names and features are duly indicated and described, along with the roads
that connect them. The East/West dichotomy remains implicit, and yet clearly
perceptible.
Al-mashriq, the eastern part of the Muslim territories, is not mentioned in Ibn
Ḥawqal’s work by this name, nor are its borders defined. However, the organiza-
tion of the material in his Kitāb Ṣūrat al-arḍ reveals the hierarchy the author has
in mind: following al-Iṣṭakhrī, Ibn Ḥawqal starts off by describing diyār al-
ʿarab – by which he means specifically Arabia – “because Mecca, that is the
qibla, is found there, and because it is the land of the Arabs, their homeland,
which they inhabit without having shared it with any other peoples (balad al-
ʿarab wa-awṭānuhum lam yashrakhum fī suknāhā ghayruhum)”.74 What follows,
as a geographical corollary, is a section devoted to the Indian Ocean (baḥr Fāris),
due to the fact that it surrounds Arabia on three sides. However, after this due
tribute to the cradle of Islam, the author goes on to describe all the Muslim terri-
tories from west to east: first the Maghrib, which includes al-Andalus and Sicily;75
then Egypt, which therefore is not part of the Maghrib, yet is not explicitly defined
as part of the Mashriq either; next Syria, followed by a section devoted to the
Mediterranean. The author then turns to Jazira and Iraq, which according to him
is the best province, blessed with all possible advantages, yet so well known that
he declares there is no need to dwell on it for long. Then he moves on to the north-
western regions of the eastern Muslim lands – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Jibal –
followed by the lands of the north of Iran, Daylam and Tabaristan. An interlude

||
74 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 18. Ibn Ḥawqal’s description of Arabia almost seems to
represent the opposite of that of the Maghrib given more than fifty years before by al-Yaʿqūbī,
who highlights the heterogeneous ethnic composition which characterises the western regions
of the lands of Islam, as well as those of north-eastern Iran. Could we already see behind al-
Yaʿqūbī’s stressing this mixture of peoples, an implicit comparison with Arabia and its ethnic
identity?
75 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 131. Ibn Ḥawqal, after having described North Africa as
well as al-Andalus and Sicily, concludes the section with these words: “this is the description of
the Maghrib in its entirety” (wa-hādhihi jumal min awṣāf al-maghrib). Already in a previous pas-
sage, he indicates that al-Andalus is part of the Maghrib (wa-hiya fī jumlat al-maghrib). See Ibn
Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 62.
54 | Giovanna Calasso

is then devoted to the Caspian Sea (baḥr al-Khazar), before going back to Khora-
san and the deserts of Fārs. Lastly, the author turns to Sijistan, Khorasan and
Transoxiana.
It is true that, on the whole, Ibn Ḥawqal dedicates the majority of his work to
the region of Iran, as pointed out by Gabriel Martinez-Gros.76 It is also true that in
the initial part of his work, in which he provides the general coordinates of mam-
lakat al-islām, including its overall length, Ibn Ḥawqal specifies: “When men-
tioning the length of the Islamic territories (ṭūl al-islām) I have neglected [to con-
sider] the border of the Maghrib up to al-Andalus because it is like the sleeve of a
garment (li-annahu ka-l-kumm fī al-thawb)”.77 However despite this apparently
unflattering consideration of the westernmost territories of Islam (but is “the
sleeve of a garment” the whole of the Maghrib or only al-Andalus?), the number
and the quality of the pages dedicated to the description of the western region, as
well as the vast amount of information given, shows that in Ibn Ḥawqal’s view it
is far from being a secondary, remote periphery of mamlakat al-islām. It is also
worth mentioning a passage, within the section dedicated to the Mediterranean,
in which the Byzantine territories (bilād al-Rūm) and the Maghrib are compared:
“the countries of the Rūm are far from possessing the means and the strength at
the Maghrib’s disposal (lā yuqāribu asbāb al-Maghrib wa-ḥaddahu) […]. I have
already mentioned the Berber tribes inhabiting its deserts […] and I have stressed
the strength, the vigour, the resistance and the energy they possess (quwwa wa-
l-jalad wa-maḥalluhum fī al-baʾs wa-l-shidda)”.78
Ibn Ḥawqal, as stated in his introduction, intended to compile a more com-
plete work than his predecessors, setting himself the goal of studying the reasons
behind the differences between countries: their customs, their culture and the
ways and paths they adopt (ilā kayfiyyat al-bayn bayna al-mamālik fī al-siyar wa-
l-ḥaqāʾiq wa-tabāyunihim fī al-madhāhib wa-l-ṭarāʾiq).79 What makes the Maghrib
different from the other regions of the Muslim world is the Fāṭimid Caliphate,
whose leader Ibn Ḥawqal mainly refers to as the “Lord of the Maghrib” (ṣāḥib al-

||
76 Martinez-Gros 1998, 323.
77 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 17.
78 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 200.
79 Garcin 1983, 78; Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 3, l.9.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 55

maghrib), and whose influence he sees as pervasive.80 The intricate textual ques-
tion of the different, contrasting versions of Ibn Ḥawqal’s work81 – including
“pro-Fāṭimid” or “anti-Fāṭimid” passages – which has reemerged with the recent
discovery of a manuscript that would appear to contain its earliest version,82 con-
tinues nevertheless to be unresolved. Without trying at all costs to ascribe to the
author an exclusive and unanbiguous political allegiance, it is undeniable that
he felt the presence of the Fāṭimids in this area was significant, and the fact re-
mains that the success of the Fāṭimids clearly hinged on the Maghrib. This, in
Garcin’s words, was the main reason why “le Maghreb a fait une si belle entrée
dans la littérature géographique”.83 And here is the second and most important
distinguishing feature of the Western lands: Ibn Ḥawqal’s Maghrib is the land of
a people, the Berbers. There is hardly a page that does not mention them, whether
by name, or in terms of their presence in different areas; their farming, animal
husbandry or trade activities; or their customs, whether to praise or criticize
them. Moreover, toward the end of the chapter on the Maghrib the amount of in-
formation on them increases, including a summary in which Ibn Ḥawqal provides
the reader with the names of their tribes and the clans of which each tribe is com-
posed.
Among the “new” peoples, so to speak, that Ibn Ḥawqal discovered during
his travels, he particularly appreciated the inhabitants of Khorasan and Transox-
iana in the East and the Berbers in the West, and thought that all three groups
shared a set of common traits.84 He saw the Berbers as a great people capable of

||
80 Garcin 1983, 78, n. 11. See Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1938–39), 83: “All the region between
Ifrīqiya and Tangiers are under the rule of the lord of the Maghrib” (kullu dhālika fī jumlat ṣāḥib
al-maghrib); Yūsuf b. Zīrī is called the “deputy of the lord of the Maghrib” (khalīfat ṣāhib al-ma-
ghrib) (Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ [1938–39], 78). The expression is sometimes used in the plural,
aṣḥāb al-maghrib (Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ [1938–39], 105). In other passages Ibn Ḥawqal refers
to the Fāṭimid caliph as mawlānā amīr al-muʾminīn (“our lord, the commander of the faithful”;
Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ [1938–39], 72) or mawlānā ʿalayhi al-salām (“our lord, peace be upon
him”; Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ [1938–39], 79, 72 in the plural), or also as sulṭān al-maghrib (Ibn
Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ [1938–39], 75). On the implications of these different denominations, and
their presence or absence in the various versions of Ibn Ḥawqal’s work, see Benchekroun 2016,
202–205.
81 For a synthetic overview, see Ducène 2017.
82 See Benchekroun 2016.
83 Garcin 1983, 85: “this was the main reason why the Maghrib made such a grand entrance into
geographical literature”.
84 See Garcin 1983, 87 about certain Berber tribes’ extraordinary ability to find their way in the
desert, which he compares to similar reports about the inhabitants of Ferghana, Ushrūsana,
Isbījāb and Khwārizm (Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ [1938–39], 101–102).
56 | Giovanna Calasso

extraordinary endurance, and so believed that the Fāṭimids’ strength came from
having the Berbers at their disposal.85 Gone are the akhlāṭ al-nās or ʿajam al-balad
including Rūm and Afāriqa: here the Berber presence is the defining trait of the
Maghrib.
Therefore in Ibn Ḥawqal’s work, the main components of the identity of the
region called al-Maghrib, and implicitly of the distinction between Mashriq and
Maghrib, seem to be, on the one hand, and whatever his position towards them
may have been, the Ismāʿīlī Fāṭimids – the heterodox political-religious power
challenging the mainstream or “orthodox” Islam of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate – and,
on the other, the region’s non-Arab prevailing ethnic group, the Berbers, to whom
Ibn Ḥawqal credits the Fāṭimids’ success.

5.2 Al-Muqaddasī’s Maghrib, the far-off western periphery of

the Arab regions
The topic is organized altogether differently by Palestinian geographer al-Muqad-
dasī, a contemporary of Ibn Ḥawqal,86 who divides mamlakat al-islām into two
groups of regions:87 aqālīm al-ʿarab and aqālīm al-ʿajam – the latter being the re-
gions of the Eastern non-Arabs (Persians and others) – for a total of 14 aqālīm, 6
Arab and 8 non-Arab. In this division, the Maghrib, made up of North Africa, al-
Andalus and Sicily, is listed as the sixth and last Arab iqlīm after Arabia, Iraq,
Aqūr (Jazira), Syria, and Egypt. In order of appearance in the text, the eight
aqālīm al-ʿajam are: al-Mashriq, Daylam, al-Riḥāb,88 Jibāl, Khūzistān, Fārs, Kir-
mān and Sind,89 “al-Mashriq” being just the easternmost reaches of these aqālīm,
which al-Muqaddasī further divides into two parts (jānibān), situated on either

||
85 Garcin 1983, 87. This trait of Ibn Ḥawqal’s in a way anticipates Ibn Khaldūn’s vision of a new
ethnic group, a new ʿaṣabiyya, able to defend and once again give vigour to the threatened Is-
lamic world: a new ethnic group which the latter, at the end of the 8th/14th century, would in-
stead identify with a people of Eastern origin, the Mamlūk Turks, at the time lords of Egypt.
86 The year of his death is unknown. Miquel was inclined to place it around 381 H/991 CE (at al-
Muqaddasī, Aḥsan at-taqāsīm [1963], XVI).
87 As in al-Balkhī (d. 322 H/934 CE), iqlīm does not correspond to the Ptolemaic geographical
term klima, but rather is a geographical entity, a “country”.
88 This word, “highlands”, indicates the region including Azerbaijan, Arran and Armenia.
89 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan at-taqāsīm (1963), 28.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 57

side of the river Oxus (Khorasan and Hayṭal, i.e. Transoxiana), pointing out a par-
allel with North Africa and al-Andalus, the two jānibs of al-Maghrib.90
Thus, in al-Muqaddasī’s usage, Mashriq and Maghrib are not names that in-
dicate the East and the West of the Islamic Empire as a whole, but have a more
precise meaning, designating respectively the name of its easternmost region and
its westernmost one, from Barqa to al-Andalus. The point is that al-Muqaddasī,
in his classification of the regions of mamlakat al-islām, continues to use the
“classical” dichotomy ʿarab/ʿajam (Arabs/Eastern non-Arabs, that is, Persians),
completely overlooking the “newer” Arab/Berber dichotomy. Moreover, in spite
of the ʿarab/ʿajam distinction between the regions, the Islamic oecumene is tac-
itly divided into three parts: the centre, i.e. Arabia and Iraq; the East, compris-
ing all the Iranian regions, Sind and Transoxiana; and the West, made up of not
just North Africa, al-Andalus and Sicily, but also Egypt and Syria.
As with Ibn Ḥawqal, in al-Muqaddasī’s text the description of the countries
also begins with jazīrat al-ʿarab. Here, however, we encounter a further set of jus-
tifications for this decision: “because the Kaʿba (bayt Allāh al-ḥarām) and the city
of the Prophet are found there, because Islam started spreading from there, and
because the caliphs rāshidūn, as well as anṣār and muhājirūn resided there”,91 all
reasons which are more religious than geographical.
As for iqlīm al-maghrib, “it extends from the borders of Egypt (min tukhūm
Miṣr) to the Ocean (al-baḥr al-muḥīṭ), and it looks like a ribbon (sharīṭa), enclosed
between the Mediterranean to the north and the land of the blacks (bilād al-
sūdān) to the south”.92 Moreover, as already mentioned, al-Muqaddasī includes it
among aqālīm al-ʿarab. Berbers are neither given any particular weight in his de-
scription – in any case far less that in Ibn Ḥawqal’s work – nor are they the object
of his appreciation. For example, when informing us that in the province of Setif
(Algeria) the countryside is mainly inhabited by Berbers, who are most numerous
in Sūs (Morocco), he remarks that they are “a population like those from
Khwārizm: their language is unintelligible, their character unpleasant, because
they are mean and hard” (maʿa khissa wa-shidda).93 Interestingly the same term,
shidda, is used by both al-Muqaddasī and Ibn Ḥawqal, but with a quite different

||
90 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 216: “wa-qad jaʿalnā al-maghrib maʿa al-andalus ka-
hayṭal wa-khurāsān”.
91 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 67. As for the reasons mentioned by Ibn Ḥawqal, see
above, section 5.1.
92 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 62.
93 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 243.
58 | Giovanna Calasso

meaning. What in Ibn Ḥawqal’s praise was “force, energy”94 is in al-Muqaddasī’s

view “hardness”.
Two contemporary and yet different views of the Maghrib emerge: Ibn
Ḥawqal, who declares his own interest in the differences within the Islamic
world, highlights the positive aspects of the Berber tribes constituting the bulk of
the region’s population, emphasising the hegemony of this ethnic group; al-
Muqaddasī, instead, includes the Maghrib and its inhabitants in the “Arab” re-
gions, focusing perhaps on political hegemony, which in the 4th/10th-century
Maghrib was still in Arab hands (the Fāṭimids), and whose centre would shift to
Egypt, in fact part of the same set of aqālīm al-ʿarab. However, this iqlīm al-Ma-
ghrib, despite being a vast, thriving province, with a large number of cities and
villages, abundant resources, gardens and numerous fortifications, is, in his
eyes, “a remote region, with many deserts, difficult and dangerous roads (illā an-
nahu baʿīd al-aṭrāf kathīr al-mafāwiz ṣaʿb al-masālik kathīr al-mahālik), placed in
a corner of the Islamic world (fī zāwiyat al-islām mawḍūʿ) […]. There is nobody
who wishes to go there, who is curious about it, or who praises its merits (fa-lā
fīhi rāghib wa-lā lahu dhāhib wa-lā ʿanhu sāʾil wa-lā yufaḍḍiluhu qāʾil)”.95 In the
rhymed prose of al-Muqaddasī, al-Maghrib is indeed the far-off and unappealing
periphery of mamlakat al-islām.
As far as the eastern boundary of the Maghrib is concerned, for most medie-
val Muslim geographers it was located in the region of Barqa (modern-day al-
Marj),96 the ancient Cyrenaica, inhabited by the Luwāta Berbers, in far eastern
Libya, itself an extremely vague place name as used in medieval Arabic sources.
The name, normally rendered as Lūbiya, was passed on from the Greeks to the
Arabs, who employed it with a wide range of meanings, from place name to prov-
ince. In some sources Libya is a town in Egypt; in al-Yaʿqūbī it is a district (kūra)
under the authority of Alexandria; and in Yāqūt it is a place located between Al-
exandria and Barqa.97 Libya is, then, a geographical nebula lacking an identity of
its own, whose only salient feature is its proximity to and dependence on Egypt,
and with it the eastern border of the Maghrib is equally nebulous.
As for the Islamic East, even though Eastern geographers do not appear to
conceive of it as a geographical entity in itself in need of a name and fixed bound-
aries, there are two terms, al-sharq and al-mashriq, which do show up in Muslim

||
94 See above, section 5.1.
95 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 216.
96 See Despois, “Barḳa”, EI2, 1: 1080–1081. See also Goodchild 1976, 255–267.
97 See Goodchild 1976. Mamlūk authors such as al-Maqrīzī, Ibn Duqmāq and al-Qalqashandī,
would see Libya as administratively part of Egypt. (“Lībiyā. 1” [Ed.], EI2, 5: 754).
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 59

geographical and historical texts. Al-sharq, the East in general, as Elton Daniel
observes, “should probably be understood, at least in the conceptual framework
of most medieval Muslim geographers, as referring to everything east of Egypt.
Al-mashriq, the eastern lands, refers to a smaller and more distinct component of
this territory; as a term, it was certainly in usage by 203/818f., as it appears on a
coin of that date”.98 Indeed, in al-Muqaddasī’s work we find this terminological
clarification: “Every time we mention Mashriq, we mean with this word the
Sāmānid territory”,99 roughly corresponding, as André Miquel observes, to the
following regions: Khorasan, Transoxiana, Sijistan, Jurjan, the region of Rayy
and Tabaristan.100 Moreover, al-Muqaddasī states, “When we use the word Sharq,
we add to these territories (i.e. al-Mashriq) the regions of Fars, Kerman and
Sind”.101 The geographer also establishes a parallelism between the two pairs
Mashriq/Sharq and Maghrib/Gharb: “the term Maghrib indicates the region with
this name (al-maghrib fa-huwa al-iqlīm); Gharb adds to it Egypt and Syria
(Shām)”.102 From this definition of Maghrib – which refers to his own description
of its territory as stretching “from the borders of Egypt to the Ocean” – it can be
inferred that in any case the region’s identity was well known. It is also interest-
ing to note that al-Muqaddasī’s definition of Gharb is fundamentally very close
(excepting the obvious absence of Anatolia, which was at that time still under
Byzantine rule) to that of “the Western Islamic World” as defined by the New
Cambridge History of Islam, which served as the point of departure for this chap-
ter. On the other hand, regions such as Arabia and Iraq fall outside his conception
of the Sharq. In fact, these regions represent “the centre”, the former being the
religious hub, and the latter – at least ideally in al-Muqaddasī’s time – the politi-
cal hub of mamlakat al-islām, as 4th/10th-century geographers called the territo-
ries roughly corresponding to the realm which Sunnī jurists, a century and a half
before, chose to name dār al-islām.103 In spite of the great changes of the 4th/10th
century, which witnessed both the demise of ʿAbbāsid political authority, and the

||
98 Daniel 2010, 448. See also Miquel, “Mashriḳ”, EI2, 6: 709.
99 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 7: “wa-kullamā qulnā al-mashriq fa-hiya dawlat āl
sāmān”.
100 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan at-taqāsīm (1963), 24.
101 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 7.
102 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan at-taqāsīm (1963), 24; al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1906), 7.
103 In fact, while the geographers’ definition is territorial, the meaning of the term dār in legal
texts is much more complex. For examples and a discussion on this subject, see Calasso 2010,
281–286, 289–290.
60 | Giovanna Calasso

rise of the Fāṭimid and Umayyad Caliphates in North Africa and al-Andalus, East-
ern Muslim geographers of the time indeed persisted in representing the whole of
the Islamic territories as a unitary reality, mamlakat al-islām.
Al-Muqaddasī’s is therefore a tripartite representation, in which the central
and eastern portions, despite the distinction between ʿarab and ʿajam, seem to
form a block (evidence of the fact that three centuries after the conquest, the
Arab/Persian dichotomy is not seen as such anymore), at the western border of
which lies al-Maghrib. There is still a margin of uncertainty about where Egypt
should be placed in this framework. When the geographer specifies what he
means by the terms Sharq and Gharb, he includes Egypt in the Gharb, along with
Syria and the Maghrib, the westernmost region of the West. However, at the be-
ginning of the section entitled “iqlīm Miṣr” al-Muqaddasī states, “Its righteous-
ness spreads to the East and to the West (wa-birruhu yaʿummu al-sharq wa-l-
gharb), as God situated it between the two seas and raised its reputation in both
East and West”.104 Moreover, from a topographical point of view, as we have seen,
Fustat is defined as the faṣl bayna al-Maghrib wa-diyār al-ʿarab. Although in-
cluded among the Gharb regions, Egypt seems to resist this inclusion, instead
acting as a bridge between East and West.
In summary, in the presentation of the regions, pride of place is always ac-
corded to Arabia, diyār al-ʿarab, a feature common to the works of al-Iṣṭakhrī, Ibn
Ḥawqal and al-Muqaddasī. Arabia, of course, is not “the centre of the empire”, as
Iraq was for al-Yaʿqūbī, but it deserves the first place as the cradle of Islam and
as the Arabs’ homeland.
The systematic description of the Islamic regions from west to east can be
found in both al-Iṣṭakhrī and Ibn Ḥawqal. More complex is the order in which al-
Muqaddasī lists the ʿarab and ʿajam provinces, in both cases proceeding from
east to west to finally return to the east, tracing two circular itineraries.105 Each
author emphasizes what he considers the best region: Iran (and Fārs in particu-
lar) for al-Iṣṭakhrī, Iraq for Ibn Ḥawqal and al-Muqaddasī. Still, above and beyond
their explicit declarations, Ibn Ḥawqal focuses the bulk of his description not on
Iraq but on Iran, and al-Muqaddasī, who cannot hide his admiration for his native
Palestine, describes al-Shām (Syria) extensively, neglects Iraq and dedicates al-
most half of his work to the ʿajam regions. However, although the weight of these
accounts is located decidedly in the East, the Maghrib is by no means left out.
With the boundary between East and West consistently running through Egypt,

||
104 Antrim 2012, 128 (al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm [1906], 193).
105 Martinez-Gros 1998, 321.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 61

the West is indisputably a significant part of the depiction these geographer-trav-

ellers make of the mamlaka.

6 Mashriq and Maghrib as seen by Western

geographers, 5th–6th/11th–12th centuries
Until the 4th/10th century the approaches we have just seen constituted the dom-
inant, Eastern view of the Islamic West. However, the 5th/11th and 6th/12th cen-
turies saw the emergence of two great Western geographers, the Andalusi al-
Bakrī and the Moroccan al-Idrīsī, whose work would not only greatly enrich the
available information about the western lands of Islam, but would also draw at-
tention to a broader horizon, in which the frontier between Mashriq and Maghrib
would become a secondary concern.
Al-Bakrī’s Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-mamālik, written ca. 461 H/1068 CE, presents
the perspective of a geographer from al-Andalus – “with al-Sharīf al-Idrīsī, the
greatest geographer of the Muslim West and one of the most characteristic repre-
sentatives of Arab Andalusian erudition in the 5th/11th century”.106 He witnessed
the Almoravids’ arrival in the Iberian peninsula and died an old man in Córdoba
in 487 H/1094 CE.
The work opens with a long introduction on the history of the world, from
Creation to Muḥammad – just like al-Ṭabarī in his Taʾrīkh – followed by a descrip-
tion of the Arabian peninsula (which is complemented by a section dedicated to
religion in pre-Islamic Arabia), before moving on to a general discussion of the
seven “climates” (sg. iqlīm, pl. aqālīm). The strictly geographical part of the work
begins in the east. However, unlike Eastern geographers who proceed from west
to east within the mamlakat al-islām, al-Bakrī begins from the lands outside of it,
firstly India (mamlakat al-Hind),107 followed by China and Central Asia, thus aim-
ing for a kind of “universal” geography.
The times had changed, and the perspective of the 4th/10th-century Eastern
geographers, who had intentionally circumscribed their descriptions to mamla-
kat al-islām – nonetheless identifying a boundary between its eastern and west-
ern portions – was abandoned in favour of a wider perspective. Thus, the book
addresses, in often-untidy sequences, non-Islamic countries in the east, in the
north (various regions of Europe), and in the south (“the country of the blacks”,

||
106 Lévi-Provençal, “Abū ʿUbayd al-Bakrī”, EI2, 1: 159.
107 Al-Bakrī, al-Masālik (1992), 1: 241.
62 | Giovanna Calasso

bilād al-sūdān). One of the most original features which has been recognised in
his work is actually the number of pages that al-Bakrī dedicates not only to the
Islamic West, but also – although overshadowed by al-Idrīsī’s famous account –
to Christian Europe. Over roughly one hundred pages he describes the peoples
that inhabit it: in order of appearance we can find Slavs, Franks, Galicians, Bul-
garians, Hungarians, Rūm of Byzantium and of Rome (including a long descrip-
tion of the city); and, as well as the inhabitants of the most important islands of
the Mediterranean, he also describes regions such as Macedonia, Thrace, and
Thessalia. On the eve of the Reconquista, al-Bakrī acknowledges the newly ac-
quired weight of the Christian West. Its awakening is full of threats for Islam,
shifting the Andalusi geographer’s gaze both to the north (Europe) as well as to
the Maghrib.108
The second original element of the work, as observed by various authors, the
approximately 190 pages of the Arabic text of his Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-mamālik
dedicated to North Africa, thus making it our most important source on the me-
dieval Maghrib after Ibn Ḥawqal’s geography. Unlike the Eastern Muslim geogra-
phers of the 4th/10th century, al-Bakrī was not himself a traveller, and yet the
information he gathered on the Maghrib far exceeds that of his wayfaring prede-
cessors.
Contrary to what one might expect, although the author was born in and in
all likelihood never left al-Andalus, in his Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l-mamālik he ded-
icates very little space to the Iberian peninsula. As observed by Emanuelle Tixier,
the book’s structure indicates a change in the balance of power between al-An-
dalus and North Africa. The Maghrib is no longer the contested territory of the
Umayyads of al-Andalus and the Fāṭimids, but a breeding ground for new mili-
tary forces. It is a space in which Islam is clearly dominant and of which al-Anda-
lus, by then no more than a frontier march of mamlakat al-islām, is but an exten-
sion.109
Breaking with the Andalusi geographers who came before him, such as
Aḥmad al-Rāzī (d. ca. 344 H/955 CE), al-Warrāq (d. 363 H/973-4 CE) and al-ʿUdhrī
(d. 478 H/1085 CE), who focused on the Iberian peninsula – and whose works
have come down to us only in a handful of fragments – al-Bakrī chooses to focus
on the entire geographic unit stretching from Egypt to the Atlantic. He is intent
on making an inventory of this space, rendering visible its internal differences
based on political divisions and on the various forms of belonging to Islam. This
register of groups and divisions encompasses Kairouan, the centre of Mālikī

||
108 Tixier 2011, 372.
109 Tixier 2011, 373.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 63

Sunnism; Tahert, the capital of a Khārijī principality for over a century; Fez,
founded by the ʿAlid branch of the Idrīsids, who ruled al-Maghrib al-aqṣā (“the
far West”, i.e. present-day Morocco) until the end of the 4th/10th century; and
the Fāṭimids, Ismāʿīlī Shīʿīs, who after taking power in Ifrīqiya went on to conquer
Egypt and founded Cairo, where they continued to rule in al-Bakrī’s time. The
once unprecedented space that Ibn Ḥawqal dedicated to North Africa a century
earlier has shrunk by comparison and, what is more, the Maghrib itself is now
divided into a western, central and eastern region of its own.
Besides the Maghrib, al-Bakrī also dedicates a considerable section to Egypt,
from the pre-Islamic period to his own time. But taken as a whole, in this broad
picture the division between Maghrib and Mashriq, the Islamic West and East,
seems to fade into the background. North of the Mediterranean and south of the
Sahara, other regions, other populations now deserve attention, although it
would be in al-Idrīsī’s Kitāb Rujār (1154) that Europe would cease to play the sup-
porting actor in the geopolitical framework of the Mediterranean and take on the
lead role.
Al-Idrīsī, who like al-Bakrī was not a geographer-traveller, wrote his work as
a commission for the Norman king Roger II of Sicily in the mid-6th/12th century.
To quote Gabriel Martinez-Gros, with his geography “Idrisi franchit les frontières
d’un monde musulman qu’il avait lui même quitté pour le service des princes
normands de Sicile”.110 The subject of his geographic work is the known world,
reaching as far as China to the east; and, above all, Europe is given an unprece-
dented amount of space (mainly in the 5th, 6th and 7th climates).111 On the con-
trary, in the overall organisation of the work, Arabia is no longer given a central
position, as was the case in the works of al-Iṣṭakhrī, Ibn Ḥawqal and al-Muqad-
dasī. This is one of the effects of the way in which al-Idrīsī structured his work,
going back to the division of the earth into seven horizontal climate zones (iqlīm,
aqālīm), but separating them from west to east with ten meridian lines, thus ob-
taining a seventy-box grid. The world itself is thus divided into two halves, east
and west, separated by the vertical line that divides the fifth and the sixth section.
The idea of an internal division of the Islamic world between Maghrib and
Mashriq is no longer significant, while a western and a central Maghrib are ex-
plicitly mentioned for instance in the first section of the first climate: “Bijāya is
part of the central Maghrib. The merchants of this city have business dealings
with those of the far Maghrib, as well as with those of the Sahara and the East”;

||
110 Martinez-Gros 1998, 329: “Idrisi crosses the frontiers of the Muslim world, which he had al-
ready left to serve the Norman kings of Sicily”.
111 Al-Idrīsī, La première géographie de l’Occident (1999), 255–464.
64 | Giovanna Calasso

“Fez is the axis and the central point of western Maghreb”.112 Arabia itself, bilād
al-ʿarab or jazīrat al-ʿarab, which 4th/10th-century Eastern geographers had
made the starting point of their descriptions of mamlakat al-islām, is now divided
from south to north into climate zones, thereby losing visibility. In short, al-
Idrīsī’s monumental work seems to reflect, in the words of Henri Bresc and Ann-
liese Nef, “un effort immense de construction d’un nouvel objet scientifique, le
monde saisi dans son ensemble, sans exclusive”.113

7 Western travellers and geographers from the

late 6th/12th century through the 7th/13th
century
That the issue of boundaries and hierarchy between the East and the West of the
Islamic world remained nevertheless significant, was revealed, from the late
6th/12th century through the 7th/13th century, by a number of travellers and ge-
ographers from the Maghrib. This fact is most clear in the works of three authors:
the famous Andalusi traveller-pilgrim Ibn Jubayr (d. 614 H/1217 CE), the less fa-
mous Moroccan traveller al-ʿAbdarī, who wrote his Riḥla maghribiyya in 686 H/
1288 CE, and his contemporary, Andalusi geographer Ibn Saʿīd (d. 685 H/
1286 CE). In his Riḥla (578–581 H/1183–1185 CE), Ibn Jubayr, who set out from Gra-
nada in the time of the Almohads, constantly compares the Maghrib and the
Mashriq. Egypt, where he is made to feel like a foreigner, appears as the gateway
to an East at once admirable and reprehensible, commended for its science and
scorned for its lack of religious unity, which conversely he asserts to be a strong
point of the Maghrib. One hundred years after his time, the Moroccan al-ʿAbdarī’s
criticism of Egypt in his Riḥla is so vitriolic that the pages depicting the despicable
customs of the inhabitants of Cairo almost seem to be a literary exercise in invec-
tive. Moreover, he openly identifies the Fāṭimids, its founders, as the source of all
the city’s evils.114
Particularly intriguing is the figure of the Andalusi geographer Ibn Saʿīd al-
Maghribī, a contemporary of the Moroccan traveller al-ʿAbdarī. As pointed out by
Víctor de Castro in his contribution to this volume, of the fifteen chapters in Ibn

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112 Al-Idrīsī, La première géographie de l’Occident (1999), 77, 130, 153, 165.
113 Bresc/Nef 1999, 52: “an immense effort to construct a new scientific subject, the world taken
in its entirety, without privileging one area over another”.
114 Calasso 2014, in particular 202–204.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 65

Saʿīd’s Kitāb al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib, six are dedicated to Egypt, three to
Ifrīqiya and the Maghrib, and six to al-Andalus, the Christian kingdoms, and
northern Europe: a rather surprising geography, with Egypt included within the
Islamic West. In his other works, however, Egypt appears variously as part of the
West, part of the East, or, as in al-Ghuṣūn al-yāniʿa, a central region between East
and West receiving its own section.115 To complicate matters even more, in other
writings Ibn Saʿīd’s harsh criticism of the city of Cairo, where he lived for many
years, is reminiscent of al-ʿAbdarī’s, although less venomous.116
Ibn Saʿīd’s inclusion of Egypt in the Maghrib would not go unnoticed. A cen-
tury later, Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī (d. 749 H/1349 CE), the well-known polymath
and high-ranking administrator of the Mamlūk sultanate, would firmly oppose
Ibn Saʿīd’s inclusion of Egypt in the Maghrib, ascribing it to his partiality toward
his own land (taʿaṣṣub li-bilādihi),117 and employing an entire section of his ency-
clopaedic work Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār to refute the Andalusi au-
thor’s claims.118 This debate, as well as Ibn Saʿīd’s shifting positions, in any case
reveals that between the 7th/13th century and the 8th/14th century the question
of whether Egypt belonged to the Maghrib or the Mashriq had become a contro-
versial one. Clearly there was more at stake than just geography; the debate
touched on the balance of power both within North Africa, and between the east-
ern and western Mediterranean. Is it possible to read in Ibn Saʿīd’s inclusion of
Egypt in the Maghrib a desire to level the playing field between the two halves of
the Islamic world?119 Or, put in slightly different terms, is it to be viewed as an
attempt to strengthen the image of the western part of the Islamic world by an-
nexing, so to say, Egypt?
This period saw the political equilibrium of the Mediterranean shift drasti-
cally in favour of Europe, and, in the Islamic West, witnessed the collapse of the
Almohad Empire. In light of such phenomena, perhaps it is not by chance that
the architectural marvels of Ancient Egypt, a testament to the country’s great

||
115 In the eighth chapter of this work, Ibn Saʿīd collects the biographies of 7th/13th-century
authors and categorizes them as Eastern and Western. See Castro’s article in this volume.
116 See Marín 2005, 220 ff. Ibn Saʿīd’s passages on Cairo have been translated and annotated
by Blachère 1969, 18–26.
117 Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār (2010), juzʾ 5, faṣl 1, 14; see also faṣl 2, 33.
118 On the debate generated by Ibn Saʿīd’s “maghribization” of Egypt, especially among au-
thors of the Mamlūk period, and in particular Abū al-Fidāʾ (672–732 H/1273–1331 CE), Ibn Faḍl
Allāh al-ʿUmarī (700–749 H/1301–1349 CE), and al-Maqrīzī (d. 845 H/1442 CE), see Víctor de Cas-
tro’s article in this volume. I am grateful to the author for having allowed me to read a draft of
his paper prior to publication.
119 This hypothesis is entertained by Víctor de Castro.
66 | Giovanna Calasso

past, became an object of particular interest among Muslim authors. At the end
of the 6th/12th century Ibn Jubayr seems to anticipate this trend, expressing all
his admiration for the ancient Egyptian temple of Akhmim, and painstakingly de-
scribing it.120 Since, at the same time, the comparison between Maghrib and
Mashriq is a kind of leitmotiv of his travelogue, before concluding, it is worth tak-
ing a closer look at his Riḥla.

8 Mashriq and Maghrib, Maghāriba and

Mashāriqa, in Ibn Jubayr’s travelogue
Ibn Jubayr’s account of his pilgrimage to Mecca and journey back to al-Andalus
(578–581 H/1183–1185 CE) treats the division between Mashriq and Maghrib as a
matter of fact. Like the main representatives of 4th/10th-century Arabic geogra-
phy, he emphasizes the differences between the Maghrib – where he feels he be-
longs – and the unfamiliar Mashriq, lending them even greater prominence on
the basis of his personal experience as a pilgrim. His entire travelogue is full of
comparative observations about the Maghrib and the Mashriq, Easterners and
Westerners. The eye of the traveller picks up on differences, establishes hierar-
chies, and perceives oppositions, clearly suggesting that it is not just a matter of
geographical belonging, but of two separate cultural domains within Islam. The
“strange” behaviour of the Eastern people is described in detail, be it their funeral
customs, their peculiar way of greeting and addressing each other, or their habit
of walking with their hands behind their backs. The devotion they show towards
pilgrims returning from Mecca – in Damascus as well as in Baghdad – appears as
“the opposite of what we were used to in the Maghrib” (ḍidd mā iʿtadnā fī al-ma-
ghrib). The teaching methods, too, are different “in these Eastern lands” (bi-
hādhihi al-bilād al-mashriqiyya), the Qurʾān is only learnt by heart, while poetry
is used to learn how to write. There are also a few notes on certain linguistic dif-
ferences, such as the case of Islamic monasteries (al-ribāṭāt), which “they call
khawāniq”.121
The great changes taking place since the late 5th/11th century in the Mediter-
ranean and within the Muslim world itself are reflected in the very structure of
Ibn Jubayr’s travelogue. The traveller’s emphasis on the division of the Islamic

||
120 On this subject, see Calasso 2019.
121 See Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 310, Riḥla (1907), 294–296; Travels (1952), 300, Riḥla (1907),
286; Travels (1952), 283, Riḥla (1907), 272; Travels (1952), 297, Riḥla (1907), 284.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 67

world into Mashriq and Maghrib coexists with his stress on Islam’s unifying im-
print on the urban landscape, as seen in the systematic way in which he counts,
describes, and even measures, the buildings representing what we might call “in-
stitutional” Islam.122 It is as if the shifting balance of power in the Mediterranean
in favour of Latin Christians – in parallel, within Islam, to the political upheaval
connected to the decline of the supremacy of the East and the rise of new powers
in the West, from the Fāṭimids to the Almohads123 – also aroused in him a strong
need to affirm his belonging to a world which is recognisable in the whole of its
territories by certain common features, thus a unitary world, and to enhance its
image by appropriating its most visible and prestigious past.
After setting out from Granada, Ibn Jubayr headed to Ceuta, where he
boarded a Genoese ship. After a long sea voyage, in Egypt he finally encountered
“the East”, or, more precisely, a reality other than the Maghrib, in turn becoming
a foreigner himself, a gharīb. From this point on we find in his travelogue that
everything concerning the Maghribis constantly attracts his attention. Every
mention of them is accompanied by something positive: e.g. “to Mecca God
brought from the Maghrib men skilled in tillage and husbandry who created in it
gardens and sown lands”,124 while in Damascus “they trust only strangers from
the Maghrib”125 to watch over a garden, or supervise a ḥammām and keep the
bathers’ clothes as well as to manage a mill or take children to school.126 Yet the
Maghribis, including Ibn Jubayr, are perceived and see themselves as “foreign-
ers” in these Eastern countries – Egypt, Hejaz, Iraq and Syria.
While Ibn Jubayr establishes a sort of hierarchy between East and West,
which appears to favour the former,127 at the same time he feels the need to create
a balance, extolling the merits of the Maghrib as well. It is true that the East is at
the top of the “knowledge” ladder: the young people of “our Maghrib” (ma-

||
122 See Calasso 1999.
123 See Jansen/Nef/Picard 2000, 16–25.
124 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 119; Riḥla (1907), 122.
125 On the possible origins of Syria’s Maghribis, about which Ibn Jubayr himself provides a
wealth of information, see Cahen 1973, 207–209, while on the Maghribi colony in the next cen-
tury, see Pouzet 1975.
126 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 289; Riḥla (1907), 278.
127 Some of Ibn Jubayr’s verses, quoted in Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāṭa, show an unconditional admi-
ration for the East: “There is no comparison between East and West: the East possesses all the
merits indeed” (la-yastawī sharq al-balad wa-gharbuhā / al-sharq ḥāza al-faḍl bi-stiḥqāq). Ibn al-
Khaṭīb’s biographical entry on Ibn Jubayr is reported in the introduction to Wright’s edition of
Ibn Jubayr’s Riḥla (1907), 2–10.
68 | Giovanna Calasso

ghribunā) are warmly encouraged to travel to the East – particularly to Damas-

cus – for their studies,128 and Eastern preachers are said to have no peers in the
Maghrib.129 Yet the East is also a place of religious divisions: “in the Eastern coun-
tries” you find nothing but “sects and heretical groups and schisms”, while
“there is no Islam save in the Maghrib lands”. This statement is followed by an
explicit homage to the Almohads: “there is no justice nor truth except among the
Almohads and they are the last legitimate imams of this time”.130 In other pas-
sages of the Riḥla, Ibn Jubayr even hints that many Egyptians believe in signs
announcing a coming Almohad conquest of Egypt and other Eastern countries.131
There is, however, one exception: Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, the just sultan, for whom Ibn
Jubayr expresses unreserved admiration for having abolished all the iniquitous
taxes imposed by the Fāṭimids, and for his heroic, ceaseless jihād against the
Franks. It is in this contradictory celebration of both the Almohads and Ṣalāḥ al-
Dīn that we can perceive the tension between the “local” sense of belonging of
Ibn Jubayr as a Muslim from al-Andalus, a Maghribi, and his sense of belonging
to the greater dār al-islām, whose internal divisions he cannot help noting during
the course of his journey, but which he tries to depict as a unitary reality, mainly
by the constant attention he reserves for the buildings – Friday mosques, ma-
drasas, hospitals, ḥammāms – representing Islam throughout its lands.
As for the East, the Mashriq, it is not so easy to identify what exactly it corre-
sponds to in Ibn Jubayr’s mind. While for him even Egypt – where as soon as he
lands he feels like a foreigner – is clearly no longer the Maghrib, Syria is more
decidedly “Eastern”,132 as its inhabitants sometimes do “the opposite of what we
were accustomed to in the Maghrib”.133 This is the Arab East. However, starting
with his stay in Mecca, Ibn Jubayr becomes increasingly aware of the existence of
an even “more eastern East”: the non-Arab East as seen through Maghribi eyes.
First there are the ʿajam, the Persians, with a religious sentiment so intense that
it sometimes upsets him (as in the case of one ʿajamī pilgrim who becomes so

||
128 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 298; Riḥla (1907), 285.
129 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 233: “We marvelled at their excellence in comparison with the
speakers we knew in the west” (Riḥla [1907], 224).
130 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 73; Riḥla (1907), 78. On such pro-Almohad statements by Ibn
Jubayr, in the broader framework of the relationships between the Almohads and the Mālikī
scholars of al-Andalus, see Viguera 2005, 719 ff.
131 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 74; Riḥla (1907), 79.
132 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 298: “All these eastern cities are of this fashion, but this city (i.e.
Damascus) is more populous and wealthy. Whoever of the young men of the Maghrib seeks pros-
perity, let him move to these lands (…) in the pursuit of knowledge” (Riḥla [1907], 285).
133 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 300; Riḥla, 286.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 69

overcome with emotion that he faints).134 He is also astounded at their skill with
languages, as in the case of a preacher from Khorasan who had perfectly mas-
tered Arabic and Persian, “employing them together with a lawful magic of rhet-
oric” and who deftly replied to every question (“In this manner the preachers of
these eastern lands meet […] the copious shower of questions that fall upon
them”).135 However, there are also the Ghuzz, Turks who, arriving at Mecca along-
side the Khorasanians on the pilgrimage caravan from Iraq, express their reli-
gious emotionality with a violence that Ibn Jubayr clearly disapproves of and dis-
tances himself from.136 They are al-aʿājim al-aghtām, “the barbarous-tongue
foreigners”; the intensifier al-aghtām gives the term ʿajam a pejorative connota-
tion that seems to hint at an otherness which is more than linguistic. In the month
of dhū al-ḥijja, the Kaʿba is opened every day for them: “The throngings of these
men, the way in which they hurled themselves upon the noble door, their colli-
sions which each other […] was something that never more horrible was seen”.137
Just as al-Bakrī and al-Idrīsī gave the Maghrib an east, a centre and a west, Ibn
Jubayr depicts a Mashriq full of distinct shades of meaning.

9 Historical overview and concluding remarks

At the end of this itinerary, we can attempt to draw a picture in which the shifting
political equilibrium within the Islamic world as well as the Mediterranean as a
whole, intertwines with different forms of categorization of the world emerging
in multiple textual genres. At the time of the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, from the
late 2nd/8th century to the early 3rd/9th century, jurists such as Abū Yūsuf and,
above all, al-Shaybānī, both disciples of Abū Ḥanīfa, and their younger contem-
porary al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 H/820 CE), introduced in their legal treatises two notions
destined to enjoy a long future: dār al-islām and dār al-ḥarb. This pair of abstract
legal concepts summed up a binary categorisation of the world that was essential
in order to deal with norms related to warfare, and, additionally, with any other
kind of relationship between the inhabitants of territories under Muslim domina-
tion and the “outside” world. No definition is given, but the terms are there, con-
stantly employed in the casuistry being analysed; apparently they do not need an

||
134 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 143; Riḥla (1907), 142.
135 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 186–187; Riḥla (1907), 181. See also Travels (1952), 233; Riḥla, 224.
136 See Calasso 2008, 256–258.
137 Ibn Jubayr, Travels (1952), 186; Riḥla, (1907), 180.
70 | Giovanna Calasso

explanation, although their usage will make it clear that jurists have different po-
sitions concerning their definition. Is dār al-islām a territorial-jurisdictional no-
tion, or does it refer instead to the principle of the personality of law? The answer
to such questions would condition different ideas about where to place the
boundary between these two entities, dār al-islām and dār al-ḥarb. The fact re-
mains that this binary categorization conveys the idea of a world divided into two
separate and opposing realms.
This theoretical construction came into being in an imperial context, with
Iraq at its centre, and the jurists who coined this binary categorization of the
world were members of the entourage of the ʿAbbāsid rulers. The political unity
of the empire’s heartland was still mostly in place, even though al-Andalus had
been lost almost half a century earlier to the Umayyad family, who laid the foun-
dations of their return to power in this faraway western province. Likewise, part
of present-day Morocco was by then in the hands of the ʿAlid branch of the
Idrīsids. Yet Egypt would remain under direct rule of the ʿAbbāsids until Ibn
Ṭulūn (approximately mid-3rd/9th century), and even when in the year 184 H/
800 CE the government of Ifrīqiya was officially entrusted to Ibrāhīm Ibn al-
Aghlab, this was by decision of the ʿAbbāsid Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, in whose
name the region was to be ruled.
It would be almost a century before geographers such as Ibn Khurradādhbih
and Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī would undertake the description of the countries
(buldān) that constituted the territories of the caliphate. Besides his Kitāb al-
Buldān, al-Yaʿqūbī would also write one of the first “universal” works of history,
his Taʾrīkh (a history from Adam up to the reign of Caliph al-Muʿtamid, who was
in power at that time). He would be followed a few decades later by al-Ṭabarī and
his monumental and “universal” History of the Prophets and Kings.
Unlike the jurists to whom we owe the binary dār al-islām and dār al-ḥarb,
geographers like al-Yaʿqūbī, and after him the three greats of the 4th/10th cen-
tury, al-Iṣṭakhrī, Ibn Ḥawqal, and al-Muqaddasī, were also travellers who wan-
dered through Islamic countries far and wide, including its westernmost regions.
Interestingly, while they make constant reference to mamlakat al-islām, “the em-
pire of Islam” – this “greater regional category of Muslim belonging”,138 a realm
“which loosely conforms to the territorial extent of Muslim suzerainty in the mid-
tenth century”139 – they themselves identify a division internal to the mamlaka,

||
138 I am quoting one of its most recent definitions; see Antrim 2012, 100.
139 According to Antrim, “this lack of a clear focal point reflects the reality of multiple political
centers in the period” (Antrim 2012, 100); on the contrary, Miquel (1967, 273), considered the idea
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 71

that which separates Mashriq and Maghrib, the East and West of the Islamic
world.
The 4th/10th century was indeed a turning point. While the political frag-
mentation of the Islamic Empire reached its peak and rival caliphates prolifer-
ated, the two legal categories of dār al-islām and dār al-ḥarb crystallized as
terms,140 after having been in flux for more than a century. This was also the pe-
riod in which Eastern geographers attested to the need to recognize and render
visible different identities within the Islamic world, identities whose existence
was not relevant to the abstract legal notion of dār al-islām. Internal differences
were brought to the fore, and made to converge on another binary, Mashriq/Ma-
ghrib. This binary, whose literal meaning merely refers to two cardinal points, is
linked to the importance acquired, in these geographers’ view, by the western
region, namely North Africa west of Egypt, a region which, in conjunction with
the rise of the Fāṭimids, was for the first time “recognized”.
As for the difference, highlighted by Claude Cahen, between geographers
and historians in the Islamic East, it can be seen, more than in their vision itself,
mainly in the ways they express a vision they both share of an Islamic world di-
vided into two halves. Whereas the geographer-travellers of the 4th/10th century
provide detailed descriptions of the Maghrib, by marking its territorial bounda-
ries as well as the ethnic and cultural features which distinguish it from the rest
of the Islamic world starting from Egypt, Eastern historians outline a similar di-
vide with their own silence, by choosing to ignore in their works the events which
took place in the regions west of Egypt after the Arab conquest. When they begin
to concern themselves extensively with the Maghrib, starting with Ibn al-Athīr
(early 7th/13th century) – the first to devote considerable attention and long sec-
tions of his work to the history of North Africa and Iberia – this interest coincides
chronologically with the rise of the Berber Almohad empire, unifying North Af-
rica from Morocco to Tripolitania, and proves to be highly dependent on the his-
torical sources of al-Andalus, which by then had begun to circulate in the East.
Explicitly perceived through the eyes of 4th/10th-century Eastern geogra-
phers in spatial and ethnic terms, implicitly established by the silence of Eastern
Muslim historians of the same period, the distinction/opposition Mashriq/Ma-
ghrib thus emerged and became consolidated between the rise of the Fāṭimids
and the construction of the Almohad Empire. Indeed, in this period the territorial

||
of mamlakat al-islām in these works as a fiction at odds with the reality of political decentraliza-
tion on the ground in the mid-4th/10th century.
140 In fact from the 4th/10th century onwards all literary genres, starting with Tafsīr literature,
attest to the circulation of the dār al-islām/dār al-ḥarb binary. See Tottoli 2017, 110.
72 | Giovanna Calasso

frontier separating the Islamic East and West seems to correspond to the bound-
ary between “orthodoxy” – symbolically represented by the ʿAbbāsid caliphate,
as well as by the political powers which formally acknowledged its authority –
and the two doctrinally heterodox political powers which established themselves
in North Africa between the 4th/10th century and the 6th/12th century.
In this span of time, starting from the moment the Fāṭimids publicly rose to
power in Ifrīqiya, wresting this region away from the theoretical control of Bagh-
dad’s caliphs, it is as if there was a sudden reversal in the role and image of the
Maghrib. Until the 4th/10th century it was a peripheral region where Easterners
of noble descent escaping implacable enemies sought refuge – starting from the
Umayyad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil, the future emir of al-Andalus, to the ʿAlid
Idrīs b. ʿAbdallāh, who survived the Fakhkh massacre and founded the Idrīsid
dynasty in al-Maghrib al-aqṣā –, where rebels were exiled,141 or else where
groups of “extremist” dissidents like the Khārijites or the Ismāʿīlīs secretly orga-
nized their propaganda. From the 4th/10th century, however, the Maghrib be-
came the breeding ground of heterodox movements looking eastward. But this
would just be an interlude. The cultural features bound to characterize Maghribi
identity in a lasting way – most importantly the nearly total adhesion of these
societies to Maliki “orthodoxy” – would only become firmly established after the
fall of the Almohad Empire. Nevertheless, it was during this interlude that the
boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib was constructed in medieval Muslim
sources.
And yet, an inextricable web of elements makes it difficult to separate East
and West into their component parts. The source of the Fāṭimids’ power – its
founder and doctrines – was undoubtedly Eastern, although the dynasty re-
ceived the decisive military support of a Berber people, the Kutāma, thanks to
whom the Fāṭimids were able to take over the regions of Ifrīqiya – along with Si-
cily, previously conquered by the Aghlabids – and Egypt, with the later addition
of part of Syria. By contrast, the Almohads’ power, as well as doctrinal reform,
was promoted by the Berber leader of the Maṣmūda tribe, Ibn Tūmart, although
by means of an original reworking of doctrines of undeniable Eastern origin, such
as Muʿtazilism and Shīʿism. Indeed, as Muhammad Talbi has pointed out, quite
frequently in the Muslim West the term mashāriqa, “Easterners”, denoted reli-
gious belonging more than country of origin: “the Shīʿīs are often described in

||
141 Al-Yaʿqūbī, Works, 3: 1272, 1274, 1284.
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 73

Ifrīqiya, after the coming of the Fāṭimids, as being mashriqīs, even when the per-
sons in question were authentic Maghribis”.142 In the collection of biographies by
al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE), several examples can be found of the verbal form
tasharraqa, literally “to become orientalised” – with reference to individuals who
lived in the Aghlabid period – to indicate that a certain person had converted to
Shīʿism.143
Conversely, in Ibn Ḥawqal’s description of Egypt, in the version of his work
reflecting a significant anti-Fāṭimid bias – until recently held to correspond to a
second stay of the author in the country144 – the Ismāʿīlī caliphs are mentioned
only as “the Maghribis” and even the foundation of al-Qāhira itself, as well as
other architectural structures commissioned by members of the family, remain
anonymous, referred to merely as the Maghribis’ creations (“The Maghribis
founded a city which was named by them al-Qāhira. Its boundaries were traced
by Jawhar, the Maghribis’ general…”; or, in another passage: “A Maghribi prin-
cess had one more Friday-mosque built at al-Qarāfa”).145 The negative connota-
tion of the term maghribī, as used in this version of the Iraqi geographer Ibn
Ḥawqal’s work, perfectly corresponds to that of the derogatory use of the term
mashriqī as seen in the above-mentioned biographies by the eminent Ifrīqī Maliki
scholar al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ. At the end of the 7th/13th century, the Moroccan traveller
al-ʿAbdarī, in his al-Riḥla al-maghribiyya, would only display acrimony and con-
tempt towards Egyptians, particularly the inhabitants of Cairo, exclusively listing
their “demerits”.146 And it is no coincidence that, in the eyes of al-ʿAbdarī, the
main “flaw” of this first “Eastern” capital city is the fact that, ever since its foun-
dation, it had been linked to the Shīʿī Ismāʿīlī Fāṭimids.
The fact remains that Egypt, in this intertwining of mutual perceptions, has
a unique and shifting role, neither definitely Eastern nor Western, a view that the
Maghribi traveller Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, in the 8th/14th century, would express in describ-
ing Alexandria, which, in his words, “thanks to its being set between Maghrib
and Mashriq (li-tawaṣṣutihā bayna al-maghrib wa-l-mashriq), combines their var-
ious attractions”.147 In other words, one of the major effects of viewing their own
world as divided into two halves, which led Eastern Muslim geographers of the

||
142 Talbi, “Mashāriḳa”, EI2, 6: 712. The transliteration has been changed to adapt it to that used
in this article.
143 Talbi 1968, 284, 369, 383, 394; and al-Mālikī, Riyāḍ al-nufūs (1994), 2, 502, 338.
144 See Blachère 1969, 3, and Benchekrun’s critical remarks (Benchekrun 2016, 194).
145 Blachère 1969, 3.
146 See Calasso 2014.
147 Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, Voyages (1853), 27.
74 | Giovanna Calasso

4th/10th century to identify a boundary between Maghrib and Mashriq, was to

consolidate the image of Egypt’s centrality among all the regions of Islam.148

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148 On the issue of Egypt’s uniqueness, see Decobert 1991. As for its centrality, Sam Gellens had
pointed out that the biographies of medieval Egyptian ʿulamāʾ rarely include the term riḥla, re-
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Egyptians felt that they were self-sufficient with regard to learning, and the ancient vision of
Egypt as the centre of the universe had become part of the cultural patrimony of Egyptian Islam
(Gellens 1990, 57–58).
 Constructing the Boundary between Mashriq and Maghrib | 75

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Víctor de Castro León
Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the
Maghrib

1 Ibn Saʿīd and his Geography

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Mūsā Ibn Saʿīd al-ʿAnsī al-ʿAmmārī (610–685 H/1214–1286
CE) is one of the most important anthologists, writers, historians and geographers
of the Islamic West, and the most celebrated member of the Banū Saʿīd family of
Alcalá la Real, early supporters of the Almohads in their takeover of the Iberian
Peninsula in the mid-6th/12th century. In al-Andalus Ibn Saʿīd witnessed a period
of political turbulence and change, as Almohad control crumbled across the re-
gion and independent local powers emerged in the so-called third “Taifa Period”.
Especially successful at the beginning was Ibn Hūd of Murcia (d. 635 H/1238 CE),1
who conquered much of Almohad al-Andalus. Ibn Saʿīd served him as governor
of Algeciras for one year (631 H/1233-4 CE), replacing his father Mūsā. Ibn Hūd
was in turn overthrown by another Andalusi military leader, Muḥammad Ibn
Naṣr, who eventually became the first Naṣrid sultan.2 In Seville, Ibn Saʿīd wit-
nessed the death of the governor of the city, al-Muʿtaḍid al-Bājī, at the hands of
the Naṣrid leader,3 and it was then – fearing the new ruler – that he and his father
decided to travel to the East. They left al-Andalus in 636 H/1238-9 CE never to
return. Ibn Saʿīd thus spent the majority of his life outside al-Andalus, and finally
died in Tunis in 685 H/1286 CE.

||
1 See Vidal Castro 2000; Vidal Castro 2012; Carmona González 1994; Molina López 1979.
2 See Boloix 2017.
3 See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 109.
||
Note: This work was presented at the international conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”,
which took place on 20–21 December 2018, and has been carried out within the research pro-
ject Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East
(AMOI) (FFI2016-78878-R), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universi-
ties and co-directed by Maribel Fierro (ILC, CSIC) and Mayte Penelas (EEA, CSIC). I wish to thank
both of them for their suggestions. English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Víctor de Castro León, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-003
80 | Víctor de Castro León

The vast majority of Ibn Saʿīd’s works4 – not only the well known Mughrib
and Mushriq – base their structure and organization on geographical concepts
that were the result not only of his long travels, but also of his concern for the
science of geography.5 The importance of Ibn Saʿīd’s work as a geographer is ev-
ident in the composition of one of his most important works of geography, enti-
tled Kitāb Basṭ al-arḍ fī al-ṭūl wa-l-ʿarḍ (Book of the extension of the Earth in lon-
gitude and latitude) or simply Kitāb Jughrāfiyā (Book of Geography),6 preserved
in three main manuscripts, one at the National Library of France in Paris (no.
2234), one at the British Museum in London (MS 1524), and a third copy at the
Bodleian Library in Oxford (MS Selder superius 76).7 Kitāb Jughrāfiyā was written
after the year 658 H/1260 CE. It was widely used by subsequent authors, among
them Abū al-Fidāʾ (d. 732 H/1331 CE) in his Taqwīm al-buldān, Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-
ʿUmarī (d. 749 H/1349 CE) in Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār, and later by
al-Qalqashandī (d. 820 H/1418 CE) in his Subḥ al-aʿshā, and al-Maqrīzī (d. 845 H/
1412 CE) in al-Mawāʿiẓ wa-l-iʿtibār fī dhikr al-khiṭaṭ wa-l-āthār.
Ibn Saʿīd’s work introduced new geographical concepts. For example, de-
spite basing the division of the world on the seven climates and ten sections of
al-Idrīsī’s (d. 560 H/1165 CE) Nuzhat al-mushtāq, he added two new climates, pro-
vided 432 new geographical coordinates on the positions of the different sites,
and did not use the traditional meridian of water8 as a starting point (he placed it
at a latitude 16 degrees north). Moreover, he provided important information
about the ports along the Bay of Biscay, and included data about routes along the
Western and Eastern coasts of the African continent that he took directly from the
little-known Ibn Fāṭima,9 who apparently was a sailor.
Ibn Saʿīd’s extensive geographical knowledge influenced the composition of
his works, especially in their internal organization, as is the case with al-Mughrib

||
4 For a general perspective on the author and his work see Potiron 1965; Arié 1988; Cano
Ávila/Tawfik 2007; Monferrer 2012; Alansari 1992; Vidal Castro 2002. For detailed bio-biblio-
graphical information on Ibn Saʿīd see Iria Santás de Arcos’s contribution to this volume.
5 In relation to Ibn Saʿīd’s geography, see Vernet 1953; Vernet 1958; Meouak 1996; Viguera Mo-
lins 1999; Rei 2003; Mazzoli-Guintard 2009; Mazzoli Guintard/Viguera Molins 2017. For a general
perspective on geographical works written in al-Andalus see Muʾnis 1961–62; Tixier du Mesnil
2014.
6 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Jughrāfiyā (1970); Kamal 1987.
7 Studies have been carried out by Kamal 1987; Kropp 1992; Kropp 1995. This work and its man-
uscript tradition still require further, more exhaustive analysis. See Ducène 2016.
8 In relation to this meridian, see Comes 2014a; Comes 2014b.
9 Kropp 1992; Kropp 1995.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 81

fī ḥulā al-Maghrib, a literary anthology – composed mainly of poetic texts along-

side important geographical and historical data – aimed at compiling a selection
of the literary production of authors belonging to the Islamic Maghrib.10 He also
wrote another work, al-Mushriq fī ḥulā al-Mashriq,11 following the same criteria as
those used in the Mughrib, but with regards to the Islamic East.

2 Egypt as part of the Maghrib

The only extant copy of the Mughrib12 is divided into fifteen chapters: six dedi-
cated to Egypt, three dedicated to Ifrīqiya and the Maghrib, and six dedicated to
al-Andalus, the Christian kingdoms and Northern Europe. Ibn Saʿīd’s decision to
classify Egypt as part of the Islamic West is unusual; one would expect it to have
been included in the Mushriq instead. It is therefore worth asking what motivated
Ibn Saʿīd to make this decision. Was he alone in this geographical conception or
did he follow an approach also found in other authors? Did he follow it only in
the Mughrib or is it a constant in his production?
Before attempting to answer these questions, there is another geographical
concept that also affects the internal division of Ibn Saʿīd’s works. In both the
Mughrib and the Mushriq he orders the authors according to geographical crite-
ria,13 following a system based on a former territorial organization of al-Andalus
used mainly under the Umayyads and Almoravids.14 Ibn Saʿīd classifies the bio-
graphical entries by “kingdoms” (mamālik), with every mamlaka divided into dis-
tricts (kuwar) and cities (mudun/madāʾin). Finally, within each of these, Ibn Saʿīd
classifies the biographical entries into five social categories: emirs, viziers, schol-
ars, poets, and other less prominent but socially significant literary figures. This
geographical arrangement is not an original feature of Ibn Saʿīd. It had already
been used in al-Andalus in the 6th/12th century, for example in the literary com-
pilation by Ibn Bassām (d. 543 H/1148 CE), al-Dhakhīra fī maḥāsin ahl al-Jazīra,
and coexisted with other criteria, such as the chronological ordering found in
ṭabaqāt works or biographical repertoires. What is unique about Ibn Saʿīd’s

||
10 Mazzoli-Guintard 2009, 560–561; Potiron 1966, 151–155.
11 Potiron 1966, 155–156.
12 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 62–63.
13 As recently stated by Mazzoli-Guintard/Viguera Molins 2017, 102–103.
14 See Mazzoli-Guintard 2009.
82 | Víctor de Castro León

Mughrib15 is that his geographical approach differs from that of other Andalusi
geographers, dividing each administrative or political territorial section into
three parts: eastern, central and western, thus establishing a tripartite structure.
In the part of the Mughrib dedicated to Egypt,16 this general division is adapted to
the country’s topographical peculiarities. Thus, Ibn Saʿīd divides the Egyptian
territory into three parts – upper, middle and lower – but following the tradi-
tional South to North distribution marked by the course of the Nile, each part
having its respective “kingdoms” or mamālik. Each of these three parts is then
divided into eastern and western districts (kuwar). Cairo and al-Fusṭāṭ belong to
the eastern kuwar of the central “kingdom”, and specifically to the kūra of ʿAyn
al-Shams.17 The Mughrib’s tripartite organization of the territory and subdivision
into “kingdoms”18 is the first of its kind. According to Mazzoli-Guintard, its origin
possibly resides in the tripartite administrative division established in al-Andalus
by the Almoravid government, which he then extended to other regions that had
not been subject to Almoravid rule.19

3 Egypt in other geographical sources

Did Ibn Saʿīd decide to include Egypt in the Islamic West (Maghrib) because he
had encountered this conception among his written sources?20

||
15 Ibn Saʿīd follows the same literary criteria and geographical concept in the Mushriq as he
himself expresses in the introduction to this work. See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 18.
16 This part of the Mughrib, containing valuable information, has not yet been sufficiently stud-
ied.
17 The name of the chapter dedicated to this kūra is “Kitāb Ladhdhat al-lams fī ḥulā kūrat ʿAyn
al-Shams”, and the chapters dedicated to Cairo and al-Fusṭāṭ are respectively entitled “Kitāb
Nujūm al-zāhira fī ḥulā madinat al-Qāhira” and “Kitāb al-Ightibāṭ fī ḥulā madīnat al-Fusṭāṭ”. See
Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 29–30.
18 Although, as I have said previously, Ibn Saʿīd stated that in the Mushriq he had followed the
same organization and structure as in the Mughrib, the real content and structure of the pre-
served Mushriq manuscript has not yet been studied in depth. It is our intention to prepare a
critical edition of this work in the near future.
19 Mazzoli-Guintard 2009, 568.
20 For the literary sources of the Mughrib see Meouak 1993.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 83

Ptolemy had divided the world into an eastern and western part,21 as had
other Arab-Islamic geographers. However, the latter expressed a variety of opin-
ions in establishing which territories fell within the East and the West.
In addition to the division into climates and sections, the majority22 describe
the territory of the Islamic Empire on the basis of a political and administrative
distribution by countries (buldān), using the word East (mashriq)23 when describ-
ing the territories east of Syria and Iraq, such as Samarkand, Fars, Transoxiana,
India or China. For them, Egypt is never part of the Maghrib, regardless of how its
borders are defined. In fact, some geographers even conceive of Egypt as an in-
termediate territory between the eastern and western parts of the Islamic world.
Thus, in chronological order:
1. Ibn Ḥawqal (4th/10th century) in his work Ṣūrat al-arḍ divides the world
into regions/countries, even though he was familiar with the division by climates
(iqlīm, pl. aqālīm) established by Ptolemy. He tells us that Egypt has its western
limit in the Maghrib, located according to some in the city of Barqa and according
to others near Alexandria.24 He does not explicitly state whether Egypt itself be-
longs to the East or the West. For him, the East includes the territories of
Khūzistān (Susiana), Fars (Persia), Kirmān and Sind (the lower Indus).25 Thus, it
would seem that for him there is also a central region of which Egypt is part.
2. Al-Muqaddasī (334–380 H/945–990 CE) in his work Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fī
maʿrifat al-aqālīm divides the world into fourteen climates (= provinces), seven
inhabited and seven uninhabited.26 At the same time, he distinguishes between
Arabized and non-Arabized territories. He is one of the few geographers who ex-
plicitly defines his conception of East and West, stating that27

Every time we say mashriq we are referring to the states of the Sāmānids (dawlat al-Sāmān),
i.e. Khurāsān, Transoxiana, Sijistān, Jurjān, al-Rayy and Ṭabaristān. When we say sharq we

||
21 See the testimony of al-ʿUmarī citing Ptolemy, al-Radd (2009), 79–80, 92–93. For Ptolemy’s
geographical texts see Berggren/Jones 2000, 3–23.
22 Some of these authors are analysed below. For the rest see EI2, s.vv.
23 For a general overview of this concept see Miquel, “Mashriḳ”, EI2, and in relation to Maghrib
see Yver, “al-Maghrib”, EI2.
24 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1964), 1: 57–59, 131–135.
25 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1964), 1: XV.
26 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1963); al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1991).
27 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1963), 24; al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1991), 7–8.
84 | Víctor de Castro León

refer to Fārs, Kirmān and Sind. The word maghrib designates the province that bears this
name (that is, North Africa); while the word gharb refers to Egypt and Syria.28

Later, when he discusses the province of Egypt, he states that the city of al-Fusṭāṭ
marks the dividing line between the West (al-Maghrib) and the Arab territories,
and is also the pantry (khizāna) of the West and the refuge (maṭraḥ) of the East.29
3. Al-Bakrī (405–487 H/1014–1094 CE) in his work al-Masālik wa-l-mamālik,
which was one of the direct sources of Ibn Saʿīd, describes the Islamic Empire on
the basis of political and administrative criteria.30 Without expressly mentioning
Egypt as part of the East, he does establish a separation between Egypt and the
Maghrib and Ifrīqiya, whose eastern border he situates in the city of Sirte, in the
province of Barqa.
4. Al-Idrīsī’s (d. 560 H/1165 CE) Nuzhat al-mushtāq was Ibn Saʿīd’s main
source for his geographical work. Al-Idrīsī follows a division based on climates
(aqālīm) in which Egypt is for the most part placed in climate three, section four.
As with al-Bakrī, al-Idrīsī explicitly situates the border between Egypt and the
Maghrib, placing it in the city of Barqa, but he does not describe Egypt as part of
the Islamic East. A notable exception is a single instance where he does seem to
consider this to be the case:31 in climate two, section three, he speaks of the alum
merchants of the city of Ankalās who in the East sell their wares in Egypt, and in
the West sell them in the city of Wārqalān as well as in al-Maghrib al-aqṣā (the far
Maghrib).
5. Al-Zuhrī (second half of the 6th/12th century) in his Kitāb al-Jaʿrāfiyya di-
vides the world into seven zones (ajzāʾ),32 each of which is subdivided into three

||
28 Al-Muqaddasī does not specify whether, within the Islamic Empire, Iraq and the Arabian
Peninsula belong to the East or the West; rather they seem to be treated as a central and inde-
pendent territory between the two entities. He only states that both territories are the first two of
the six Arab provinces, which are the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Aqūr, Syria, Egypt, and the Ma-
ghrib, while the non-Arab provinces are the Mashriq, Daylam, Riḥāb, al-Jibāl, Khūzistān, Fārs,
Kirmān, and Sind. See al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1963), 28, 123; al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-
taqāsīm (1991), 9, 10, 47.
29 Al-Muqaddasī, Aḥsan al-taqāsīm (1991), 197.
30 Al-Bakrī, al-Masālik (1913), 48–49; al-Bakrī, al-Masālik (1992), 671–672.
31 Al-Idrīsī, Nuzhat al-mushtāq (1866), 46.
32 As Manfred Kropp has demonstrated, the manuscript dealing with geography entitled Kitāb
al-Badʾ wa-l-taʾrīkh, though often wrongly attributed to Ibn Saʿīd, is in fact the work of al-Shāwī
al-Fāsī (d. 977 H/1570 CE) who copied much of the work of al-Zuhrī but added his own correc-
tions. See Bramon 1991, XI, XXVIII–XXIX; Kamal 1987, 1088–1093.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 85

sections (aṣqāʿ).33 This division does not respond to scientific-geographical crite-

ria, but rather is a system based on the imaginary route known in Greek as the
bustrofedon (= route made by a pair of oxen when ploughing the earth). Al-Zuhrī
simply tells us in relation to Egypt, which is in the second zone, third section, that
“it is the gateway to the Maghrib, which begins in the mountains of Barqa”.34
6. Contemporaries of Ibn Saʿīd are Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī (575–626 H/1179–1229
CE), author of Muʿjam al-buldān, and al-Qazwīnī (600–682 H/1203–1283 CE), who
follows Yāqūt in his Āthār al-bilād.35 In his introduction to Muʿjam al-buldān,
Yāqūt follows the climate-based division of al-Idrīsī, and in speaking of the third
climate – as well as the second – he enumerates the cities found in each climate,
“starting from the East, China, Hind, Sind, Kabul, Kirmān (...) through Fars, Syria
and among the cities of Egypt: Tinnīs, Dumyāṭ, al-Fusṭāṭ, Alexandria, Fayyūm
(…) and in the Maghrib: Barqa, Kairouan”, which implies that Egypt is not part of
the Maghrib.36 The entry on Asia indicates that the custom of dividing the world
into two parts is espoused by the Egyptians themselves, who call “what extends
to the right of their territories ‘Maghrib’ and what extends to the left ‘Mashriq’, in
which they include themselves”. This means that by Egyptians’ own accounts
their country would have belonged the East, but not according to Yāqūt, for
whom Egypt seems to constitute a bridge-like zone between West and East, with
part of the territory belonging to the East and part to the West.37 His discussions
of the Nile38 give the impression that he views the river as a natural frontier be-
tween East and West. He also states that some Egyptian cities such as Qifṭ and
Aswān fall in the East.39
7. In Ibn Jubayr’s Riḥla (540–614 H/1145–1217 CE), Egypt also seems at times
to be an intermediate territory between East and West, and its westernmost bor-
der is situated near Alexandria. In other instances, however, it seems to be a

||
33 See Bramon 1991, IX–X, XXVIII–XXIX, XXXV–XXXVI.
34 Al-Zuhrī, al-Jaʿrāfiyya (1991), 84; al-Zuhrī, al-Jaʿrāfiyya (1968), 200–201.
35 Al-Qazwīnī divides the world, according to the Ptolemaic tradition, into seven climates, and
within each climate the countries/regions are arranged in alphabetical order, as is the case with
Yāqūt. In the entry devoted to Egypt, he tells us that it borders on the West at Barqa, but does
not specify whether Egypt is part of the East. He only uses the word mashriq expressly to refer to
regions such as China, Khurāsān, India and Fars. See al-Qazwīnī, Āthār al-bilād (1990), 37–44;
al-Qazwīnī, Āthār al-bilād (ca. 1960), 263–270.
36 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān (2007), 1: 28–31.
37 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān (2007), 1: 54.
38 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān (2007), 5: 334.
39 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān (2007), 4: 383.
86 | Víctor de Castro León

proper part of the East.40 When describing the kindness of a person from Mecca
named Jamāl al-Dīn, Ibn Jubayr tells us that he “repaired all the roads of the Mus-
lims in the countries of the East, from Iraq to Syria and up to the Hejaz”, i.e. ex-
cluding Egypt.41 On the other hand, in praising the orthodoxy of the Almohads,
he tells us, “There is no true Islam except in the countries of the Maghrib... In the
other [countries], in these eastern regions, there are passions, reprehensible in-
novations (bidaʿ)...”.42 As he is writing in Egypt, the phrase “these eastern re-
gions” seems to indicate that he regards Egypt as an eastern land.
8. Upon arriving in Cairo, the traveller al-ʿAbdarī (d. after 688 H/1289 CE)43
described the city “as the capital of Egypt” and “one of the cities of the kingdom
in the territories of the East (madīnat al-mamlaka bi-l-bilād al-mashriqiyya)”. He,
too, situates Egypt’s border with the Maghrib in the province of Barqa, specifi-
cally between the cities of Ajdabiya and Alexandria.44
9. Ibn al-Khaṭīb (d. 776 H/1374 CE) used the works of Ibn Saʿīd as a source,
and some of them he even completed and tried to surpass.45 In his Kitāb Aʿmāl al-
aʿlām, he follows a tripartite structure and divides the Islamic world into three
parts: the first, the East, the second, al-Andalus, and the third, North Africa and
Sicily. In the first part, the one covering the East, he tells us that it “includes what
concerns the eastern territories (al-bilād al-mashriqiyya) up to Barqa [beginning
of the Maghrib]”,46 and that “the Maghrib, which borders on the Mashriq, begins
in Ifrīqiya”.47 When dealing with the Fāṭimids,48 he says that “they launched into
the conquest of the East, seizing Egypt, Syria, the Hejaz, and then Iraq”. Clearly,
for Ibn al-Khaṭīb Egypt is part of the East.
In summary, Arab-Islamic geographers and travellers had different views
about how to situate Egypt geographically. While they saw the political and ad-
ministrative division of the territories and their boundaries clearly, it is not so

||
40 On the travels of Ibn Jubayr in relation to those of al-ʿAbdarī and Ibn Saʿīd see Marín 1995;
Marín 2005; M’Ghirbi 1996.
41 Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla (1988), 154–156.
42 Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla (1988), 102.
43 See Calasso 2014.
44 Al-ʿAbdarī, Riḥla (1968), 87–88, 125.
45 Ibn al-Khaṭīb was well acquainted with and admired the work of Ibn Saʿīd. The vizier of Gra-
nada wrote his Kitāb al-Siḥr wa-l-shiʿr in an attempt to complete and surpass Ibn Saʿīd’s ʿUnwān
al-murqiṣāt wa-l-muṭribāt, and also wrote al-Tāj al-muḥallā fī musājalat al-Qidḥ al-muʿallā to ri-
val Ibn Saʿīd’s al-Qidḥ al-muʿallā fī al-taʾrīkh al-muḥallā.
46 Ibn al-Khatīb, Aʿmāl al-aʿlām (2003), 346.
47 Ibn al-Khatīb, Aʿmāl al-aʿlām (2003), 44.
48 Ibn al-Khatīb, Aʿmāl al-aʿlām (2003), 230.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 87

evident what exactly forms part of the East or the West – which is not surprising
given that these divisions, contrary to the others, are relational concepts. There
appears to be a tacit assumption that everything which is not the Maghrib is the
Mashriq, as if the Maghrib were easier to define than the Mashriq. In the earliest
geographers and travellers, at least until the 6th/12th century, the words
Mashriq/Sharq are usually used to designate the territories from Syria onwards
– with the exception of al-Muqaddasī – and Egypt appears as a territory of tran-
sition. From the second half of the 7th/13th century on, geographers and travel-
lers increasingly situate Egypt as a territory belonging to the East, especially after
the Mamlūks’ rise to power. By the 8th/14th century, Egypt is clearly regarded as
part of the East. This could be related to the territorial re-organization at the end
of the 6th/12th century, and especially from the 7th/13th century onwards with
the disintegration of the Almohad Empire in al-Andalus and North Africa, the fall
of the Ayyūbids, the rise to power of the Mamlūks in Egypt and Syria, and the
Mongols’ conquest of Baghdad in the year 655 H/1258 CE and Aleppo in 658
H/1260 CE. While the Mamlūks did not attempt to expand westwards, they cer-
tainly did grow eastwards, and this “Eastern” inclination may be what cemented
Egypt firmly in the Mashriq.

4 Egypt in other works by Ibn Saʿīd

Ibn Saʿīd’s designation of Egypt as part of the West goes against not only the con-
sensus among other geographers of his time, but even the opinions of his own
family. Ibn Saʿīd quotes a letter from his paternal uncle, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b.
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd (d. 616 H/1220 CE), who wrote from Bukhārā
to his relatives telling them about his trip. In the letter he says that after having
crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, he marched towards Ifrīqiya “which is the door of
the East”.49
Ibn Saʿīd’s geographical conception of Egypt as Western is not limited to al-
Mughrib, as elsewhere he adopts the same perspective, albeit with minor varia-
tions. In his Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā Egypt sometimes appears as part of the West and
others as part of the East. In the second climate, section four, he discusses the
new route that pilgrims have to follow because of the Crusaders, through the port
of ʿAydhāb via the Red Sea to the port city of Jidda. He then says that “on the road
from [the city of] Aswān, on the eastern side, there is the path to the Hejaz, for

||
49 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 370–371; Potiron 1965, 88–89; Hoenerbach 1991, 773.
88 | Víctor de Castro León

whoever goes to the East has to go by the way of al-Waḍḥ”.50 By contrast, in cli-
mate three, section four, he mentions the mountain of Jālūt (= Goliath)51 located
in south-eastern Egypt, whose name, Ibn Saʿīd explains, refers “to Jālūt; as they
say, when he escaped from Palestine, Jālūt went there before he was killed, and
settled in this mountain, and from there entered with his children and his people
into the Maghrib”.52
Moving now to Ibn Saʿīd’s more literary works, in the prologue to his ʿUnwān
al-murqiṣāt wa-l-muṭribāt, a compilation of poetic fragments classified on the ba-
sis of their ability to thrill the reader, he tells us that he will follow the same cri-
teria he used in the Mughrib and the Mushriq of separating the Eastern authors
from the Western ones.53 Likewise, in the chapter dedicated to the Western au-
thors he begins by mentioning “the poets of the Maghrib, from the first territory
of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean (shuʿarāʾ al-maghrib min awwal al-diyār al-miṣriyya
ilā al-baḥr al-muḥīṭ)”.54
In the small fragment that has been preserved of Ibn Saʿīd’s al-Ghuṣūn al-
yāniʿa, specifically the eighth chapter, which contains several biographies of
7th/13th-century writers, he also distinguishes between Eastern and Western au-
thors. In this case, however, Ibn Saʿīd changes his geographical classification of
Egypt: here it becomes a central territory that separates Easterners (Syrians and
Iraqis) from Westerners (Maghribis and Andalusis), and as such he dedicates an
independent section to Egyptian authors.55
The dates for these works by Ibn Saʿīd are as follows: the Mughrib and Mush-
riq were written first (the first version dates from 641 H/1243 CE), followed shortly
thereafter by ʿUnwān al-murqiṣāt, which adopts the same approach as the previ-
ous two. Subsequently he wrote al-Ghuṣūn al-yāniʿa (Ibn Saʿīd dates it 657 H/1258-
9 CE in the introduction),56 and finally the Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā, which can be dated
to after 659 H/1260 CE. Thus, Ibn Saʿīd started out placing Egypt squarely in the
West, but then came to consider it as an intermediate territory between East and

||
50 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Jughrāfiyā (1970), 116.
51 Vajda, “Djālūt”, EI2; Boisliveau, “Goliath”, EI3. Abū al-Fidāʾ in his work Taqwīm al-buldān
tells us that Jālūt is the generic name to designate the Philistine kings. See Abū al-Fidāʾ, Taqwīm
al-buldān (1848–83), 2: 86, n. 3.
52 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Jughrāfiyā (1970), 129.
53 Ibn Saʿīd, ʿUnwān al-murqiṣāt (1896), 3–4; Ibn Saʿīd, ʿUnwān al-murqiṣāt (1949), 7.
54 Ibn Saʿīd, ʿUnwān al-murqiṣāt (1896), 56 (my translation).
55 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Ghuṣūn (1977), 73–74.
56 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Ghuṣūn (1977), 1.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 89

West, until finally deciding that part of the territory belonged to the East and part
to the West, with the Nile forming a natural boundary between the two.57

5 Syrian/Egyptian reactions to Ibn Saʿīd’s

geographical conception
The geographical approach proposed by Ibn Saʿīd generated controversy, espe-
cially among Mamlūk authors in Egypt, in particular three of them: Abū al-Fidāʾ
(672–732 H/1273–1331 CE), Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī (700–749 H/1301–1349 CE)
and al-Maqrīzī (d. 845 H/1442 CE). The most severe and critical with Ibn Saʿīd was
al-ʿUmarī.
The core of the debate was the Andalusi author’s “Maghribization” of Egypt
in his geographical works, in particular in the chapter of the Mughrib entitled “al-
Shuhub al-thāqiba fī al-inṣāf bayna al-mashāriqa wa-l-maghāriba” (Penetrating
flames in the fair discernment between Easterners and Westerners). This chapter
has not been preserved in the manuscripts available to us. It was known to al-
Maqqarī58 and a large part was preserved by al-ʿUmarī, who responded to Ibn
Saʿīd by dedicating the entire fifth volume (sifr) of his extensive work Masālik al-
abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār to this issue.59
In a general sense, this confrontation took place on two levels.
1. The debate initially centred on geography: Al-ʿUmarī did not accept Ibn
Saʿīd’s division of East and West, and above all objected to Egypt, the seat of the
Mamlūk government, being considered part of the Maghrib. The Mamlūk author
quotes the Andalusi as writing phrases such as “Egypt is the beginning of the
West and Syria that of the East”, and “Egypt, which according to Ibn Saʿīd is part
of the Maghrib”,60 to which al-ʿUmarī replies that “The question of what is the
West and what is the East is relative”.61 Al-ʿUmarī looked for different types of
arguments to respond with, among them referring to Ibn Saʿīd’s work on geogra-
phy, Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā, where, according to al-ʿUmarī, Ibn Saʿīd had claimed
just the opposite. Al-ʿUmarī ultimately ends up recognizing in spite of himself

||
57 As previously mentioned, a more exhaustive analysis of the content and manuscripts of his
main geographical work, Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā, is needed in order to understand better the evolu-
tion of his geographical conception and his understanding of the world.
58 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 1: 210.
59 Part of this fifth volume (sifr) can be consulted in al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009).
60 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 43, 80.
61 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 80.
90 | Víctor de Castro León

that “it is true that Egypt is part of the West; nevertheless, this does not cancel
out whatever virtues it may possess”,62 and that “both territories possess things
that deserve praise and criticism, but in the end the victor prevails and although
God mentions East and West in different places of the Qurʾān, he evidently started
with the East”.63 That said, al-ʿUmarī goes on to attack the Maghribis, who “lack
any external or internal virtue”, stating that “if any of the [Maghribi] kings enjoy
pleasures, they are nothing [in comparison] with those available to a person from
the East”.64 He goes on to attack Ibn Saʿīd himself, who in his view “certainly
reached the limit of favouritism [towards the Maghrib] in the work entitled al-
Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib”,65 adding that “if this virtuous man had felt shame,
he would not have cited the jund (army) of the West along with the praiseworthy
things of the jund of the East. If he did it, it was only because he had made Egypt
part of the Maghrib”.66 Al-ʿUmarī continues to lambast Westerners in this vein,
until taking his argument to a second level.
2. From this point on, al-ʿUmarī tries to discredit Ibn Saʿīd and his work, and
the best way to do so is to accuse him of partiality and favouritism towards the
Maghribis. By contrast, he defines himself as “an impartial person, since there is
no need for the opposite ... because the pre-eminence of the East is evident as the
sun”.67 Al-ʿUmarī develops his argument on the basis of a passage he attributes
to Ibn Saʿīd comparing the Earth with the parts of a human body, where India
and China are its head and the West (gharb) is at its foot, adding that68 “with this
comparison the Easterners would be extremely proud, if the Westerners would
recognize it”, to which al-ʿUmarī replies, “Westerners ought to recognize [the su-
periority] of the Easterners in all matters, whether they want to or not, except in
a few things that do not admit any discussion”.69 Al-ʿUmarī then launches into an
elaborate discourse questioning the existence of any virtue or merit among the
territories and people of the Maghrib. Here, the East always proves superior to the
West: its provinces and cities are larger and more populous; its people are kinder,
wiser and more beautiful; and it is the birthplace of writing, the sciences, trade
and commerce. Above all, he supports his arguments on the Qurʾān and the

||
62 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 75.
63 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 40.
64 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 86–87.
65 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 80.
66 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 156.
67 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 39–40, 74.
68 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 42.
69 Al-ʿUmarī does not specify which things do not admit discussion. See al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd
(2009), 42.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 91

Sunna, which tell us “that in the East the prophet Muḥammad was born, there
the Revelation took place, there the prophets were born and spread the word of
God, their graves are found in those territories...”.70 And so he continues in this
vein, offering arguments whereby the East is always the first and the best in every
respect, as in the following passage about the prophets:

Are not all the holy places of the prophets – the blessings of God be upon them – in the
East? Except Yūsuf, Mūsā and Hārūn – the blessings of God be upon them – who were in
Egypt, [a land] that according to the opinion of Ibn Saʿīd belongs to the Maghrib, either
because its inhabitants acknowledge this, or because others maintain that it is so. In addi-
tion, even if it were accepted that Egypt is part of the Maghrib, it would not matter, because
these venerable prophets are really of the East: they arose in Syria, were natives of that
place, and there, in the East, had their cradle. All the prophets – the blessings of God be
upon them – are from the East, because they were born there, there the prophetic missions
of their envoys took place, their graves are there and it was there that the spirit of Revelation
descended upon them.
As regards the entrance into Egypt of Yaʿqūb, the tribes of Israel (al-Asbāṭ), Yūshaʿ and the
Messiah – the blessings of God be upon them – they did not actually enter to settle there,
nor did they settle in any place; they are not counted among the prophets [of Egypt], nor is
news about them mentioned in the chronicles [of Egypt].
In the East the ascent of the angels – the blessings of God be upon them – took place, there
the book of God was revealed, the sources of Islamic law were developed, the pavilions of
faith were raised, the [different] sects were propagated, the sciences branched apart and
works spread east and west. There the Arabian Peninsula is located, whose sultan is the
Sultan and whose language is the Language.71

With regard to Abū al-Fidāʾ, his criticisms were more objective, based mainly on
questions of a geographical nature72 related to latitudes and longitudes. Regard-
less of this, he never failed to recognize the great value of Ibn Saʿīd’s works,
mainly the Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā, the Mughrib and the Mushriq.73
Al-Maqrīzī, who made extensive use Ibn Saʿīd’s works, supported al-ʿUmarī
in his attacks against the Andalusi author. In his work al-Khiṭaṭ74 al-Maqrīzī

||
70 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 43, 85–87.
71 Al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 43.
72 Abū al-Fidāʾ, unlike Ibn Saʿīd and other geographers, places the first meridian on the coast
of the African continent, with a difference of ten degrees with respect to Ptolemy. His work, Taq-
wīm al-buldān, although it refers to climates, is not organized according to them. It is based on
the political-administrative divisions of the Islamic Empire. Within each region/country, the
main cities are listed one by one, placing them in their respective climates, with their longitude
and latitude.
73 Abū al-Fidāʾ, Taqwīm al-buldān (1848–83), 2: 254; Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1907), 3: 177.
74 Al-Maqrīzī, al-Khiṭaṭ (1997), 2: 167–170, 210–214.
92 | Víctor de Castro León

brings up the chapter of the Mughrib describing Cairo, where Ibn Saʿīd is critical
of the city and its people, to which al-Maqrīzī counters that “this [text] is full of
attacks and prejudice”. Al-Maqqarī, who saw this remark, replied, “The one who
looks from impartiality will know that the attacks in [the words of Ibn Saʿīd] are
proportional to the attacks he received, God Most High and Conciliating [knows
well]”.75
Ibn Saʿīd was thus criticized for his partiality toward the Maghribis, despite
the fact that he always expressed the need to be impartial and fair when making
a judgement. He says, for instance, that “the impartial man is the one who exam-
ines [literary works] at length, without limitations, who does not admit the supe-
riority of one age over another, nor of one territory over another”, or, similarly, “I
did not stop at any consideration of demerit or merit, nor did I worry about issu-
ing an unfavourable or favourable judgement, I only wanted to offer some prose
texts, one after the other, and verses of poetry...”.76

6 Conclusion
The new geographical approach proposed by Ibn Saʿīd in his main works, the
Mughrib and the Mushriq, generated an intense debate and put the focus on the
question of which territories belonged to the Maghrib and which to the Mashriq.
This issue seems to have become controversial especially in the 7th–8th/13th–
14th centuries, taking into account the new geopolitical shifts in the territory of
the Islamic Empire, with the fall of the Almohad Empire and the Mongol conquest
of Baghdad and Aleppo.
It is difficult to establish the exact reasons that led Ibn Saʿīd to include Egypt
as part of the Islamic West. It could be that the experience he gained through his
travels provided him with a new outlook, leading him to propose a new division
of the Earth, perhaps in the belief that the inclusion of Egypt as part of the Ma-
ghrib led to a more balanced distribution between East and West. Also, the new
division may have been seen as better adapted to a literary context, yielding a
more balanced array of Eastern and Western authors. However, the fact that Ibn
Saʿīd does not make any statement regarding such literary criteria, along with the

||
75 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 349.
76 Ibn Saʿīd, ʿUnwān al-murqiṣāt (1896), 3–4; Ibn Saʿīd, ʿUnwān al-murqiṣāt (1949), 5, 9; Ibn
Saʿīd, al-Muqtaṭaf (1984), 41–44; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 3: 152–153.
 Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī: Egypt as Part of the Maghrib | 93

strong criticisms of al-ʿUmarī, seems to indicate that Ibn Saʿīd based his decision
more on geographical than literary concepts.
Ibn Saʿīd was always a Maghribi to the eyes of Eastern scholars, for many of
whom the West had always been inferior, so that his new conception of integrat-
ing Egypt in the Maghrib was not prone to be accepted by Egyptians. Neverthe-
less, even al-ʿUmarī in his Masālik al-abṣār, despite his harsh rebuttal of Ibn
Saʿīd, recognized the value and the integrity of the Andalusi author, saying:

He is my teacher (ṣāḥibī) with whom sometimes I agree in this book of mine, others I con-
demn him, other times I coincide with him, and a few others I am against him. He is an
overflowing sea and a torrential rain [of wisdom], endowed with an exquisite and clear el-
oquence, whose information flows like the water and his excellences shine like the stars.77

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|
Part II: Integrating the Maghrib into Universal
Islamic History
Abdenour Padillo-Saoud
Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-
bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ

1 Introduction
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the work al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by
Abū al-Fidāʾ, acquired great relevance among European scholars, and was con-
sidered crucial for an understanding of Islamic history. This keen interest led to
the publication of several partial editions of the work, such as Abilfedae annales
moslemici, published in Leipzig in the late 18th century, the 1831 Historia anteis-
lamica arabice by the Orientalist Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer, also published in
Leipzig, and an edition by French cleric Jean Gaigner published in Oxford in 1723.
However, as scholars became familiar with the sources upon which Abū al-
Fidāʾ had relied, interest in his chronicle waned. Meanwhile, various Arabic edi-
tions were published over the course of the 20th century: a 1907 Cairene edition
by publishers al-Maṭbaʿa al-Ḥusayniyya al-Miṣriyya, which was republished in
1968 in Baghdad; another edition prepared in Beirut between 1956 and 1961 by
publishers Dār al-Fikr and Dār al-Biḥār; another by Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya in
1997; and, most recently, an edition by Muḥammad Zaynahum, Muḥammad
Fakhrī and Yaḥyā Sayyid Ḥusayn, published by Dār al-Maʿārif between 1998 and
1999 in Cairo. However, these editions have done little to rekindle interest in the
text, as they lack even the most basic scholarly study one would expect from an
academic publication. What is more, they do not even specify the manuscripts
used, or offer any sort of critical apparatus to guide the reader through the text.1

||
1 The 1998–1999 edition contains a greater number of explanatory references than the rest of
the editions, but in my opinion, it is still insufficient as a critical apparatus.
||
Note: This chapter is the developed version of the paper presented in the congress “The
Magrib in the Mashriq”, held in Madrid in December 2018. The research has been carried out in
the framework of the research project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the
Maghreb in the Islamic East (AMOI) (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER,UE), funded by the Spanish
Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and co-directed by Maribel Fierro (ILC, CSIC)
and Mayte Penelas (EEA, CSIC). The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of
Spain has supported this research under the program “Contratos Predoctorales para la For-
mación de Doctores/2017”. English translation by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Abdenour Padillo-Saoud, published by De Gruyter. This work is

licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-004
100 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

Thus, today the outlook for Abū al-Fidāʾ’s work is hardly better than in the
late 19th century. Modern scholars have paid little attention to it, except for trans-
lations of various fragments of the text narrating specific events, and brief bio-
graphical studies on the author.2
That said, the present study is based on the premise that for a broad and in-
depth understanding of an intellectual context, it is not enough to study just the
great historians of the period. Rather, it is important to understand lesser figures
as well, as in the case of Abū al-Fidāʾ. Overall, the aim of this paper is to provide
further elements in the construction of a global perspective of the relationships
between the authors of this period and the Islamic West.
This paper presents the partial results of my study and analysis of the infor-
mation about al-Andalus that appears in Abū al-Fidāʾ’s al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-
bashar.

2 The author
Late Ayyūbid historians have generally been classified into three categories: civil
servants or men of state, court historians, and ʿulamāʾ.3 While this classification
should not be followed categorically, it does describe an overriding trend that
extends into the first years of the Mamlūk period as well. As regards Abū al-
Fidāʾ’s fellow Syrian historians, they hailed mostly from the third group. How-
ever, our author constitutes a notable exception to this rule: he came from an
aristocratic Ayyūbid family, and his male ancestors were governors of the city of
Hama throughout the dynasty’s rule.
ʿImād al-Dīn Abū al-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl b. Alī b. Maḥmūd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar
b. Shāhanṣāh b. Ayyūb al-Malik al-Muʾayyad4 was born in Damascus in the year
672 H/1273 CE. His close relationship with Mamlūk sultan al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b.
Qalāwūn (d. 741 H/1341 CE) and his active role in the fights against the crusaders
propelled him to the fore of Hama’s city government. Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn
named him sultan of Hama, and sources say his independence and his authority

||
2 Among the exceptions are the partial translation of Holt 1983, the biographical text of Kīlānī
1998, or the most recent articles Najm ʿĪsā 2006, and Ḥasan 2014.
3 Guo 1997.
4 This string of names is recorded by Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1929–31), 1: 371. However, other
sources on Abū al-Fidāʾ’s biography record as his nasab the string of honorific titles attributed
to his powerful family: al-Malik al-Muʾayyad ʿImād al-Dīn Ibn al-Afḍal Ibn al-Malik al-Muẓẓafar
Ibn al-Malik al-Manṣūr, ṣāḥib Ḥamā.
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 101

over the city were absolute.5 While Hama appears to have enjoyed a degree of
autonomy from the central Mamlūk authority, there was nevertheless a clear re-
lationship of dependence at work. Likewise, the close ties between Abū al-Fidāʾ
and the Mamlūk authorities remained in place till the end of his life. Sources have
attributed to Abū al-Fidāʾ a wide variety of texts, including poetic compositions
and religious and literary works. However, his prestige stems from two works in
particular: the chronicle at the heart of this paper, and a descriptive geographical
work titled Taqwīm al-buldān.6 Abū al-Fidāʾ died in 732 H/1331 CE.

3 The work of Abū al-Fidāʾ

Al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar7 falls squarely within the taʾrīkh genre, and
more specifically within the sub-genre of works that order information chrono-
logically by year, taʾrīkh ʿalā al-sinīn, i.e. annalistic history.8 It is characterized by
its concision, summarizing the information briefly and succinctly.
The type of information the work contains is for the most part descriptive. He
mainly selects from his sources information describing the political events that
took place in a given year. We occasionally find Abū al-Fidāʾ’s interpretations of
the events he draws from his sources, including the author’s personal opinions.9
In structural terms, the work spans from the creation of the world up to the
year 729 H/1329 CE, two years before the author’s death. All of the editions con-
tain the summary and continuation of the Mukhtaṣar composed by Syrian histo-
rian Ibn al-Wardī (d. 749 H/1349 CE), known as Taʾrīkh Ibn al-Wardī,10 which co-
vers historical events up to 749 H/1348 CE. Subsequent continuations were also
made, for example by Ibn Ḥabīb al-Dimashqī (d. 779 H/1377 CE) or al-Qāḍī Ibn al-
Shiḥna al-Ḥalabī (d. 890 H/1485 CE), an indication of the prestige that Abū al-
Fidāʾ’s work attained during this period.
The overall structure of the work is straightforward, in line with other works
from this genre. It is divided into six parts. The first part begins with the creation
of Adam, after which the author lists the prophets in chronological order. When

||
5 See Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1929–31), 1: 371; Ibn Shākir, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973), 1: 183.
6 See Gibb, “Abū ’l-Fidā”, EI2; Talmon-Heller, “Abū l-Fidāʾ”, EI3.
7 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997).
8 For further information, see Rosenthal 1952, 71–86.
9 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 9 and 236–237.
10 It was published in its own two-volume edition by Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya in 1996, under
the title Taʾrīkh Ibn al-Wardī.
102 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

he reaches Moses, he inserts information about the leaders and kings of banū
Isrāʾīl, followed by the prophets up to Jesus and the second destruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem. The second part covers the kings of Persia and is organized
into generations (ṭabaqāt). The third contains information on the pharaohs of An-
cient Egypt, along with Greek, Roman and Byzantine rulers. The fourth, “Mulūk
al-ʿarab qabl al-islām”, covers pre-Islamic Arab history. The fifth provides infor-
mation on the different “nations” (umam) of the world. These five parts are short
in comparison to the sixth and final section, which, on account of its content and
the attention it is given by the author, constitutes the core of the work. It covers
what Abū al-Fidāʾ refers to as “Islamic history” (al-taʾrīkh al-islāmī). It reproduces
the conventional structure of this sort of works, which is to say it begins with the
biography of Muḥammad, followed by the four Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-
khulafāʾ al-rāshidūn), and the subsequent dynasties that succeeded them. It is in
this part that we find information on al-Andalus, which shows up sporadically,
interspersed with all manner of other information whose only common trait is
having occurred in the same year. In all it records around 100 historical events
pertaining to al-Andalus.

4 Analysis of the information

Regarding content, apart from general allusions to the Islamic conquests,11 Abū
al-Fidāʾ’s accounts of al-Andalus begin with the arrival of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I (r.
138–172 H/756–788 CE). In this sense he diverges from his main source, al-Kāmil
fī al-taʾrīkh12 by Ibn al-Athīr (d. 630 H/1233 CE) – whose relationship with our text
we will explore further on – which offers an extensive and detailed account of the
conquest of al-Andalus and its aftermath. In other words, Abū al-Fidāʾ makes no
mention of the conquest of the Iberian peninsula, nor of events prior to the arrival
of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I.
In general, the information that Abū al-Fidāʾ provides on al-Andalus tends to
be organized as follows: he first mentions the death of a ruler, followed by the
length of his rule and a brief description of him, both physical and intellectual,
ending by mentioning his successor, alongside some relevant facts related to the
new ruler. This format characterizes his accounts of the emirate and caliphate,
with the exception of the occasional anecdote from the rule of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I,

||
11 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 275.
12 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987).
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 103

and the relatively closer attention paid to the reign of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III (r. 300–
350 H/912–961 CE).
By contrast, he pays much more attention to the figure of Muḥammad b. Abī
ʿĀmir, Almanzor (r. 366–392 H/976–1002 CE). Abū al-Fidāʾ offers a detailed de-
scription of him, emphasizing his military campaigns as a defining trait of his
reign.13 Perhaps the wartime context in which the author was writing motivated,
in part, this extra attention to Almanzor’s militarism. Abū al-Fidāʾ took part in
multiple campaigns against the Crusaders, which are described in detail in the
Mukhtaṣar.14 The importance he affords to jihād is evident not only based on his
account of these campaigns, but also can be gathered from his own trajectory. As
such, it is only natural that he emphasized Almanzor’s military campaigns and
his determination to fight against “the infidels”.
This stylistic shift can also be detected in the events surrounding the period
of fitna (399–422 H/1008–1031 CE) and the subsequent taifa kingdoms (422–
484 H/1031–1091 CE). Abū al-Fidāʾ details the vicissitudes of the collapse of the
ʿĀmirid dynasty and the demise of the Umayyad caliphate of al-Andalus.15 The
author of the Mukhtaṣar highlights the importance of certain events from this pe-
riod, such as the fall of Toledo in 478 H/1085 CE, which he attributes directly to
the dismembering of Islamic power in the peninsula into a mosaic of independent
powers, and the resulting rise of factionalism.16 This event is related to what our
author identifies as the origin “of the collapse of the pillars of the Islamic pres-
ence in the peninsula”,17 namely the subsequent attempt by the Almohads to re-
cover Toledo from the Christians. This statement is one of the few examples of
critical interpretation that are to be found in Abū al-Fidāʾ’s passages about al-
Andalus.
Indeed, the stylistic shift in the narration of these events is clear: in contrast
to the brevity and simplicity of the preceding fragments, his account of these pe-
riods is rich with detail and explanations, and is much longer by comparison.
The information on the Almoravids and Almohads, however, is subordinated
to the events that occurred under both dynasties in North Africa. This shift in the
author’s focus thus sees al-Andalus cast as a mere extension of a power whose
center of gravity is located squarely in the Maghrib. Still, the major milestones of

||
13 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 459.
14 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 357–358 and 359–361.
15 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 485–486 and 494–499.
16 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 9.
17 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 236–237.
104 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

Almohad rule in Andalusi territory are briefly mentioned. By contrast, the infor-
mation on the Almoravid dynasty in al-Andalus is limited to a brief mention of
the arrival of Yūsuf b. Tāshufīn (d. 500 H/1106 CE), the conquest of the territory,
and the subsequent loss of certain enclaves.
Likewise, his lack of attention to the Naṣrid Kingdom of Granada is striking.
He records only two events related to the Naṣrids: first, their plea for assistance
to the Banū Marīn in the face of a Christian attack;18 and, second, their participa-
tion in the Battle of La Vega in 719 H/1319 CE, in which Ismāʿīl I defeated the in-
fantes Juan and Pedro of Castile.19 This decreased attention paid to the Naṣrids
coincides with the general lack of information on Andalusi history towards the
end of the Mukhtaṣar, and, in turn, to the last events recorded by Ibn al-Athīr in
his Kāmil, Abū al-Fidāʾ’s main source, as we have seen. After reaching the last
events recorded in the Kāmil, which Abū al-Fidāʾ reproduces with slight textual
modifications,20 his interest in al-Andalus diminishes considerably.
Apart from historical events, the work also includes biographical information
on various Andalusi figures. Their appearance does not follow a clear pattern, as
he includes some minor figures while leaving out other more relevant ones. Abū
al-Fidāʾ tends to provide concise biographical information free of details, essen-
tially confined to a date of death and brief mention of the person’s role or occu-
pation.

5 Perception of al-Andalus
Abū al-Fidāʾ first mentions al-Andalus in the chapter on the “nation” of the Chris-
tians (al-naṣārā) in the fifth part of the book, the one containing descriptions of
the different nations of the world. The chapter opens with an introduction ex-
plaining the origin of the term naṣārā, along with other theological considera-
tions regarding Christianity. He then includes a section titled “The nations who
have converted to the religion of the Christians”. In this section Abū al-Fidāʾ men-
tions al-Andalus as a geographical reference to help the reader locate the ifranj,
whose country, in the author’s words, is contiguous with the peninsula of al-An-
dalus, lying just to the north. He then, without referring directly to the Islamic
history of the peninsula, notes that “the ifranj have dominated the majority of the

||
18 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 400.
19 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 431.
20 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987), 10: 258. Cf. Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 185.
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 105

peninsula of al-Andalus”.21 Abū al-Fidāʾ uses the term ifranj in a general sense to
refer to the Christians of Western Europe, in clear opposition to the Byzantine
Christians, whom he refers to as rūm.
In geographical terms, Abū al-Fidāʾ conceives of al-Andalus as a clearly
bounded peninsula that includes both Christian and Muslim territories. This con-
ception was for the most part accepted among the historians of the Mamlūk pe-
riod and can be extended to other regions of the Islamic world.22 The geographical
sense of the term al-Andalus, which can be inferred in most of the fragments the
author dedicates to this territory, prevails over the place name’s political-admin-
istrative sense.23 Likewise, one comes away from Abū al-Fidāʾ’s portrayal of al-
Andalus with the impression that it is a peripheral region, an unstable borderland
of the Islamic territory. As such, it should be borne in mind that he wrote the work
in the early 14th century, when Islamic rule in the peninsula had been reduced to
the Naṣrid Kingdom of Granada. My own opinion is that the Iberian peninsula’s
inherent instability, which only worsened after the fall of the Umayyad caliphate
of Córdoba – the period where the Mukhtaṣar begins to pay the most attention to
al-Andalus – reinforces its perception as peripheral and unstable.

6 Sources
Abū al-Fidāʾ’s political status suggests that he must have had access to a wide
range of books on a number of topics, which would have served as the backbone
of his readings, in line with someone of his political stature. What the sources tell
us about this author reinforces this idea, which, in any case, is nothing new. The
various biographical texts on Abū al-Fidāʾ by later authors emphasize his role as
patron.24 These testimonies highlight his good treatment of contemporary schol-
ars, his enthusiasm for welcoming them into his circle, and the importance he
placed on scholarship (ʿilm) as a whole. We should therefore assume that access
to a wealth of sources of information was not an issue for our author. And yet,
this work is not characterized by a particularly original or varied use of sources,

||
21 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 147.
22 Along these lines, see García Sanjuán 2006, 43–59.
23 There are numerous examples. See, for example, Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 147; 2:
87 and 432.
24 A summary of the various opinions found among the sources can be found in the entry de-
voted to him by Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī (d. 1089 H/1679 CE) in Shadharāt al-dhahab. See Ibn al-
ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, Shadharāt al-dhahab (1986), 1: 59–60.
106 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

which gives rise to certain doubts as to its nature and aims, as we shall see. In
any case, a study of the sources has made it possible to identify common patterns
with other authors, and to determine how relevant different works were in the
spread of knowledge about the Islamic West.
In this sense, Abū al-Fidāʾ’s main source for the Mukhtaṣar is, as has been
noted, al-Kāmil fī al-taʾrīkh, by Ibn al-Athīr. This work is cited at the top of the list
of sources provided by the author in the introduction.25 Unlike the rest of the
sources, which Abū al-Fidāʾ employs sporadically for information about specific
events, the Kāmil has a foundational role in his work as it is his main source
throughout the different periods and regions that he covers. Despite this heavy
reliance, he rarely cites Ibn al-Athīr’s work. The information on al-Andalus in the
Mukhtaṣar is no exception to this rule, and for this region the Kāmil is also our
author’s core reference.
As for Ibn al-Athīr, his principal source – as he himself states – is the Taʾrīkh
of al-Ṭabarī26 (d. 310 H/923 CE). The information that the Kāmil provides on al-
Andalus, however, contains few references to al-Ṭabarī, which is only logical as
the latter only touches on the region tangentially. Ibn al-Athīr himself, after nar-
rating the events of 92 H/711 CE and mentioning the conquest of the Iberian pen-
insula, states the following:

All of this was mentioned by Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] about the conquest of al-Andalus, as an
example of this grand territory and its conquest, but it is insufficient. I will mention the
conquests [of the territory] in order to complete [them], with the blessing of Almighty God,
through the works of its people, as they know their country better than anyone.27

Although this fragment by Ibn al-Athīr explicitly recognizes the importance of

Andalusi sources for knowledge on the region, it is of little use to us, as only very
rarely does he make explicit reference to the Andalusi sources he employs.
Regarding the Andalusi sources that Ibn al-Athīr used in the Kāmil, Luis Mo-
lina has drawn attention to its relationship to the Muqtabis of Ibn Ḥayyān28 (d.
469 H/1076 CE). Although the textual relationship between the two is plain to see,
based on the data obtained in our study we agree with Molina’s hypothesis that
there must have been an intermediate source linking them together. The textual
differences between the two works, the apparently arbitrary choice of events, as

||
25 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 12.
26 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987), 1: 7.
27 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987), 4: 264.
28 Molina 1980, 435–441; Molina 1998, 39–65.
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 107

well as the order in which the information appears, seem to point in this direc-
tion. Likewise, Mahmood ul-Hasan, in his study on the Kāmil, entitled Ibn al-
Athir, An Arab Historian. A Critical Analysis of his Tarikh-al-kamil and Tarikh-al-
Atabeca, ventures the possibility that Bayān al-Mughrib of Ibn ʿIdhārī (d. after
712 H/1312-3 CE) shared several common sources, including Ibn Ḥayyān’s Muqta-
bis.29 Among the sources we are certain Ibn al-Athīr used30 we find the work of Ibn
Abī al-Fayyāḍ31 (d. 985 H/1066-7 CE). There is also reason to believe that Ibn al-
Athīr knew and used the work of Ibn Khāqān (d. 529 H/1134 CE), Qalāʾid al-ʿiqyān
fī maḥāsin al-aʿyān.32
Apart from Ibn al-Athīr’s Kāmil, another Eastern source that Abū al-Fidāʾ
used for information on al-Andalus is Wafayāt al-aʿyān, by Ibn Khallikān (d.
681 H/1282 CE). Ibn Khallikān was an important source for authors from this pe-
riod. As far as al-Andalus is concerned, Wafayāt al-aʿyān is a valuable source of
information, not only in light of its precision or the fact that Ibn Khallikān regu-
larly cites his sources, but also because it is the only known source for certain
events from the peninsula.
Our author makes very peculiar use of this work. He draws on it without cit-
ing it in any way, most of all for biographical passages on Andalusi intellectuals
and ʿulamāʾ. As mentioned above, the figures he chooses do not appear to follow
any clear criterion. The authors that Abū al-Fidāʾ takes from Ibn Khallikān’s work
are, in order of appearance, Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi; Ibn Sīdah al-Mursī; Ibn Zaydūn;
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, when mentioning various ḥadīths recorded in his Bahjat al-
majālis; al-Aʿlam al-Shantamarī; al-Ḥuṣrī al-Qayrawānī, in the form of several
verses he dedicated to al-Muʿtamid; Abū Bakr Ibn Baqī, of whom he reproduces a
muwashshaḥa copied, in turn, by Ibn Khallikān from the Qalāʾid and which Abū
al-Fidāʾ cites, but via Wafayāt al-aʿyān; Qurʾān reciter Yaḥyā b. Saʿdūn; Ibn Bash-
kuwāl; Abū Bakr Ibn Zuhr; and Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn Kharūf al-Ishbīlī.33

||
29 Ul-Hasan 2005.
30 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987), 8: 109.
31 A historian from Écija who lived in Almería most of his life. He wrote a history book titled
Kitāb al-ʿIbar, of which only three pages have been preserved, in Ibn al-Abbār’s (596–658 H/
1198–1260 CE) al-Ḥulla al-siyarāʾ. For more information, see the excellent study by Álvarez de
Morales 1978–79.
32 Various fragments found in the Kāmil coincide with passages that appear in Ibn Khāqān’s
Qalāʾid al-iqyān, and follow a similar order. See Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987), 8: 505. Cf. Ibn
Khāqān, Qalāʾid al-iqyān (1860), 28 and 34.
33 Apart from these, to a lesser degree, brief biographical notes of other Andalusi scholars are
recorded. At the end of this article, a list of the Andalusi scholars about whom the Mukhtaṣar
includes some biographical information is offered in appendix.
108 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

In contrast to what we have seen thus far regarding Eastern sources, Western
sources in general, and fragments concerning al-Andalus in particular, are less
present in Abū al-Fidāʾ’s work. These sources are mainly mined for bits of poetry
that serve to illustrate the events recorded in the Mukhtaṣar, or as evidence of a
given figure’s literary prowess.
Within this group of sources we find two poetry anthologies: al-Dhakhīra fī
maḥāsin ahl al-Jazīra, by Ibn Bassām (d. 542 H/1147-8 CE), and the aforemen-
tioned Qalāʾid al-ʿiqyān, by Ibn Khāqān. Regarding the former, Abū al-Fidāʾ in-
cludes a fragment of a poem to illustrate the events that took place during the
fitna and the ensuing fragmentation of al-Andalus.34 The verses reproduced by
Abū al-Fidāʾ are part of a classical urjūza by Andalusi poet Abū Ṭālib ʿAbd al-
Jabbār al-Mutanabbī, from Alzira (d. after 512 H/1118 CE), which is not included
by Ibn al-Athīr and has been preserved in full in the Dhakhīra.35 However, it is
important to point out the many textual differences between the fragment as re-
produced by Abū al-Fidāʾ and as it appears in Ibn Bassām, which could indicate
an indirect use of this anthology. There is further evidence that the work of the
poet of Santarém, Ibn Bassām, circulated in the East very early on, enjoying con-
siderable prestige from the very beginning. Specifically, we are aware of two com-
pendiums of this work made by Eastern authors: Laṭāʾif al-Dhakhīra wa-ṭarāʾif al-
Jazīra, by Ibn Mammātī (d. 606 H/1209 CE), an Egyptian residing in Aleppo; and
Nafāʾis al-Dhakhīra, by the Egyptian ʿAlī b. Ẓāfir al-Azdī (d. 613 H/1216 CE)36. It is
therefore fully possible that Abū al-Fidāʾ obtained information contained in this
book via another author.
As for the work of Ibn Khāqān, it is mentioned on two occasions. One of them
is in fact a copy of the passage from Qalāʾid al-ʿiqyān quoted by Ibn Khallikān
when discussing poet from Córdoba Abū Bakr Ibn Baqī37 (d. 540 or 545 H/1145-6
or 1150-1 CE). Abū al-Fidāʾ reproduces part of a muwashshaḥa by this Andalusi
author recorded in Wafayāt al-aʿyān.38 It is mentioned a second time when relat-
ing the exile of al-Muʿtamid (d. 488 H/1095 CE), the last ruler of the taifa of Se-
ville, in Aghmat, specifically to introduce a poem by al-Muʿtamid celebrating the
end of the period of fasting.39 These verses are also recorded in the Kāmil but,
unlike Abū al-Fidāʾ, Ibn al-Athīr does not mention their authorship.40 The

||
34 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 498–499.
35 Ibn Bassām, al-Dhakhīra (2000), 1: 696–716.
36 Lirola 2009, 581.
37 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 85–86.
38 Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1972), 6: 204.
39 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 23.
40 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987), 8: 505.
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 109

Mukhtaṣar also contains verses by the poet Ibn al-Labbāna (d. 507 H/1113 CE) on
the death of al-Muʿtamid, which Abū al-Fidāʾ takes from the work of Ibn Khāqān
without citing his source.41
Abū al-Fidāʾ’s handling of these works raises the possibility that, although
on occasion he may have used them indirectly via other sources, he may indeed
have had access to the originals while writing the Mukhtaṣar. Indeed, in some
instances he cites the work explicitly, while in others he extracts fragments
– mainly verses – that do not appear in his other sources.
We also find references to other Western sources in order to provide specific
types of information. Foremost among these are al-Fiṣal fī al-milal wa-l-ahwāʾ wa-
l-niḥal, by Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/1064 CE), and al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib, by Ibn
Saʿīd al-Maghribī (d. 685 H/1286 CE). Ibn Ḥazm’s text is used to clarify infor-
mation regarding the different religious schools within Judaism and Christian-
ity.42 The Fiṣal is not cited, and its author is rarely mentioned; however, we must
not rule out the possibility that Abū al-Fidāʾ consulted this book more exten-
sively. By contrast, Ibn Saʿīd’s Mughrib is cited in numerous passages, in partic-
ular when discussing the history of the prophets and nations prior to Islamic his-
tory.43 It is safe to say that of the Western works we have identified here, this is
the one that our author used the most, not only in quantitative terms, but also as
a major authority on pre-Islamic history. It is also used to clarify information from
other sources, as in the case of Ibn Khallikān’s explanation of the meaning of the
nisba al-Shalawbīn44 (in reference to the Arabic name for the town of Salobreña,
Shalawbāniyya). Here Abū al-Fidāʾ refers to information recounted by Ibn Saʿīd
on renowned grammarian Abū ʿAlī al-Shalawbīnī45 (d. 645 H/1247 CE).
Also mention is made of the work of Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463 H/1071 CE) of
Córdoba al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb on Muḥammad’s companions, from which
our author takes some verses attributed to Ḥāritha b. Shurāḥīl in relation to his
son Zayd, adopted son of the Prophet,46 and the work of Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi ʿIqd al-
farīd, which was a fundamental work for the genre of ayyām al-ʿarab (the Battle-
Days). Abū al-Fidāʾ narrates one of these days (yawm Shaʿb) by explicitly citing

||
41 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 23–24. Cf. Ibn Khāqān, Qalāʾid al-iqyān (1860), 32 and
33.
42 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 132–133 and 143. Cf. Ibn Ḥazm, al-Fiṣal (1927), 1: 48.
43 For some examples see Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 59, 60, 79, 95.
44 Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1972), 3: 451–452.
45 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 282–283.
46 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 156–157. Cf. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb (1992), 2: 544.
110 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

the work of Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi. Although it is mentioned only on two occasions,47
Abū al-Fidāʾ should have used this work more frequently.
Lastly, another Western source employed by Abū al-Fidāʾ is al-Jamʿ al-bayān
fī akhbār Qayrawān, by Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣinhājī, cited as Taʾrīkh
Qayrawān li-l-Ṣinhājī. While it is explicitly mentioned as a source in the introduc-
tion, it could be that it was also used via the work of Ibn al-Athīr, as the Taʾrīkh
of al-Ṣinhājī enjoyed a degree of popularity among Eastern authors, including Ibn
Khallikān and al-Maqrīzī (d. 845 H/1442 CE). In the Mukhtaṣar it appears in rela-
tion to the history of the Maghrib, but it is also used in relation to the information
provided on the kings of the Zīrid taifa of Granada.48
Another important aspect that in my opinion makes the Mukhtaṣar all the
more valuable is its close relationship to Masālik al-abṣār of al-ʿUmarī (d. 749 H/
1349 CE). It is important to bear in mind the fundamental differences between
these two works. Whereas Abū al-Fidāʾ’s almost perfectly matches up with our
understanding of the taʾrīkh genre, al-ʿUmarī’s Masālik stands at the confluence
of multiple genres, encompassing geography, biography and history, as was very
often the case among contemporary authors from the region.49 The connection
between Abū al-Fidāʾ’s work and that of al-ʿUmarī is mainly to be found in the
purely historical sections of the Masālik, i.e. volumes 25, 26 and 27. With the ex-
ception of some minor modifications by al-ʿUmarī in relation to certain names,
and the omission of the biographical fragments recorded by Abū al-Fidāʾ and
which al-ʿUmarī covers in his work’s biographical section, one might infer that
al-ʿUmarī copied the Mukhtaṣar in its entirety, including it in his Masālik without
any mention of its provenance.
In terms of the information on al-Andalus, the relationship between the two
works follows the exact same pattern we have just seen, i.e. nearly all the histor-
ical information recorded by al-ʿUmarī is copied word-for-word from the
Mukhtaṣar. The similarities run so deep that he even mentions the same sources
as Abū al-Fidāʾ and, what I find most illuminating, reproduces the same mis-
takes.50 In fact, one of the editors of the 2002 edition of al-ʿUmarī’s text, Ḥamzah
Aḥmad ʿAbbās, had to stop and wonder whether this was really a part of the
Masālik or was in fact a previously unknown manuscript of the Mukhtaṣar.51

||
47 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 131 and 219.
48 Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 2: 11–12.
49 On the encyclopedic genre, see the recent work by Muhanna 2018.
50 For example, al-ʿUmarī reproduces Abū al-Fidāʾ’s mistake when referring to the aforemen-
tioned Abū Ṭālib ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Mutanabbī of Alzira as al-Muthanā al-Andalusī. See Abū al-
Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1997), 1: 498–499; al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār (2010), 26: 211.
51 Al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār (2001–2004), 27: 6.
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 111

This relationship between the two works raises a series of questions that we
hope to resolve as our research progresses, so that we can come to terms with the
reasons behind this striking similarity.

7 Conclusions
Abū al-Fidāʾ’s al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar is a minor work in relation to oth-
ers from this same period, as large portions of the text reproduce information
from other sources, most notably Ibn al-Athīr’s Kāmil. Along these same lines, it
offers little more than informative summaries, with almost no critical interpreta-
tion of the information it presents. Still, the study of “minor” authors is a neces-
sary part of comparative studies that can help us to reach broad conclusions as
to the role of the Islamic West in Mamlūk historiography, as stated at the outset
of this article. What this study has shown us is that in our author’s time certain
Andalusi and Maghribi texts still enjoyed a degree of relevance.
Specifically regarding the Mukhtaṣar, what we have learned is that the author
likely regarded al-Andalus as a region on the periphery. We can infer this from
the lack of attention afforded to al-Andalus as compared not only to the Islamic
East, but also to the Maghrib. This vision stands in stark contrast to the sense of
centrality that surrounds his portrayal of the Mamlūk Sultanate. Likewise, we can
draw still more conclusions that are all the more convincing in light of the au-
thor’s political career. As we have seen, the Iberian peninsula’s Umayyad period
does not receive the attention that one would expect based on the historical rele-
vance of the dynasty’s rule in al-Andalus, as compared to the greater attention he
pays to other periods. In this sense, we must not forget that Abū al-Fidāʾ himself
was an Ayyūbid prince, and that, however symbolically, this dynasty’s founder,
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn b. Ayyūb (d. 589 H/1193 CE), had recognized the preeminence of the
ʿAbbāsid caliphate.52 Some authors have pointed to Mamlūk historians’ preoccu-
pation with narrating “the injustices of the Umayyads”.53 While Abū al-Fidāʾ does
not express outright animosity toward the Umayyads, in the Mukhtaṣar he does
at least treat the dynasty’s history with indifference.
Lastly, it is worth considering the work’s synthetic character, as well as the
preferential treatment afforded to the Kāmil. It may be the case that the author’s

||
52 Eddé, “Ayyūbids”, EI3.
53 Irwin 2006, 159.
112 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

true aim was to write a historical compendium that continued this prior text, add-
ing to it the relevant historical events of the Ayyūbid and Mamlūk sultanates. As
we have seen, after the last events from al-Andalus narrated by Ibn al-Athīr, Abū
al-Fidāʾ’s attention to the region is minimal. Although the work continues to pro-
vide information on other regions after 628 H/1230-1 CE – the last year covered in
the Kāmil – the Mukhtaṣar begins to take on the characteristics of a local chroni-
cle, focusing mainly on events from the domains of the Ayyūbid and Mamlūk sul-
tanates.

Appendix
Next a list of the Andalusis about whom Abū al-Fidāʾ provides some biographical
notes in his work is offered. Those Andalusis that are cited by the author only as
a source have not been included, as they have already been mentioned through-
out the article. Apart from providing additional information about al-Andalus to
that which has been obtained from the analysis of Abū al-Fidāʾ’s work, this type
of lists will allow us to determine which Andalusi personalities enjoyed greater
notoriety and prestige among oriental authors.
The data included in the list are the following:
1. Onomastic chain containing the first three generations of the nasab (names
of the individual, father and grandfather), then the shuhra (name by which
is known) and finally, the kunya (patronymic).
2. Place of birth and date of death.
3. Reference of the place where the individual appears in Abū al-Fidāʾ’s al-
Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar (1997): AM, volume, page.
4. Link to the character file on the PUA (Prosopography of the ʿulamāʾ of al-
Andalus) Database – directed by María Luisa Ávila –, through which the in-
formation relating to these characters can be expanded, and a list of the
sources that include his biography can be consulted.

ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Mutanabbī, Abū Ṭālib

Alzira (d. after 512 H/1118 CE)
AM, 1: 498
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=4169

Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad, Ibn Zaydūn, Abū al-Walīd

Córdoba (d. 463 H/1071 CE)
AM, 1: 545–546
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 113

https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=1207

Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Rabbihi, Abū ʿUmar

Córdoba (d. 328 H/940 CE)
AM, 1: 419
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=1837

ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Ghanī, al-Ḥuṣrī al-Qayrawānī, Abū al-Ḥasan

Ceuta (d. 488 H/1095 CE)
AM, 2: 24
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=6563

ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl, Ibn Sīdah al-Mursī, Abū al-Ḥasan

Murcia (d. 458 H/1066 CE)
AM, 1: 544
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=6384

ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, Ibn Kharūf, al-Duraydanuh, Abū al-Ḥasan

Seville (d. 604 H/1207 CE)
AM, 2: 208
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=6806

Al-Fatḥ b. Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allāh/al-Fatḥ, Ibn Khāqān, Abū Naṣr

Seville (d. 529 H/1134 CE)
AM, 2: 82
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=2488

Khalaf b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Masʿūd, Ibn Bashkuwāl, Abū al-Qāsim

Córdoba (d. 577 H/1181 CE)
AM, 2: 148
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=3132

Mālik b. Yaḥyā b. Wahīb, Ibn Wahīb al-Andalusī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh

Seville (d. 525 H/1130 CE)
AM, 2: 54
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=7729
114 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Mālik, Ibn Mālik al-Jayyānī, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd
Allāh
Jaén (d. 672 H/1273 CE)
AM, 2: 339
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=9450

Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Zuhr, Ibn Zuhr al-Ḥafīd , Abū Bakr

Seville (d. 595 H/1199 CE)
AM, 2: 186
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=12359

Muḥammad b. Fattūḥ Abī Naṣr, al-Ḥumaydī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh

Mallorca (d. 488 H/1095 CE)
AM, 2: 24
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=10249

Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāniʾ, Ibn Hāniʾ al-Andalusī, Abū al-Qāsim/Abū al-Ḥa-

san
Seville (d. 362 H/973 CE)
AM, 1: 452
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=7934

Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā b. Muḥammad, Ibn al-Labbāna, Abū Bakr

Dénia (d. 507 H/1113 CE)
AM, 2: 23–24
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=10212

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Sahl, Ibn Sahl al-Azdī

Granada (d. 730 H/1329 CE)
AM, 2: 450
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=10387

Muḥammad b. al-Walīd b. Muḥammad, al-Ṭurṭūshī, Ibn Abī Randaqa, Abū Bakr

Tortosa (d. 520 H/1126 CE)
AM, 2: 54
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=10651

Mundhir b. Saʿīd b. ʿAbd Allāh, al-Ballūṭī, Abū al-Ḥakam

Córdoba (d. 355 H/966 CE)
 Al-Andalus in al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, by Abū al-Fidāʾ | 115

AM, 1: 459
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=11038

ʿUmar b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar, al-Shalawbīn/al-Shalawbīnī, Abū ʿAlī

Seville (d. 645 H/1247 CE)
AM, 2: 282–283
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=7087

Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Baqī, Abū Bakr

Córdoba (d. 540 H/1145 CE)
AM, 2: 85–86
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=11499

Yaḥyā b. Saʿdūn b. Tammām, Ibn Saʿdūn, Abū Bakr

Córdoba (d. 567 H/1171 CE)
AM, 2: 131
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=11535

Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Abū ʿUmar

Córdoba (d. 463 H/1071 CE)
AM, 1: 546–547
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=11873

Yūsuf b. Sulaymān b. ʿĪsā, al-Aʿlam al-Shantamarī, Abū al-Ḥajjāj

Faro (d. 476 H/1083 CE)
AM, 2: 7
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=11843

Al-Walīd b. Bakr b. Makhlad, Abū al-ʿAbbās

Zaragoza (d. 392 H/1002 CE)
AM, 1: 482
https://www.eea.csic.es/pua/personaje/consulta_personaje.php?id=2572
116 | Abdenour Padillo-Saoud

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Kīlānī, Aḥmad Q. (1998), al-Malik al-ʿĀlim Abū al-Fidāʾ, malik Ḥamāh, Damascus: al-Maktaba al-
ʿArabiyya.
Lirola Delgado, J. (2009), “Ibn Bassām al-Šantarīnī, Abū l-Ḥasan”, in: Jorge Lirola Delgado and
José Miguel Puerta Vílchez, eds., Biblioteca de al-Andalus 2: De Ibn Aḍḥà a Ibn Bušra,
Almería: Fundación Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Árabes, 573–592.
Lirola Delgado, J. / Puerta Vílchez, J. M., dirs. (2004–2017), Biblioteca de al-Andalus, 10 vols.,
Almería: Fundación Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Árabes.
Molina, L. (1980), “Sobre la historia de al-Rāzī. Nuevos datos en el Muqtabis de Ibn Ḥayyān”,
Al-Qanṭara 1, 435–441.
Molina, L. (1998), “Un relato de la conquista de al-Andalus”, Al-Qanṭara 19, 39–65.
Muhanna, E. (2018), The World in a Book: Al-Nuwayri and the Islamic Encyclopedic Tradition,
Princeton – Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Najm ʿĪsā, ʿAlī (2006), “Abū al-Fidāʾ malikan wa-muʾarrikhan. Dirāsa fī manhajiyyatihi wa-
mawāridihi wa-dhuyūlihi fī kitābihi al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar”, Majallat jāmiʿat
Tikrīt li-l-ʿulūm al-insāniyya 13/9, 99–139.
Rosenthal, F. (1952), A History of Muslim Historiography, Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Talmon-Heller, Daniella, “Abū l-Fidāʾ”, Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Brill Online.
Ul-Hasan, M. (2005), Ibn al-Athir, An Arab Historian. A Critical Analysis of His Tarikh-al-Kamil
and Tarikh-al-Atabeca, New Delhi: Northern Book Centre.
Philip Bockholt
Lost Somewhere in Between? On the
Transmission of History from Islamic West
to East in Premodern Times: The Case of the
Almohad Caliph Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb and the
Battle of Alarcos

In his universal history Ḥabīb al-siyar fī akhbār afrād al-bashar (Beloved of Ca-
reers: On the Accounts of People), early 16th-century Iran and Mughal India’s
leading historian Ghiyās al-Dīn Muḥammad Khvāndamīr (d. 942 H/1535-6 CE)1
writes:

[S]ince the names and incidents related to the dynasty that ruled the Maghrib after the
Banū ʿAbd al-Muʾmin [i.e. the Almohads] are not contained in the books which are availa-
ble [to me] when writing these lines, I will continue with the accounts of the rulers of
Egypt and the sultans of the Ayyūbid dynasty.2

This quote suggests that as far as events in al-Andalus and the Maghrib were
concerned, Khvāndamīr had nothing to say about the 250 years between the rise
of the Marīnids and their conquest of the Almohad capital Marrakesh in 668 H/
1269 CE and his own time, given the total lack of available books on the subject.
And yet, we might expect that Khvāndamīr of all scholars would have had more
information at his disposal, as he belonged to an important line of histori-

||
1 Arabic names of Persian works and Iranian authors will be given according to the Persian
transcription rules.
2 Khvāndamīr, Ḥabīb al-siyar (2001), 2: 584.
||
Note: The research presented in this article was made possible through financial support
provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Anneliese Maier Award 2014: Maribel
Fierro), which allowed me to stay at the ILC, CSIC, in Madrid from May to June 2018. I had the
opportunity to present the results dealt with in this article within the context of the project
Local Contexts and Global Dynamics: Al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East, led by
Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas, at the international conference “The Maghrib in the
Mashriq” in Madrid in December 2018. In particular, I would like to express my deepest grati-
tude to my host at the ILC, CSIC, in Madrid, Professor Maribel Fierro, for her generous support
during my stay and the stimulating discussions on the transmission of knowledge from the
Islamic West to the Islamic East in premodern times. English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Philip Bockholt, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-005
120 | Philip Bockholt

ans. His grandfather was Muḥammad b. Khvāndshāh Mīrkhvānd (d. 903 H/

1498 CE), author of the famous universal history Rawżat al-ṣafā. Furthermore,
he lived in post-Tīmūrid Herat in the 1520s, where he had access to some of the
best libraries in the Islamic East. Nevertheless, Khvāndamīr apparently did not
know anything about the decades-long struggle of the Naṣrids in the 15th centu-
ry or the subsequent fall of Granada to the Christians in 1492, both normally
seen as a landmark in the relations between Muslims and Christians in Europe.
In this article I will shed light on the question of what historians in the Is-
lamic East knew about the western Islamic lands – al-Andalus and the Ma-
ghrib – up to the early 16th century. Afterwards, in early modern times, the ties
between the western and the eastern parts of the Mediterranean were strength-
ened by the steady exchange of emissaries, traders, and travelers, which con-
tributed to a greater flow of knowledge. As such, this article is a contribution to
the field of the transmission of knowledge – in this case, knowledge about his-
tory – across the Arab and Persian parts of the Islamic world until around 1500.
It addresses the questions of which Persian and Arabic sources were employed
by historians in the East, the way in which information reached the Islamic
East, and how to explain discrepancies between Western and Eastern sources’
accounts of the same events. On a broader level, it also tackles the issue of the
connectedness of the various parts of the Islamic lands in premodern times.3
This article is based on the analysis of several chronicles and biographical
dictionaries written in Arabic and Persian, all of which have been subjected to
the historical method of source criticism. It goes without saying that a study
analyzing different strands of historiography focuses on the numerous ways
information is presented, and not on the verification of the events described in
the sources. In terms of the accounts of the Battle of Alarcos dealt with here, the
latter approach is adopted by Ambrosio Huici Miranda in his seminal Las
grandes batallas de la Reconquista durante las invasiones africanas (almorá-
vides, almohades y benimerines), in which he discusses the accuracy of various
Arabic sources. Recent studies focusing on the transmission of historiographical
knowledge are Luis Molina’s analysis of the account of the Jewish villain Ṭālūt
in Ibn al-Qūṭiyya’s (d. 367 H/977 CE) Taʾrīkh iftitāḥ al-Andalus, and Omayra
Herrero Soto’s article on the account of Ṭāriq b. Ziyād’s speech in 92 H/711 CE
and its transmission in various chronicles.4 Whereas both studies analyze Ara-
bic texts, the present study is the first of its kind to take into account both Ara-

||
3 For a recent discussion on the transmission of knowledge from the Islamic West to the East,
see Fierro 2018.
4 Huici Miranda 1956, 141–147; Molina 2011; Herrero Soto 2010.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 121

bic and Persian sources concerning the transmission of historiographical

knowledge from the Islamic West to the Islamic East.
The starting point are three Persian universal histories from the 16th centu-
ry: the Ḥabīb al-siyar mentioned above, and, to a lesser degree, the Nusakh-i (or
Tārīkh-i) jahān-ārā written by Qāżī Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Ghaffārī Qazvīnī
Kāshānī (d. 975 H/1567-8) and the Takmilat al-akhbār of Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ʿAlī
ʿAbdī Beg Shīrāzī (d. 988 H/1580 CE), all three of which contain information on
the Islamic West. I will first give a brief general overview of the depiction of al-
Andalus and the Maghrib in Persian historiography. I will then analyze the
information on these regions contained in these three works. Subsequently, I
will trace the (possible) sources Khvāndamīr used when covering an event re-
lated to one of the most famous figures of the Islamic West in premodern times:
the Almohad caliph Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Yūsuf b. ʿAbd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (r.
580–595 H/1184–1199 CE) and his victory over the Christians in the Battle of
Alarcos in 591 H/1195 CE. Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr is a case in point, since
whereas Khvāndamīr gives a very detailed depiction of the caliph that is based
on various strands of historiographical knowledge, he has little to say about
other figures from the West.

1 Persian historical writing on the Islamic West

From the 10th century onwards, al-Andalus and the Maghrib were regularly
mentioned in history books written in Persian, starting with the Islamic con-
quest of the Iberian Peninsula in 92 H/711 CE.5 The amount of text dedicated to
these regions and the information conveyed varied from chronicle to chronicle.
While works like the Tārīkhnāma – Balʿamī’s 10th-century Sāmānid-era Persian
adaptation of al-Ṭabarī’s Taʾrīkh al-rusul wa-l-mulūk6 – dedicate only a few lines
to the history of the Islamic West, later chronicles composed in Īlkhānid-Mongol
times (c. 1250–1350) contain more information. For example, the famous univer-
sal history Jāmiʿ al-tavārīkh by Rashīd al-Dīn Fażlallāh Hamadānī (d. 718 H/
1318 CE) and two works related to it, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAlī
b. Muḥammad Kāshānī’s (d. c. 736 H/1335 CE) Zubdat al-tavārīkh and Fakhr al-
Dīn Abū Sulaymān Dāvūd Banākatī’s (d. 730 H/1329-30) Rawżat ūlī l-albāb fī

||
5 For a general introduction to the development of historiographical works written in Persian,
see Melville 2012.
6 Cf. Peacock 2007.
122 | Philip Bockholt

tavārīkh al-akābir va-l-anṣāb (better known as Tārīkh-i Banākatī), give detailed

accounts of the principalities in al-Andalus and Christian Spain during their
time, relying in part on Christian sources. The reason for this is that Rashīd al-
Dīn, the long-term vizier of various Īlkhānid-Mongol rulers, had access to in-
formation on regions far away from Iran, and was interested in composing a
world history in the true sense, and not only the more habitual history of the
Islamic lands.7 In the 14th and 15th centuries, after the Īlkhānid-Mongol Empire
in Iran had broken apart and various local dynasties were in power, access to
information on regions far from Iran became more and more difficult. This be-
comes clear when considering the world histories of the Tīmūrid historians
Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū (d. 833 H/1430 CE) and Khvāndamīr’s grandfather Mīrkhvānd,
which do not mention any contemporary narratives or sources on the Islamic
West.
Although its account is not based on contemporary sources either,
Khvāndamīr’s Ḥabīb al-siyar offers a much greater degree of detail about the
early centuries of Islam in Spain, that is, on the Umayyads and their successors,
as well as on later dynasties like the Almoravids and Almohads, before the nar-
rative abruptly stops. Khvāndamīr wrote his work in post-Tīmūrid Herat in the
1520s under the reign of Ṣafavid shah Ismāʿīl I (r. 906–930 H/1501–1524 CE),
who had conquered Iran and various parts of Central Asia and Iraq some years
earlier. As his aim was to cast Ismāʿīl as a world conqueror who was both force-
ful defender of Islam and staunch champion of Shīʿism, offering more details on
the most distant Islamic lands might have been a way to stress the shah’s claim
to be the ruler of the entire Muslim community (umma). In general,
Khvāndamīr’s chronicle contains much more information on lesser-known prin-
cipalities in Iran, as well as on other parts of the Islamic world, than the one of
his grandfather Mīrkhvānd.
In regard to the Islamic West, it is interesting to note that Khvāndamīr had
problems covering the earliest periods in the history of the Iberian Peninsula
under Islamic rule. The oldest manuscripts of his work8 reveal that Khvāndamīr
did not have anything to say about the Umayyad period from the 8th century to
the 11th century and, with one exception, the subsequent taifa rulers of the 11th
century. The lack of attention to the celebrated Umayyad caliphate of 316–

||
7 Rashīd al-Dīn’s extraordinary approach to Islamic historiographical writing is demonstrated
by his detailed accounts of non-Islamic peoples; see the parts of his chronicle edited by Jahn
1971, 1973, 1977, 1980.
8 On the manuscript tradition of the Ḥabīb al-siyar and the various versions written by its
author, see Bockholt 2021.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 123

422 H/929–1031 CE is particularly striking; instead, the narrative starts with the
taifa kingdom of the ʿAbbādids in Seville (r. 414–484 H/1023–1091 CE) and the
beginning of Almoravid rule (r. 454–541 H/1062–1147 CE) in the 11th century.
However, in a slightly revised version of his chronicle, based on additional
sources, Khvāndamīr added new information on the first centuries of Islam in
al-Andalus to the existing narrative. What remains remarkable is the complete
omission of the last Islamic dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, the Naṣrids of
Granada (r. 629–897 H/1232–1492 CE), whose rule had ended only thirty years
earlier. In particular, the downfall of the Naṣrids would have been an example
of the centuries-old conflicts between Muslims and Christians, and thus would
have fit one of the core patterns of Islamic historiography. As demonstrated
above, Khvāndamīr remains silent about all of this, ending with the last Almo-
had rulers in the 1260s.
By contrast, the Ḥabīb al-siyar covers the history of the Berber Muslim dy-
nasties of the Almoravids and the Almohads (c. 1060–1270) at length, and gives
accounts based on Arabic sources. Unlike this work, two other Ṣafavid chroni-
cles of the 16th century, the Nusakh-i jahān-ārā by Ghaffārī Qazvīnī Kāshānī and
the Takmilat al-akhbār by ʿAbdī Beg Shīrāzī, merely list rulers and events. Nota-
bly, the latter relies on the former and does not convey any further information.9
While the Ḥabīb al-siyar ends with the last Almohad ruler Abū al-ʿUlā Abū
Dabbūs Idrīs II Muḥammad al-Wāthiq (r. 665–668 H/1266–1269 CE), the Nusakh-
i jahān-ārā extends the narrative to the first Marīnid rulers, up to the reign of
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿUthmān II (731–749 H/1331–1348 CE). At this point it stops
abruptly, leaving out later rulers (the dynasty came to an end in 869 H/
1465 CE).10 Unfortunately, the sources of the Nusakh-i jahān-ārā remain un-
known, as it neither mentions any specific author or work, nor provides enough
text for a thorough comparison.11 Therefore, in order to trace a particular narra-
tive or piece of information on the Islamic West found in a 16th-century Persian
historiographical work, the Ḥabīb al-siyar alone can provide us with further
insight into the transmission of knowledge during premodern times. Of the
three chronicles addressed here, this is the only one that states its sources and

||
9 The text of the Takmilat al-akhbār has not been fully edited yet. For my research, I consulted
MS Majlis 8401, fols. 92r–96r. For the later part of the work on Ṣafavid history, see ʿAbdī Beg
Shīrāzī, Takmilat al-akhbār (1990).
10 Ghaffārī Qazvīnī Kāshānī, Nusakh-i jahān-ārā (1964), 153–154.
11 The KITAB project, led by Sarah Bowen Savant (Aga Khan University, London), promises
further insights into the composition of texts and the reuse of text units, cf. http://kitab-
project.org.
124 | Philip Bockholt

includes longer narratives. In the following section I will take as a case study its
account of the Almohad caliph Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr.

2 The account of the Almohad ruler Abū Yūsuf

Yaʿqūb and the Battle of Alarcos in the Ḥabīb
al-siyar
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Yūsuf b. ʿAbd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (r. 580–595 H/1184–
1199 CE) was the third ruler of the Almohad Caliphate in present-day Morocco, a
Berber dynasty founded by his grandfather ʿAbd al-Muʾmin b. ʿAlī al-Kūmī (r.
524–558 H/1130–1163 CE) from Tlemcen, who was a close follower of
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Tūmart (d. 524 H/1130 CE).12 Ibn Tūmart, from Sūs
(Sous, between the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains), and his followers
formed an Islamic reform movement against the ruling Almoravid dynasty,
propagating what they touted as a “purer” Islam than the one practiced by their
opponents. In the 1130s and 1140s, the Almohads (Ar. muwaḥḥidūn, “adherents
of the divine unicity”), led by ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, took over the Almoravid capital
of Marrakesh and the Almoravid territories in Islamic Spain. In the decades
following the Almohad takeover, Muslim power in al-Andalus was steadily con-
tested by Christian rulers from the north, most notably Alfonso VIII of Castile (r.
1158–1214).13 During his reign, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr fought the Chris-
tians in al-Andalus on more than one occasion. In the Battle of Alarcos (al-Arak
in the Arabic sources) near Ciudad Real in the summer of 591 H/1195 CE, the
Almohad caliph defeated Alfonso VIII, which contributed to his fame as a great
warrior king. The details of this battle would later on become an important part
of the accounts of the Almohads and the western Islamic lands in various Arabic
and Persian works in the East.14
In the Ḥabīb al-siyar, among the Almohad rulers only Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb re-
ceives more than one chapter: Khvāndamīr first presents his life in a general

||
12 On the history of the Almohad dynasty see Huici Miranda 1956–1957; Le Tourneau 1969;
Viguera Molins 1997; Kennedy 1998; Fierro 2010; Fromherz 2010. For Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb in
particular, see Huici Miranda 1960a.
13 On Alfonso VIII, see Sáez 1980.
14 Huici Miranda 1956, 141–147. For details on the battle, see Huici Miranda 1956, 137–216;
Huici Miranda 1960b. Albarrán Iruela 2018 gives an analysis of multiple Arabic sources from
later times depicting the caliph as a warrior and Ṣūfī.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 125

biographical sketch, followed by an account of the Battle of Alarcos.15 Just how

little information on the battle was available to Khvāndamīr is evident in the fact
that he falsely refers to it as the “Battle of al-Zallāqa”, confusing it with a previous
battle between the Almoravid ruler Yūsuf b. Tāshufīn (r. 453–500 H/ 1061–1107
CE) and Alfonso VI of León and Castile (r. 1065–1109) more than a century earlier,
in 479 H/1086 CE.16 Concerning the combatants at the Battle of Alarcos, the num-
bers stated by Khvāndamīr are heavily exaggerated: by his account 100,000 Mus-
lims fought under Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb against 240,000 “Franks” (i.e. the Castil-
ians), leaving 146,000 of their enemies dead, although Alfonso VIII (malik-i
farang/farangistān, “king of the Franks”) managed to escape. He reports that af-
ter the battle so many weapons and animals were captured that market prices
plummeted – a donkey went for just a dirham, and a sword for as little as half a
dirham –, details which further highlight the overwhelming victory of the Mus-
lims. Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb later returned to North Africa, where he died in 595
H/1199 CE (or, according to another account given here, lived on as a Ṣūfī; see
below). Given the specific details of his account, the question arises as to how
this information reached Khvāndamīr, and which sources he relied on when con-
structing his narrative. Might he have even had access to sources that came from
the Islamic West directly?
For his account of the battle, Khvāndamīr names as his sources a certain
“Imām Yāfiʿī” for the general account, and Abū Shāma for the numbers of Chris-
tians killed and the booty captured. By Imām Yāfiʿī, Khvāndamīr is referring to
ʿAbd Allāh b. Asʿad ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Yāfiʿī (d. 768 H/1367 CE), a Yemenite scholar
who spent most of his life in Mecca, where he wrote his Mirʾāt al-janān wa-ʿibrat
al-yaqẓān (in Arabic), a cross between a history book and a biographical diction-
ary.17 In fact, an analysis of al-Yāfiʿī’s account of Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb in his Mirʾāt
al-janān reveals that when writing his chronicle, Khvāndamīr most probably re-
lied exclusively on this work, as the numbers supposedly given by Abū Shāma
are cited here as well.18 The only source for the Battle of Alarcos in the Ḥabīb al-
siyar is thus a compilation of older works written in the Arabian Peninsula some
two hundred years earlier. Going a step further, by identifying the sources used

||
15 Khvāndamīr, Ḥabīb al-siyar (2001), 2: 581–583; cf. MS Damat İbrahim Paşa 901, fols. 523v–
524r.
16 This confusion occurs in earlier Arabic sources on the battle too, see Huici Miranda 1956,
141–147; on the battle and its sources, see Huici Miranda 1956, 19–82; Tibi 2002.
17 Geoffroy 2002.
18 Al-Yāfiʿī, Mirʾāt al-janān (1997), 3: 357 and 363–366.
126 | Philip Bockholt

by al-Yāfiʿī, we might come closer in our attempt to understand by what means

and in what form this information on the Islamic West made its way eastward.

3 Tracking down the sources of the sources: From

Herat to Mecca to Damascus
When writing the Mirʾāt al-janān in Mecca, al-Yāfiʿī apparently had access to var-
ious Arabic sources. In the case of Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s victory at Alarcos, one of
the texts al-Yāfiʿī relies on heavily and quotes by name is the biographical dic-
tionary Tarājim rijāl al-qarnayn al-sādis wa-l-sābiʿ al-maʿrūf bi-Dhayl al-
Rawḍatayn (known as Dhayl) by the Damascene historian and biographer Abū
Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqdisī (d. 665 H/1268 CE).19 As we have just seen,
Khvāndamīr also points to Abū Shāma by name, in an apparent attempt to indi-
cate the original source of his source. Both authors, al-Yāfiʿī and his source Abū
Shāma, mention the details later copied by Khvāndamīr: the number of Muslim
and Christian soldiers, and the number of Christians killed on the battlefield.
They both also refer to the battle as “waqʿat al-Zallāqa” (the Battle of al-Zallāqa),
as copied in turn by Khvāndamīr in his Ḥabīb al-siyar.
However, in contrast to Khvāndamīr, whose universal history tends to run
through older historical events unrelated to Iran as quickly as possible, al-Yāfiʿī
and Abū Shāma provide more details on the battle and its aftermath. From their
accounts the reader learns, for example, that the Christian prisoners numbered
30,000, and that the market price for a horse was 5 dirhams, which is nowhere
mentioned in the Ḥabīb al-siyar. In this context, it is important to note that the
accounts of the booty and market prices seem to indicate that the two texts draw
on different sources. Whereas Abū Shāma states that the price of a prisoner plum-
meted to a single dirham, and that the booty consisted of 150,000 tents, 80,000
horses, 100,000 mules, and 400,000 donkeys, as well as jewelry and clothing,
al-Yāfiʿī only mentions 60,000 suits of chain mail taken from the bayt al-māl, the
treasure house of the Christians. Abū Shāma also provides details about Alfonso

||
19 On Abū Shāma’s life and works, see Pouzet 1975; Hirschler 2006; Antrim 2009. Despite its
name, Abū Shāma’s work is in fact not a continuation (dhayl) of his Kitāb al-Rawḍatayn fī akhbār
al-dawlatayn al-Nūriyya wa-l-Ṣalāḥiyya – a history of the Zangid and Ayyūbid rulers of Syria, Nūr
al-Dīn (r. 541–569 H/1147–1174 CE) and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (r. 564–589 H/1169–1193 CE) – but a work
on the scholarly community of Damascus that Abū Shāma had started earlier and updated reg-
ularly during his lifetime; see Hirschler 2006, 10–14.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 127

VIII after the battle which are not found in al-Yāfiʿī’s Mirʾāt al-janān: according
to the Dhayl, Alfonso’s mind was so agitated that he vowed only ride by donkey,
and to neither have intercourse with a woman nor sleep on a carpet, until he had
exacted his revenge. However, al-Yāfiʿī is the only one to state the exact date (9
Shaʿbān 591 H/19 July 1195 CE) and place of the battle (“close to the fortress of
Ribāḥ”). Considering the significant differences between al-Yāfiʿī and Abū
Shāma’s accounts in terms of the booty and other details, it is clear that al-Yāfiʿī
did not rely on Abū Shāma’s text alone, but had access to at least one other
source. On the other hand, Abū Shāma’s account contains information not given
by al-Yāfiʿī. Where does this information come from?
Fortunately for us, unlike Abū Shāma, al-Yāfiʿī does cite his sources. It is of
great interest here that the Mirʾāt al-janān contains information on the Battle of
Alarcos and on the Almohad caliph Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb in two different places in
the text: first in the account of the battle included alongside the events of the year
591 H/1195 CE, and again in the obituary of Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb in 595 H/ 1199 CE.
Whereas the account of the battle itself draws on Abū Shāma more or less di-
rectly, as stated above, the information on the booty and further details given in
the obituary differs from Abū Shāma’s text. Here, al-Yāfiʿī relies on the biograph-
ical dictionary of Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Ibn Khallikān (d. 681 H/ 1282 CE), the
well-known Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-anbāʾ abnāʾ al-zamān, as he himself states in
the text. Ibn Khallikān’s multi-volume work contains biographical entries on sev-
eral hundred people, among them a lengthy entry dedicated to Abū Yūsuf
Yaʿqūb.20 In the Wafayāt al-aʿyān, Ibn Khallikān deals with Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s
life in general, as well as with the Battle of Alarcos in particular. He gives the
exact date of the battle, and even specifies the place as “to the north of Córdoba,
near the fortress of Ribāḥ, on [the field of] Marj al-ḥadīd”. In regard to the booty,
he mentions the 60,000 suits of chain mail from the bayt al-māl later alluded to
by al-Yāfiʿī. Of greatest interest here is the fact that Ibn Khallikān lists various
sources for his account, among them members of the Maghribi community in Da-
mascus, which could be the first direct link back to the western Islamic lands.21

||
20 Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1994), 7: 3–19. On Ibn Khallikān, see Fück 1971.
21 Here, “Maghribi community” refers to people who emigrated from al-Andalus and North Af-
rica to Damascus.
128 | Philip Bockholt

4 A direct line of transmission? On the ties

between Damascus and the Maghrib in the 13th
century
As is clear from Ibn Khallikān’s own words, the exact information on the place
and date (now even specified as Thursday, 9 Shaʿbān 591) of the Battle of Alar-
cos as well as the booty taken from the Christians goes back to Maghribis living
in Damascus (jamāʿa min fuḍalāʾ al-maghāriba). Interestingly, nowhere does
Ibn Khallikān state the vast numbers of soldiers and booty mentioned by
Khvāndamīr and his sources, al-Yāfiʿī and Abū Shāma. Also, unlike them he
does not confuse the Battle of Alarcos with the one that had taken place over a
hundred years earlier at al-Zallāqa. Apparently, Ibn Khallikān did indeed rely
on sources that differed from the ones quoted by the other authors mentioned.
This is especially interesting in regard to Abū Shāma, a contemporary of his
who had close ties with the Maghribi community in Damascus.22 According to
Louis Pouzet, who in an article discusses Abū Shāma’s connections with this
community, the number of Maghribis in the city began to grow after the battle of
Las Navas de Tolosa, between Alfonso VIII and Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s son and
successor Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Nāṣir (r. 595–610 H/1199–
1213 CE) in 609 H/1212 CE, which the Muslims lost. In total, Pouzet lists 92 Ma-
ghribis who lived in or at least visited Damascus during the 13th century, among
them the famous mystic Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī from Murcia, who died in
Damascus in 638 H/1240 CE, and whose name is also mentioned by Ibn Khal-
likān as one of his Maghribi sources.23 Others mentioned by name in the Wafa-
yāt al-aʿyān are the scholar Abū al-Khaṭṭāb ʿUmar b. al-Ḥasan al-Kalbī Ibn Diḥya
(d. 633 H/1235 CE) and his brother Abū ʿAmr (or Abū ʿUthmān, d. 634 H/1237 CE;
both probably from Valencia), whose names are subsequently mentioned by al-
Yāfiʿī as well.24

||
22 Apart from other family members, one of Abū Shāma’s wives belonged to the ʿAbdarī fami-
ly, which was originally from al-Andalus, see Pouzet 1975, 170–172; Hirschler 2006, 33–36.
23 Pouzet 1975, 194–199. Ávila 1990 even counts 555 people from al-Andalus and the Maghrib
cited in al-Ṣafadī’s biographical dictionary al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt, written around eighty years
later than Ibn Khallikān’s Wafayāt al-aʿyān. See also Ávila 2002 and her analysis of Ibn Ḥārith
al-Khushanī’s biographical dictionary Akhbār al-fuqahāʾ wa-l-muḥaddithīn, in which 225 out of
527 people covered in the work are said to have traveled to the Islamic East.
24 For Ibn Diḥya, see Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1994), 3: 448–450; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī bi-
l-wafayāt (1962–2004), 22: 327; Granja 1971.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 129

Although these people might indeed have been among Ibn Khallikān’s in-
formants, clearly there is no way we can gain further information as to how and
when such an encounter might have taken place. It also remains unclear
whether Ibn Khallikān’s Maghribi contacts transmitted their information orally
or in writing, e.g. via drafts of works produced in the West that they had at their
disposal in Damascus. The following example of a certain Ibn Ḥamūya men-
tioned by Ibn Khallikān shows that even “eyewitness” accounts from people in
the Islamic East who had traveled to the West and transmitted knowledge about
events taking place there cannot be taken at face value.
Apart from his Maghribi contacts, in the entry on Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb, Ibn
Khallikān states that “in 668 (1269-70 CE), I saw a fragment (juzʾ; maybe part of
the now lost ʿAṭf al-Dhayl or al-Masālik wa-l-mamālik?) by the shaykh Tāj al-Dīn
ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Ḥamūya”25 (d. 642 H/1244-5 CE), which Ibn Khallikān draws on
in order to embellish his account with further details on the relations between
the Almohad caliph and his Christian opponent before the battle took place. Tāj
al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad Ibn Ḥamūya
al-Sarakhsī was born in Damascus and traveled to the Maghrib in 593 H/1196-
7 CE, where he stayed until 600 H/1203-4 CE, apparently serving the Almohad
caliph Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb.26 As Ibn Ḥamūya’s works ʿAṭf al-Dhayl and al-Masālik
wa-l-mamālik are now lost, we only have the information conveyed by Ibn Khal-
likān, and the details given in his Wafayāt al-aʿyān. Apart from Ibn Khallikān,
in Taʾrīkh al-islām the historian and biographer al-Dhahabī (d. 748 H/1348 CE)
reproduces a conversation between Ibn Ḥamūya and a certain Ibn ʿAṭiyya, a
member of the ʿAṭiyya family who served as scribes for the Almoravids and Al-
mohads, which would indeed have made Ibn Ḥamūya a direct witness to events
taking place in the Islamic West from 593–600 H/ca. 1196–1204 CE.27
According to Ibn Ḥamūya’s account as told in the Wafayāt al-aʿyān,28 in
590 H/1194 CE Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb assembled a vast army in order to ferry across
from North Africa to al-Andalus and raid the lands of the Christians. When the
caliph suddenly fell seriously ill, the preparations were called off and his army
dispersed. Shortly after, his opponent Alfonso VIII sent him a letter written by

||
25 Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1994), 7: 5.
26 Information on Ibn Ḥamūya can be found in the following works: al-Yāfiʿī, Mirʾāt al-janān
(1997), 4: 82; Abū Shāma, Tarājim (1974), 174; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1988), 3: 99–111.
27 Al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām (1990–2000), 42: 222–223; Fierro 2010b, 159. Among the prom-
inent members of the ʿAṭiyya family at that time were ʿAqīl Ibn ʿAṭiyya al-Quḍāʿī (d. 608 H/
1211 CE), the qāḍī (judge) of Sijilmasa (present-day Morocco), and his brother Abū Zakariyyāʾ
Hilāl, who worked as a scribe in al-Andalus; cf. Lirola Delgado 2009.
28 Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1994), 7: 5–7.
130 | Philip Bockholt

his vizier Ibn al-Fakhkhār, in which he provoked him by saying that the tide had
turned (as proven by Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s illness), and the caliph would be well
advised to be on good terms with him. Instead of sending the ambassadors Al-
fonso VIII had asked for, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb replied with a quotation from the
Qurʾān (Q: 27.37): “Go back to your people: we shall certainly come upon them
with irresistible forces, and drive them, disgraced and humbled, from their
land”.29 He also quoted a verse by Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī al-
Mutanabbī (d. 354 H/965 CE), one of the most important poets in the Arabic
language: “Not letters but swords, and not emissaries but many soldiers [will I
send]!”.30 Ibn Ḥamūya’s account ends with the statement that Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb
gathered a mighty army once more, sent it over the Straight of Gibraltar, and
defeated Alfonso VIII “in the year 592” (which is incorrect).
Apparently, Ibn Khallikān had serious doubts about the veracity of the ac-
count given by Ibn Ḥamūya. In the following lines, he points out that he read
the same details of the correspondence between the caliph and the king in the
Tadhkīr al-ʿāqil wa-tanbīh al-ghāfil by Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf b. Muḥammad b. Ibrā-
hīm al-Anṣārī al-Bayyāsī, who was originally from Baeza (Spain) and died in
Tunis in 653 H/1255 CE.31 According to Ibn Khallikān, in his work (now lost), al-
Bayyāsī reproduces the account of “Ibn al-Ṣayrafī al-kātib al-Miṣrī”, i.e. Abū
Bakr Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf Ibn al-Ṣayrafī al-Anṣārī al-Gharnāṭī (d.
557 H/1162 CE or 570 H/1174 CE).32 Ibn al-Ṣayrafī was an Almoravid-era historian
who served as a scribe under Tāshufīn b. ʿAlī (r. 537–540 H/1142–1146 CE), who
was the governor of Granada during the rule of his father ʿAlī b. Yūsuf (r. 500–
537 H/1107–1142 CE), and later on briefly ruled the Almoravid empire as a whole
in the years of its downfall. Ibn al-Ṣayrafī’s historiographical works Taqaṣṣī al-
anbāʾ wa-siyāsat al-ruʾasāʾ and Taʾrīkh al-dawla al-lamtūniyya (or al-Anwār al-
jaliyya fī akhbār al-dawla al-murābiṭiyya, also known as Taʾrīkh al-Andalus) are
lost, but he is frequently mentioned as a source for the history of the Almoravids
in Ibn ʿIdhārī al-Marrākushī’s al-Bayān al-mughrib and Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s al-Iḥāṭa fī
taʾrīkh Gharnāṭa, from the 14th century, as well as in many other works.33
According to Ibn Khallikān, the details of the correspondence given by al-
Bayyāsī and Ibn al-Ṣayrafī clearly refer to the battle of al-Zallāqa between the
Almoravid ruler Yūsuf b. Tāshufīn and Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 479 H/

||
29 Translation from Abdel Haleem 2004.
30 Cf. al-Barqūqī 2014, 1289. On al-Mutanabbī and his times, see Hamori 2011.
31 See Aguirre Sádaba 2012; Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1994), 7: 238–244.
32 Ibn Khallikān refers to him incorrectly by the nisba “al-Miṣrī” (the Egyptian).
33 Guichard/Benhima 2007.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 131

1086 CE (see above). In fact, the earliest extant source that contains the cited
verse of al-Mutanabbī as part of the correspondence between the two rulers
(though not the verse from the Qurʾān) is Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. Abī al-
Qāsim Ibn al-Kardabūs al-Tawzarī’s (d. in Tunis c. 1200) universal history Kitāb
al-Iktifāʾ fī akhbār al-khulafāʾ.34 This proves Ibn Khallikān’s point that the ac-
count of the correspondence between the two rulers given by Ibn Ḥamūya actu-
ally dates further back, to a completely different event in the history of al-
Andalus. Although this became clear to Ibn Khallikān, it was not understood by
other historians: various Arabic chronicles and biographical dictionaries of later
times contain both the quotation of the verse Q: 27.37 and al-Mutanabbī’s verse
as part of the correspondence between Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb and Alfonso VIII, and
thus take up core parts of Ibn Ḥamūya’s account of the events related to the
Battle of Alarcos. It is important to note that this confusion shows up in both
Eastern and Western works. For example, the Easterner Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Khalīl b.
Aybak al-Ṣafadī (d. 764 H/1363 CE), who lived in Damascus and wrote the multi-
volume biographical dictionary al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt, mentions in his entry on
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb35 both verses as part of the correspondence, as does the West-
erner Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Zarʿ al-Fāsī (d. 726 H/1326 CE),
from Fez, author of the Rawḍ al-qirṭās (i.e. al-Anīs al-muṭrib bi-rawḍ al-qirṭās fī
akhbār mulūk al-Maghrib wa-taʾrīkh madīnat Fās).36 In conclusion, the fact that
certain details wrongly attributed to events in the history of al-Andalus were
transmitted through the centuries was not based on geographical distances, but
took place in the West and the East alike.

5 Other strands of knowledge transmission

A similar, but not identical, strand of Arabic historiography about the Battle of
Alarcos is the universal history al-Kāmil fī al-taʾrīkh, by Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ʿIzz
al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr (d. 630 H/1233 CE) from Mosul, which was written decades
before Ibn Khallikān’s Wafayāt al-aʿyān.37 In fact, Ibn al-Athīr is the first source
that gives exaggerated numbers of combatants killed in battle as well as the

||
34 Ibn al-Kardabūs, Kitāb al-Iktifāʾ (2008), 1256–1257; on Ibn al-Kardabūs, see Abellán Pérez
2004; Zomeño 2012.
35 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt (1962–2004), 29: 5–16. On al-Ṣafadī and his sources, see van
Ess 1976–1977; Rosenthal 1995.
36 Ibn Abī Zarʿ, al-Anīs (1972), 220–231; on Ibn Abī Zarʿ, see Manzano Rodríguez 2012.
37 On Ibn al-Athīr’s al-Kāmil fī al-taʾrīkh see Micheau 2007.
132 | Philip Bockholt

immense booty taken by the Muslims (here it consists of 46,000 horses, 100,000
mules, 100,000 donkeys, 143,000 tents, and 70,000 garments).38 Interestingly,
Ibn al-Athīr also gives the verse Q: 27.37 as part of the correspondence between
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb and Alfonso VIII, which, together with the exact same num-
bers he mentions, was one hundred years later repeated verbatim by Cairo’s
Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bakrī al-Tamīmī al-Nuwayrī (d.
733 H/1333 CE) in his biographical dictionary Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab.39
It was probably Ibn al-Athīr’s account that formed the basis for Abū Shāma,
who also puts the number of Christians killed at 146,000. From there, the same
number subsequently found its way into al-Yāfiʿī’s Mirʾāt al-janān and
Khvāndamīr’s Ḥabīb al-siyar in the 14th and 16th centuries, respectively.
In contrast to Ibn al-Athīr, early sources written by authors from al-Andalus
and the Maghrib, like Ibn al-Kardabūs’s Kitāb al-Iktifāʾ mentioned above or Abū
Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. ʿAlī al-Tamīmī al-Marrākushī’s (d. 621 H/1225 CE)
al-Muʿjib fī talkhīṣ akhbār al-Maghrib, do not contain further information on the
Battle of Alarcos.40 Therefore, it is not clear which oral or written sources Ibn al-
Athīr relied on when dealing with the Almohad caliph and the Christian king.
What is evident, in any case, is that authors of works written in later times, both
in the West and the East, based their narratives on Ibn al-Athīr’s al-Kāmil fī al-
taʾrīkh as well as on Abū Shāma and Ibn Khallikān. As shown above, all of these
accounts differ in terms of the number of participants, the combatants killed,
the booty, the correspondence between caliph and king, and, in the case of Abū
Shāma, in the vivid account of Alfonso’s vow, which was copied by al-Nuwayrī
in his Nihāyat al-arab, al-Dhahabī in his Taʾrīkh al-islām, and ʿImād al-Dīn
Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar Ibn Kathīr (d. 774 H/1373 CE) in his universal history al-Bidāya
wa-l-nihāya.41
In later times, the various strands of historiography are brought together in
Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Tilimsānī al-Maqqarī’s (d.
1041 H/1632 CE) important biographical dictionary Nafḥ al-ṭīb min ghuṣn al-
Andalus al-raṭīb wa-dhikr wazīrihā Lisān al-Dīn Ibn al-Khaṭīb.42 Al-Maqqarī, born

||
38 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil (1987–2003), 10: 236–238 and 258–260.
39 Al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab (n.d.), 24: 180–187; on the author, see Chapoutot-Remadi 1995;
Benhima 2009.
40 In his al-Muʿjib, al-Marrākushī mentions the place and the date of the battle, and states that
most of the Christians were killed, whereas only a few Muslims lost their lives; see al-
Marrākushī, al-Muʿjib (1994), 234–235. On the author, see Benhima 2009.
41 Al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab (n.d.), 24: 184; al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām (1990–2000), 42: 9;
Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya (1997), 16: 668.
42 On al-Maqqarī, see Fierro/Molina 2009; Lévi-Provençal/Pellat 1991.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 133

in Tlemcen around the year 986 H/1578-9 CE, traveled to Cairo and Damascus,
where he became known as an expert in the Islamic West and wrote not only his
famous history-cum-biography but other works as well. Regarding the Battle of
Alarcos, the Nafḥ al-ṭīb combines information contained in several of the works
mentioned above, as becomes clear from the entry on Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb, where
al-Maqqarī records 146,000 Christians killed, as stated by Abū Shāma and Ibn
al-Athīr, whereas for the booty, he provides the numbers given by Abū Shāma,
but also the 60,000 suits of chain mail from the bayt al-māl that we find in Ibn
Khallikān.43 Furthermore, al-Maqqarī rounds out his account of Abū Yūsuf
Yaʿqūb and the Battle of Alarcos by citing Alfonso’s vow, which was first men-
tioned by Abū Shāma. In addition, in his entry on Ibn Ḥamūya, al-Maqqarī re-
peats the verses from the Qurʾān and al-Mutanabbī as part of the correspond-
ence between the caliph and the king.44 Therefore, the account of the Battle of
Alarcos in al-Maqqarī’s Nafḥ al-ṭīb is a case in point for the method of compila-
tion applied by Arabic historians of premodern times. It is important to note that
for the main details on the Battle of Alarcos, al-Maqqarī exclusively relied on
sources written in the Islamic East, even though he himself was originally from
the West, and was writing a work on the history of al-Andalus.
The basis of Khvāndamīr’s account of what happened to Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb
after the battle, however, stems from a very different strand of historiography
than any of the works mentioned above. According to the Ḥabīb al-siyar, in the
aftermath of the Battle of Alarcos the Almohad caliph retired to North Africa,
where he decided to abandon his caliphate and become a faqīr, that is, a Ṣūfī.45
Khvāndamīr quotes here two stories from the Nafaḥāt al-uns min ḥażarāt al-
quds,46 a biographical dictionary of Ṣūfīs written by the famous Herati poet ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān Nūr al-Dīn Jāmī (d. 898 H/1492 CE) for Mīr ʿAlī Shīr Navāʾī (d. 906 H/
1501 CE), an important patron of artists and poets in Herat and close advisor to
Tīmūrid ruler Sulṭān-Ḥusayn Bāyqarā (r. 873–911 H/1469–1506 CE).47 In his
account of Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb, Jāmī states that for political reasons the caliph
gave the order to execute his brother, an act that he later came to regret. In an
attempt to devote his life exclusively to the service of God, he sent emissaries to

||
43 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1988), 1: 443, and 4: 382.
44 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1988), 3: 102.
45 Khvāndamīr, Ḥabīb al-siyar (2001), 2: 582–583.
46 Jāmī, Nafaḥāt al-uns (2011), 570–571.
47 On Jāmī and his Nafaḥāt al-uns, see Losensky 2008; Browne 1959, 435–436 and 509–548;
Storey 1927–1977, 1/2: 954–959; for Navāʾī, see Subtelny 2011.
134 | Philip Bockholt

the Ṣūfī shaykh Abū Madyan Shuʿayb (d. 594 H/1198 CE)48 in order to summon
him to court. Abū Madyan, however, died in Tlemcen while on his way to Mar-
rakesh, but not without first appointing another shaykh to teach the caliph the
right path to God. According to Jāmī (and repeated by Khvāndamīr), the name of
the shaykh was Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī, an adherent of the founder of the
Shādhilī brotherhood, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī (d. 656 H/1258 CE). In fact, Abū
al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī lived around one hundred years after Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb, and
died in Alexandria in 686 H/1287 CE, not in Tlemcen.49
The first account of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī contained in the Ḥabīb al-siyar
and the Nafaḥāt al-uns is not untypical for a story on Ṣūfīs: since Abū Yūsuf
Yaʿqūb wanted to find out whether the shaykh was a real Ṣūfī and had special
gifts which would enable him to lead the caliph towards God,50 Abū al-ʿAbbās
al-Mursī was examined at court. There, courtiers placed two dishes of chicken in
front of him, of which he had to choose one. Without thinking, Abū al-ʿAbbās
al-Mursī chose one of them, stating that the other was nothing but a corpse,
meaning that the chicken had not been properly slaughtered but simply killed
(and therefore eating it would not be permitted by Islamic law). Upon hearing
this outcome, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb felt sure that the shaykh would be the right
one, and proceeded to step down and hand over power to his son. In a second
account, given only by Jāmī, after a long dry spell, the shaykh asked the caliph
to pray for rain as they wandered through the desert, and the rain began to fall
immediately after Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s invocation. But how did Abū al-ʿAbbās al-
Mursī get cast as the contemporary of an Almohad caliph from generations be-
fore his time? Where did these stories originate?
In his Nafaḥāt al-uns, Jāmī refers to al-Yāfiʿī as a source for both stories,
without mentioning a specific work. While Khvāndamīr relied on the Mirʾāt al-
janān when depicting the Almohad caliph, the entry dedicated to him by al-
Yāfiʿī contains no information on the Ṣūfī stories apart from the information that
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb “used to wear wool” (kāna yalbasu al-ṣūf, i.e. dressed like a
Ṣūfī). Apparently, the story about the caliph and Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī does
not show up in the Mirʾāt al-janān at all. In an entry on a certain Abū
Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-zāhid (“the ascetic”) al-Andalusī al-

||
48 Cornell 1996; Marçais 1960. In fact, Abū Madyan was summoned to court because the sul-
tan questioned his loyalty, and feared rebellion by the shaykh’s followers; see Cornell 1996, 15.
49 For the biography of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī and his master Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī, see
Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh, Laṭāʾif al-minan (2005).
50 Ferhat 1993, 91–99 contains further stories about the Almohad caliph and his encounters
with Ṣūfīs.
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 135

Mursī, who died in 591 H/1195 CE, al-Yāfiʿī does not include any information
related to the Almohad caliph. Another shaykh, the famous Ṣūfī from Ceuta Abū
al-ʿAbbās al-Sabtī (d. 601 H/1204 CE), who lived in Marrakesh where Ibn
Ḥamūya met him when he was in the West (as mentioned by al-Maqqarī in his
Nafḥ al-ṭīb), is also not described in relation to the caliph.51 Could this mean
another dead end for source criticism?
After further research, it becomes clear that Jāmī’s reference to al-Yāfiʿī is in
fact correct; he simply does not mean the work Mirʾāt al-janān, but rather Rawḍ
al-rayāḥīn fī ḥikāyāt al-ṣāliḥīn, a biographical dictionary of Ṣūfīs. The work con-
tains an entry on the Almohad ruler that gives the name of the shaykh who
passes the exam with the two dishes put in front of him as Abū al-ʿAbbās al-
Marīnī (not al-Mursī).52 Tracing back Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-Marīnī in the
sources shows that he was a shaykh who lived in the Maghrib during the late
12th and early 13th centuries. He is mentioned in the Ṣūfī biographical dictio-
nary by the Egyptian Ṣafī al-Dīn b. Abī al-Manṣūr b. Ẓāfir (d. 682 H/1283 CE), the
Risāla, where an entry dedicated to him contains the same stories of the en-
counter between shaykh and sovereign as conveyed in the Rawḍ al-rayāḥīn, and
later on repeated by Jāmī and Khvāndamīr.53 Denis Gril, who edited the Risāla,
discusses the possibility that al-Marīnī might have been a pupil of Abū Madyan,
the shaykh first summoned to court who died on his way to Marrakesh. In the
Risāla, nothing more is told about him apart from two more typical Ṣūfī-related
stories wherein the shaykh speaks to Muḥammad’s daughter Fāṭima in a dream,
and is saved from an enormous snake while sleeping. It is unknown whether al-
Yāfiʿī used the Risāla when writing the entry on Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb for his Rawḍ
al-rayāḥīn, but not unlikely. Thus, the path of the Ṣūfī stories conveyed in the
works of Jāmī and Khvāndamīr in late Tīmūrid and early Ṣafavid Herat might
have led from the Maghrib via Egypt to Mecca before ending up in Iran. To con-
clude, when dealing with the transmission of knowledge from the West to the
East, it is important to note that apparently very different strands of knowledge
about a certain person or a single event – here Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s Ṣūfī and
non-Ṣūfī connections – could be transmitted by one and the same author in
different literary genres, as seen in regard to al-Yāfiʿī’s two works Mirʾāt al-
janān and Rawḍ al-rayāḥīn.

||
51 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1988), 3: 99. On Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sabtī, see the biography by his
contemporary al-Zayyāt (d. 627 H/1229-30 CE); al-Zayyāt, al-Tashawwuf (1984), 451–478.
52 Al-Yāfiʿī, Rawḍ al-rayāḥīn (1897), 208.
53 Ṣafī al-Dīn, Risāla (1986), 151–153 and 216.
136 | Philip Bockholt

6 On the transmission of knowledge from the

West to the East
For historians in 16th-century Iran, acquiring knowledge on distant parts of the
Islamic world like al-Andalus and the Maghrib was a difficult task. Despite the
fact that Khvāndamīr had access to the libraries of Herat, which at that time was
one of the main cultural centers in the Islamic East, he was unable to track
down any information on events taking place in the Islamic West from the 13th
century onwards. What is even more striking is the fact that he and later 16th-
century historians apparently had no knowledge about the end of Islamic rule
in the Iberian peninsula, or, at the very least, did not find this fact worthy of
mention. Even decades after Khvāndamīr’s death, Qāżī Aḥmad Ghaffārī Qazvīnī
Kāshānī and ʿAbdī Beg Shīrāzī seem unaware of these momentous develop-
ments. Their histories of the Islamic lands are as silent about the Naṣrids and
their centuries-long fight against the Christians, as they are about the fall of
Granada in 1492, which resounded throughout Europe, and has been consid-
ered one of the central events in the history of the Mediterranean ever since.
Beyond this specific issue it seems that, on a more general level, historians
in early Ṣafavid Iran only rarely received information about the western lands.
As demonstrated above, the source for nearly all of Khvāndamīr’s information
on the last dynasty of the Islamic West covered in his Ḥabīb al-siyar was al-
Yāfiʿī’s Mirʾāt al-janān, which was written in Mecca in the 14th century. There-
fore, Khvāndamīr clearly did not have any access to sources produced in the
Islamic West, which says a great deal about books’ ability to make their way
from the West to the East. Equally telling is the fact that his source, al-Yāfiʿī,
does not refer to any “Western” books either, and mainly copies the information
given by the Damascene scholar Ibn Khallikān in his 13th-century biographical
dictionary Wafayāt al-aʿyān. A second source was Abū Shāma’s Dhayl al-
Rawḍatayn, from which Khvāndamīr draws the statistics on the Battle of Alar-
cos. Thus, Ibn Khallikān and Abū Shāma constitute the most important links to
the West in the transmission of the account of Almohad caliph Abū Yūsuf
Yaʿqūb at Alarcos, as they had direct connections with the Maghribi community
in Damascus.
However, the story of the correspondence between Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb and
his adversary Alfonso VIII shows that even in Damascus, located much further
west than Herat, authors of history books and biographical dictionaries had
problems distinguishing between events that had occurred in the Western Medi-
terranean. The same is also true for historians of the Islamic West like Ibn Abī
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 137

Zarʿ al-Fāsī who, despite the fact that he lived in the Maghrib, relied on Eastern
sources. In fact, readers of history books and biographical dictionaries from the
13th century to the 17th century interested in the Almohad caliph and the Battle
of Alarcos would have had to turn to very different sources of information. Al-
Maqqarī’s Nafḥ al-ṭīb, in this sense, is a good example of an author who at-
tempted to pull together these various strands of history into a single text. This
is also the case for Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb’s depiction as a Ṣūfī: whereas the main
biographical dictionaries simply refer to him as a king who went on to don Ṣūfī
garb, in Khvāndamīr’s Ḥabīb al-siyar, based on Jāmī’s Nafaḥāt al-uns and going
back to al-Yāfiʿī’s Rawḍ al-rayāḥīn, the account of this caliph contains the vivid
story of how he found the right spiritual leader, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Marīnī, whose
biography is first given in a biographical dictionary of Ṣūfīs written in 13th-
century Egypt. This highlights the fact that knowledge was transmitted within
the confines of discrete literary genres, here general biographical dictionaries
and specific Ṣūfī dictionaries, respectively.
The example of the Almohad ruler Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb and the Battle of Alar-
cos in al-Andalus has shown that narratives were able to make their way from
one region of the Islamic world to another, which means that generally speak-
ing authors in the East did in fact have access to knowledge about events in the
West, despite the many constraints. It is not surprising that given the conditions
of textual transmission in premodern times, contradictory accounts of one and
the same event could be found in different texts. Among all the examples cited,
only Ibn Khallikān applied a certain kind of source criticism to the accounts at
his disposal, which did not prevent later historians from embellishing their
narratives with stylistically rich but apparently ahistorical details that had al-
ready been flagged by one of their predecessors. Surprisingly, the Battle of Alar-
cos in 591 H/1195 CE and the last decades of the Almohads remained more or
less the last detailed information on the Iberian Peninsula available to the read-
ers of the Ḥabīb al-siyar and other early Ṣafavid-era history books, thus provid-
ing us with insight into their world and perceptions of space, e.g. the limited
scope of their “universal” histories, which in fact mainly narrate regional devel-
opments. Further research into texts dealing with historiographical knowledge,
that is, information on events, people, customs, and the beliefs prevalent in a
one region and conveyed to another, might reveal just how entangled and inter-
connected the Islamic world of premodern times really was.
138 | Philip Bockholt

Fig. 1: The Battle of Alarcos (591 H/1195 CE) and its chain of transmission from the Islamic West
to the Islamic East
 Lost Somewhere in Between? | 139

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Storey, Charles A. (1927–1977), Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, 2 vols., Lon-
don: Luzac.
Subtelny, Maria E. (2011), “ʿAlī Shīr Navāʾī”, Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Brill Online.
Tibi, Amin (2002), “al-Zallāḳa”, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Brill Online.
Van Ess, Josef (1976–1977), “Ṣafadī-Splitter”, Der Islam 53, 242–266; and 54, 77–108.
Viguera Molins, María Jesús (1997), “Historia política”, in: M. J. Viguera Molins, ed., Historia de
España Menéndez Pidal VIII-2. El retroceso territorial de al-Andalus. Almorávides y Al-
mohades, siglos XI al XIII, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 39–123.
Zomeño, Amalia (2012), “Ibn al-Kardabūs”, in: David Thomas and Alex Mallett, eds., Christian-
Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 4 (1200–1350), Leiden – Boston: Brill,
196–198.
Maiko Noguchi
Communicating a Biography: A Comparison
of the Maghribi-Andalusi and Mashriqi
Sources on al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ

1 Introduction
The compilation of biographies was one of the most common and important in-
tellectual activities in the premodern world. In Islam, a large number of biograph-
ical dictionaries devoted to poets, ʿulamāʾ, aʿyān (notable people), and others
have been produced over the centuries and continue to be written even today.1
We can ascertain various things from biographies, not only about the individual
being described but also about the particular group(s) of people to which they
belonged. As such, many modern studies of medieval biographies have been pro-
duced to help further knowledge of aspects of social and intellectual history.
However, when researching the life of an individual, we often come across
multiple sources. These sources are sometimes contradictory in nature, even
though they relate to the same person. In such cases, how should we make sense
of the differences between the texts? Which information – if any – should we con-
sider more reliable or plausible? Examining the communication and develop-
ment or alteration of biographical information over time and space may help us
answer these questions, and this paper will do so through a case-study of al-Qāḍī
ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE). Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ was one of the most famous jurists of the
Mālikī law-school and a renowned ḥadīth scholar in the medieval Maghrib. His
life was included in a number of biographical dictionaries after his death not only
in the Islamic West but also in the East, despite the fact that he never made the
ḥajj, visited the Mashriq, or had many teachers or students there. This is rather
interesting because, although the people of the Mashriq might not have generally
shown an interest in someone who had limited involvement with them, a certain

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1 However, pre-modern biographical literature has little in common with modern (Cooperson
2010). On historical writing in Islam, see Guo 2010. On research analyzing ʿulamāʾ, see Hum-
phreys 1991, 187–208.
||
Note: This work was supported by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Sci-
ence Society and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Open Access. © 2021 Maiko Noguchi, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-006
144 | Maiko Noguchi

number of Mashriqi biographers included such Maghribis in their works.2 And

these biographies of ʿIyāḍ are full of interesting evidence, such as how infor-
mation was communicated and the spread of the intellectual influence of an ʿālim
between the Islamic West and East. Nevertheless, modern scholars have shown
little interest in this issue. Thus, in this paper, I will explore how the biography
of al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ was communicated and constructed in the Mashriq through a
comparison of dictionaries written in the Maghrib and al-Andalus. María José
Hermosilla has covered this issue to some extent, but many important Mashriqi
sources are ignored in her article.3
In this paper, I have classified the sources as either Maghribi-Andalusi or
Mashriqi, according to the place where their writers were active. As there are a
significant number of dictionaries containing a biography of al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, this
paper will, with just a few exceptions, only use those sources that were composed
up to the end of the 8th/14th century. This is because, following that period, the
information contained within the sources on al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ is wholly derivative.

2 The life and career of al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ

Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Abū al-Faḍl ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā al-Yaḥṣubī was born in Ceuta in 476
H/1083 CE.4 He came from a distinguished family that traced its origins back to
the Arabs of Yemen. His great-grandfather, ʿAmrūn (or ʿAmr), moved to Ceuta
from Fez, the oldest town in the central Morocco, around the time of Ibn Abī ʿĀmir
(r. 368–392 H/978–1002 CE), the chief minister and de facto ruler of the Umayyad
caliphate of Córdoba. ʿIyāḍ began his studies in his hometown under various
prominent intellectuals, such as Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-Tamīmī (d.
505 H/1111 CE) and Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Tāhartī (d. 501 H/1108 CE).5 In 507
H/1113 CE, at the age of 31, he completed his studies in Ceuta and then crossed to

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2 On the biographies of the Maghribis and Andalusis in the Mashriqi biographical dictionaries,
there are several studies in the EOBA (Estudios onomástico-biográficos de al-Andalus) series pub-
lished by CSIC since 1988.
3 Hermosilla 1978–79.
4 On his biography, there are not only many historical sources in Arabic but also studies in sev-
eral other languages. Moreover, the monograph titled al-Taʿrīf bi-l-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (“The Introduction
to al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ”) was written by his son, Muḥammad, and the 11th/17th-century historian
Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqqarī (d. 1041 H/1632 CE) wrote Azhār al-riyāḍ fī akhbār ʿIyāḍ (“The Gardens’
Flowers on Reports about ʿIyāḍ”). For modern studies on ʿIyāḍ, see the bibliography, below.
5 On al-Tamīmī, see ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1979), 99–115. On al-Tāhartī, see ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1979),
204–206.
 Communicating a Biography | 145

al-Andalus to seek knowledge from scholars there, with support from the Almo-
ravid sovereign of the time, ʿAlī b. Yūsuf (r. 500–537 H/1106–1143 CE).6 After his
arrival in al-Andalus, it is thought that he counted on the qāḍī of Córdoba, Ibn
Ḥamdīn (d. 508 H/1114 CE),7 after which he studied law and ḥadīth under famous
scholars in Murcia, Córdoba, Almería, and Granada including a traditionist, Abū
ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī (d. 514 H/1120 CE), and a scholar of Arabic language and tradition-
ist, Sirāj b. ʿAbd al-Malik (d. 507 H/1113 CE).8 About a year later, he returned to his
native town where he became a member of the consultative council (shūrā) after
participating in an academic debate on Saḥnūn’s (d. 240 H/855 CE) al-Mudaw-
wana (“The Corpus”).9 After this, he became a qāḍī in Ceuta and then in Granada.
In Ceuta, he held that position for 19 years – from 515 H/1121 CE to 531 H/1136 CE
and from 539 H/1145 CE to 543 H/1148 CE – though his time in Granada was either
for only several months or for a year sometime in the period 531–532 H/1136–1138
CE. Just as his first riḥla (“journey”) to al-Andalus had been, so too were his ap-
pointment and dismissal as qāḍī the result of his relations with the Almoravid
rulers; his dismissal as qāḍī of Granada was the result of his falling out of favor
with the city’s amīr, Tāshfīn b. ʿAlī b. Yūsuf (future sovereign, r. 537–539 H/1143–
1145 CE), and his reappointment as qāḍī of Ceuta in 539 H/1145 CE was confirmed
by Tāshfīn’s son, the ruler Ibrāhīm (r. 539 H/1145 CE).10
Only a few sources describe how ʿIyāḍ spent his later years, but thanks to
recent studies we now have an idea not only of his scholarly position at that time
but also, to a certain extent, his political one. According to these, after Marrakesh,
the Almoravid capital, was captured by the Almohads (524–668 H/1130–1269 CE)

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6 The Almoravids (c. the second half of 5th century–541 H/11th century–1147 CE) was founded
by the Ṣanhāja Berber tribes of the western region of the Sahara; they ruled the Maghrib and al-
Andalus and adopted the Mālikī school of law as their creed.
7 Al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān (d. 529 H/1134 CE, see below for further details) conveys two letters written
by the vizier Abū al-Qāsim b. al-Jadd (d. 515 H/1121-2 CE) which recommended ʿIyāḍ to Ibn
Ḥamdīn. One of them is a petition that Abū al-Qāsim wrote on behalf of the sovereign ʿAlī b.
Yūsuf. See al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān, Qalāʾid al-iqyān (2010), 326–328. On Ibn Ḥamdīn, see ʿIyāḍ, al-
Ghunya (1979), 116–117.
8 On al-Ṣadafī, see ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1979), 193–201. On Sirāj, see ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1979), 261–
265.
9 According to Camilo Gómez-Rivas, this debate is a kind of rite of passage through which some-
one had to pass before they could be appointed to the shūrā. See Gómez-Rivas 2013, 326.
10 Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), 10–11. In addition to these, Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqqarī
conveys the poem which ʿIyāḍ composed when the latter was appointed qāḍī of Dāy (a town of
Tādlā region of central Morocco). It is said that this appointment was in 541 H/1146-7 CE, but
Gómez-Rivas considers it happened in 543 H/1148 CE. See al-Maqqarī, Azhār al-riyāḍ (1980), 4:
267; Gómez-Rivas 2013, 326.
146 | Maiko Noguchi

in 541 H/1147 CE, the supporters of the former continued to resist the Almohads
both in the Maghrib and al-Andalus. As such, during this period ʿIyāḍ preached
jihād against the Almohads in his Friday sermons in Ceuta. Later, though, he
changed his view and, in another sermon, swore an oath of allegiance to them.
Moreover, he was involved in issuing golden dīnārs in Ceuta at that time.11 There-
fore, he can be regarded as a central figure in this resistance, acting as if he were
the ruler of the town.12 After finally conquering Ceuta, the Almohads took ʿIyāḍ to
Marrakesh; in some sources, it is claimed that he died there shortly after, in 544
H/1149 CE.
ʿIyāḍ studied under various important members of the ʿulamāʾ and formed
friendships with many of them in both his native town and al-Andalus. These in-
cluded Ibn Ḥamdīn and Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520 H/1126 CE), the most prominent
Mālikī jurist of his day in the Islamic West, in addition to the aforementioned al-
Ṣadafī and Sirāj b. ʿAbd al-Malik. From his biographical work focused on his
teachers, al-Ghunya (“The Richness”), it is known that he was taught by around
100 teachers, and that they were not only from the Islamic West but also the East,
with ʿIyāḍ himself remaining in the Maghrib.13 As a result, he had significant in-
fluence on knowledge flow from al-Andalus to the Maghrib and was also instru-
mental in establishing the Mālikī school of law in that region.14 He was a prolific
writer, composing around 30 works during his lifetime. Among them a book of
praise for the Prophet Muḥammad based on the sciences of ḥadīth, al-Shifāʾ bi-
taʿrīf ḥuqūq al-Muṣṭafā (“Healing by Recognition of the Rights of the Chosen
One”), a biographical dictionary on Mālikī ʿulamāʾ, Tartīb al-madārik wa-taqrīb
al-masālik li-maʿrifat aʿlām madhhab Mālik (“Organizing the Faculties and Re-
vealing the Methods for Discovering the Signs of the School of Mālik”), and al-
Ghunya are especially well-known. In addition to these, his son Muḥammad com-
piled his father’s fatwās into a volume entitled Madhāhib al-ḥukkām fī nawāzil al-
aḥkām (“Judges’ Proceedings in Judicial Processes”), which also has been re-
garded as an important work. However, despite his significant impact on later
Islam, information on his students is scarce, and according to modern scholars,
only 10–12 students are known, in addition to his son Muḥammad.15

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11 On his sermons, see Jones 2013. On his dīnārs, see Kassis 1983; Fierro 2006. On the general
situation at that time, Gómez-Rivas 2013, 327–328. On his scholarly position, see also Eggen 2018.
12 For the similar figures of his contemporaries, see Fierro 1994.
13 Thanks to the location of Ceuta, which is on the Mediterranean coast, he could study from
the ʿulamāʾ who came and stopped at the town. See ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1979).
14 Gómez-Rivas 2013, 323–324. ʿIyāḍ was also a ḥadīth scholar, and some modern scholars have
referred to him as a man of letters. Cf. Shaqūr 1983.
15 Shawwāṭ 1999, 239–244; Jallāb 2009, 32–34.
 Communicating a Biography | 147

3 Biographies of ʿIyāḍ
3.1 Maghribi and Andalusi sources16
The earliest source from the Maghrib and al-Andalus with information on ʿIyāḍ is
al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān’s (d. 529 H/1134 CE) Qalāʾid al-ʿiqyān wa-maḥāsin al-aʿyān
(“Golden Necklaces and the Virtues of Notable People”). Al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān was
an anthologist who probably hailed from Jaén or Seville, and a contemporary of
ʿIyāḍ, and they were friends.17 Qalāʾid al-iqyān is not, strictly speaking, a bio-
graphical dictionary but is instead an anthology of the works of famous persons
such as princes and viziers, secretaries (kuttāb), qāḍīs, fuqahāʾ, poets, and men of
letters. It covers around 80 men in total, most of whom were contemporaries of
the author. ʿIyāḍ himself was included among the “qāḍīs and fuqahāʾ”. The arti-
cle devoted to him within Qalāʾid al-iqyān includes some of his poetry and letters,
in addition to an appreciation of his various abilities. It is a rather unusual tome
because it contains hardly any of the kind of information about individuals
– such as dates of birth or death, birthplace, career, or teachers and students
etc. – that is usually found in Arabic biographical dictionaries, and such is the
case for the article on ʿIyāḍ. The information contained within it seems to have
originated from ʿIyāḍ and the author himself, and it is likely to have been written
while ʿIyāḍ was alive, given the date of the author’s death.18
A second biography was written by the man believed to have been ʿIyāḍ’s
only son, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad (d. 575 H/1179-80 CE).19 He received most
of his education from his father and was one of the students who helped keep his
father’s ideas alive. Muḥammad was appointed qāḍī first of Dénia and then of
Granada. As mentioned, he produced two main works related to his father: a
monograph entitled al-Taʿrīf bi-l-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and a compilation of his father’s legal

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16 In this paper, I will consider the biographical dictionaries that contain an entry on ʿIyāḍ.
17 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Muʿjam (2011), 374; Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, al-Dhayl (2012), 3: 444–445. Cf. Ben
Cheneb/Pellat, “al-Fatḥ b. Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allāh b. Khāḳān”, EI2.
18 Al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān, Qalāʾid al-iqyān (2010), 683–691. According to the description of the date,
he compiled this work after 515 H/1121 CE. See al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān, Qalāʾid al-iqyān (2010), 357,
361.
19 Though we have little information about Muḥammad, Ibn Sharīfa, the editor of al-Taʿrīf, or-
ganized his biographies from the sources and listed them in the introduction (Muḥammad b.
ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf [2009], alif-shīn). Muḥammad’s date of birth is not known for certain, but it is said
that he died in 575 H/1179-80 CE when he was in his forties; therefore, he is likely to have been
born around in the 520s or 530s H/mid 1120s or 1130s CE. For Muḥammad’s biography, see Se-
rrano Ruano 2004.
148 | Maiko Noguchi

opinions entitled Madhāhib al-ḥukkām. While al-Taʿrīf is not a lengthy work, it

records ʿIyāḍ’s biography – including his origins and ancestors – his works
– which include selected ḥadīths, Friday sermons, poetry, and the titles of about
20 works in total – and his teachers’ names.20 Most of this information came, nat-
urally, from ʿIyāḍ himself, Muḥammad’s father. Moreover, it is perhaps notewor-
thy that some of ʿIyāḍ’s poems were recorded by Muḥammad newly; thus, the
latter is regarded as one of the main sources for them, in addition to al-Fatḥ b.
Khāqān.21 Despite ʿIyāḍ’s reputation and influence among his contemporaries
and posterity, Muḥammad’s monograph about his father was employed by only
a very limited number of later biographers. It is thought that there was only one
copy of this work, kept by one of Muḥammad’s descendant in Málaga.22
Although Muḥammad should have had great knowledge about ʿIyāḍ’s life,
he was limited in the information he could record. This is at least partly because
Muḥammad was in a rather difficult situation when he was writing since his fa-
ther had revolted against the dynasty – the Almohads – under which Muḥammad
himself had been appointed qāḍī.23 It has not proved possible to locate definitive
information regarding this monograph’s date of composition, although the
phrase “the qāḍī Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad said…” (qāla al-qāḍī Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Muḥammad) appears at the beginning of the text, suggesting that he composed
the monograph after he himself had been appointed qāḍī, which probably oc-
curred sometime in the early 570s H/ the late 1170s CE.24

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20 In the introduction, Muḥammad explained the reason behind compiling the book: his master
(in the text, “sayyidī”, meaning ‘my master’) – who is mentioned as a sublime faqīh, perfect ḥāfiẓ,
diligent Qurʾān reciter, though we have no specific information about him – asked him about his
father, ʿIyāḍ, so he wrote it.
21 Two poems and a portion of the information originated from Muḥammad’s companions, and
his cousin Abū ʿAbd Allāh, among others.
22 Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), lām. This information is based on that of al-Bunnāhī,
which will be mentioned later.
23 Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), kāf. See Gómez-Rivas 2013, 327–328.
24 Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), 3. According to Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Marrākushī,
Muḥammad took the position of qāḍī of Dénia before 570 H/1174-5 CE and then became the qāḍī
of Granada (Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, al-Dhayl [2012], 5: 242). Moreover, Muḥammad mentions Qalāʾid
al-iqyān by al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān in his work; therefore, the former was composed after the latter
was completed. See Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), 97.
 Communicating a Biography | 149

Another author who wrote about ʿIyāḍ was Ibn Bashkuwāl (d. 578 H/1183 CE)
in his celebrated biographical dictionary of Andalusi ʿulamāʾ, al-Ṣila (“The Con-
tinuation”).25 Ibn Bashkuwāl was from Córdoba and studied first in his native
town and then in Seville. After completing his studies, he was appointed qāḍī of
a district in the region of Seville, and later became involved in teaching and writ-
ing. Al-Ṣila includes nearly 1,600 biographical entries, including those of various
women ʿulamāʾ, and in it Ibn Bashkuwāl gives various pieces of information
about ʿIyāḍ, such as his name and origins. He differentiates between Andalusis
and “the foreigners” (min al-ghurabāʾ) and describes ʿIyāḍ as the latter, and rec-
ords the reasons for ʿIyāḍ’s move to al-Andalus (from Ceuta): to study. He also
details in which cities in al-Andalus ʿIyāḍ received his education and the teachers
responsible for educating him, and gives information about his personality and
his time in office as qāḍī. He mentions his own relationship with ʿIyāḍ – ʿIyāḍ was
the teacher and Ibn Bashkuwāl the student, although it seems that the former
taught the latter only a little26 – and, finally, the dates of his birth and death. The
source of this information was ʿIyāḍ himself, as Ibn Bashkuwāl records. The
length of the description of his teacher – which is only 22 lines long in the Beirut
edition, and therefore neither very short nor very long – is not much different
compared to other entries in his dictionary. However, this concise and rather dull
portrait is typical of biographical literature; thus, the information Ibn Bashkuwāl
conveyed about ʿIyāḍ was included in later biographies, not only in al-Andalus
and the Maghrib but also in the Mashriq, as I will argue below.
A little later, Abū Jaʿfar al-Ḍabbī (d. 599 H/1203 CE), a traditionist and a writer
from Lorca, conveyed ʿIyāḍ’s biography in his dictionary, Bughyat al-multamis fī
tārīkh rijāl ahl al-Andalus (“The Wish of the One Who Searches for the History of
the Men of al-Andalus”).27 This work, which contains around 1,600 biographies,
was intended to be a continuation (dhayl) of Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥumaydī’s (d. 488
H/1095 CE) Jadhwat al-muqtabis fī dhikr wulāt al-Andalus (“The Torch for the One

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25 On Ibn Bashkuwāl, see Ibn al-Abbār, al-Muʿjam (2011), 115–117; Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila
(2011), 1: 459–462. See also Ávila, “Ibn Bashkuwāl”, EI3. On ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see Ibn Bash-
kuwāl, al-Ṣila (1989), 2: 660–661. According to the end of part one of this work, Ibn Bashkuwāl
finished the compilation on 1 Jumādā I 534 H/24 December 1139 CE. However, since some dates
in the text appear after this date, it is believed that he continued writing after that (cf. Ibn Bash-
kuwāl, al-Ṣila [1989], 1: 15–17).
26 Ibn Bashkuwāl would rather get information about ʿulamāʾ from ʿIyāḍ and compiled his bio-
graphical dictionary. See Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (2011), 1: 461.
27 On al-Ḍabbī, see Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (2011), 1: 188–189. On ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see al-
Ḍabbī, Bughyat al-multamis (1997), 383–384.
150 | Maiko Noguchi

Who Lights the Story of the Governors of al-Andalus”).28 Al-Ḍabbī spent most of
his life in Murcia although he also traveled to numerous other places, including
various towns in the North Africa and Mecca, for the ḥajj. He was taught by many
teachers in the town in which he stayed, among whom were Ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (d.
late 6th/12th century?) and Ibn Bashkuwāl. The former made al-Ḍabbī listen to
ḥadīth in Ceuta, and the latter gave him authorization (ijāza) for something – al-
though there is no specific description for what. In view of this situation, it is
likely that his information on ʿIyāḍ originated with some of al-Ḍabbī’s teachers.
Al-Ḍabbī’s text focuses on enumerating the scholars who had taught ʿIyāḍ ḥadīth;
as a result, the list of ʿIyāḍ’s teachers given by al-Ḍabbī is longer than that pro-
vided by Ibn Bashkuwāl. Al-Ḍabbī describes ʿIyāḍ as an expert (ʿārif) and a man
of letters (adīb), in addition to being a jurist and a ḥadīth scholar. He mentions
the title of ʿIyāḍ’s work on the terminology of ḥadīth as being al-Ilmāʿ ilā maʿrifat
uṣūl al-riwāya wa-taqyīd al-samāʿ (“The Allusion to the Knowledge of the Princi-
ples of the Transmission and the Fixing of Audition”), which is new information
compared to the entry in Ibn Bashkuwāl. He received information regarding this
book from one Abū Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allāh; it is likely that this person and
his similarly-named teacher are one and the same person. Thus, his information
on ʿIyāḍ is more detailed than that provided by Ibn Bashkuwāl, probably as result
of his journey to Ceuta – ʿIyāḍ’s native town – where he was taught.
Ibn al-Abbār (d. 658 H/1260 CE), a well-known historian, traditionist, littéra-
teur, and poet from Valencia, also wrote a biography of ʿIyāḍ. After extensive
study under many scholars including a Mālikī jurist, historian, orator and poet
from Murcia, Ibn Sālim al-Kalāʿī (d. 634 H/1237 CE),29 Ibn al-Abbār was employed
as a secretary by the Almohad governors of Valencia. When the city was con-
quered by James I of Aragon (r. 1213–1276) in 1238, Ibn al-Abbār left for Tunis,
where he was appointed to the chief chancellery of the Ḥafṣids, who ruled Ifrīqiya
from 627 H/1229 CE to 982 H/1574 CE.30
Ibn al-Abbār is perhaps most famous as the author of al-Takmila li-kitāb al-
ṣila (“The Supplement of al-Ṣila”), a sequel to Ibn Bashkuwāl’s biographical dic-
tionary al-Ṣila that his teacher, Ibn Sālim al-Kalāʿī, had persuaded him to write.
However, Ibn al-Abbār did not include an entry on ʿIyāḍ in it, because the latter
has a notice in al-Ṣila, as mentioned above. Instead, Ibn al-Abbār recorded ʿIyāḍ

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28 Al-Ḍabbī, Bughyat al-multamis (1997), 11. Regarding the dhayl in the historiography of al-
Andalus, see Farah 1968, 16.
29 Pellat, “al-Kalāʿī”, EI2.
30 Ávila, “Ibn al-Abbār”, EI3. His life was full of ups and downs; finally he was killed in Tunis,
and his corpse, books, poetry, and diplomas all were burned together.
 Communicating a Biography | 151

in another biographical dictionary, one dedicated to the students of the cele-

brated traditionist Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī and entitled al-Muʿjam fī aṣḥāb al-qāḍī al-
imām Abī ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī (“The Dictionary of the Companions of the qāḍī and imām
Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī”).31 The article on ʿIyāḍ includes his family’s origin, his teach-
ers in Córdoba, and details of his meetings with al-Ṣadafī, in addition to the many
works ʿIyāḍ studied under him. There is further information on ʿIyāḍ’s teachers
and his education, along with Ibn al-Abbār’s praise for him, his works, and his
career, as well as the dates of his birth and death, and his poem. The biography
ends with a “ḥadīth musalsal”, which was transmitted via al-Ṣadafī and ʿIyāḍ to
Ibn al-Abbār (the author).32 Ibn al-Abbār would have been well aware of the works
of both ʿIyāḍ and Ibn Bashkuwāl; thus, his detailed information – which is much
longer than that provided by Ibn Bashkuwāl – seems to depend upon ʿIyāḍ’s al-
Ghunya and/or Muḥammad’s al-Taʿrīf, and al-Ṣila, judging from the wording, al-
though Ibn al-Abbār does not mention them directly. Meanwhile, it is noteworthy
that Ibn al-Abbār mentions another work by ʿIyāḍ relating to gharīb al-ḥadīth (a
tradition from only one Companion, or from a single man), known as Mashāriq
al-anwār ʿalā ṣiḥāḥ al-āthār (“The Shining Lights on the Correct Prophetic Tradi-
tions”), along with a poem by Abū ʿAmr b. al-Ṣalāḥ,33 in praise of it. Ibn al-Abbār
also includes a poem by ʿIyāḍ, which is almost identical to those employed in al-
Fatḥ b. Khāqān’s Qalāʾid al-iqyān, but this one was conveyed to Ibn al-Abbār
through ʿIyāḍ’s student Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Zarqūn and the author’s own teacher,
Ibn Sālim al-Kalāʿī.
Incidentally, a number of hagiographies were compiled in the Maghrib
around this time. However, as Halima Ferhat has indicated, none of the hagiog-
raphers, not even Ibn al-Zayyāt al-Tādilī (d. 627 H/1229-30 CE or 628 H/1230-1 CE)
– who would have been most likely to record ʿIyāḍ in his hagiography – mention

||
31 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Muʿjam (2011), 366–370. We have no information about when he finished
this work. Ibn al-Abbār compiled it when he knew that ʿIyāḍ wrote the biographical dictionary
of the teachers of ʿIyāḍ’s teacher al-Ṣadafī. Then, he decided to compile this biographical dic-
tionary of al-Ṣadafī’s students (Ibn al-Abbār, al-Muʿjam [2011], 21).
32 Ḥadīth musalsal is applied when the transmitters in an isnād have a similar situation. For
example, they use the same words, or are of the same type, or come from the same place. See
Robson, “Ḥadīth”, EI2.
33 Abū ʿAmr b. al-Ṣalāḥ, also known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī (d. 643 H/1245 CE), was a
Shāfiʿī jurist and traditionist from a village in the Irbil district (Robson, “Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ”, EI2). Ac-
cording to Ibn al-Abbār’s another work, Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ read this book and use it constantly. Cf. Ibn
al-Abbār, al-Muqtaḍab (1989), 86.
152 | Maiko Noguchi

ʿIyāḍ. Al-Tādilī only mentions the latter’s name when he records a poem by al-
Shāfiʿī (d. 204 H/820 CE) that ʿIyāḍ had conveyed.34
After Ibn al-Abbār, the next writer to provide details about ʿIyāḍ was a poly-
math, historian, and vizier of Naṣrid Granada, Ibn al-Khaṭīb (d. 776 H/1374-5 CE,
probably 1374), in his compendium on that town entitled al-Iḥāṭa fī akhbār
Gharnāṭa (“The All-embracing Work on Reports about Granada”).35 In this work,
Ibn al-Khaṭīb relates the history of Granada and provides around 500 biographies
of various famous people who had some sort of relationship with the town; these
include kings, amīrs, viziers, qāḍīs, ʿulamāʾ, and Ṣūfīs. Compared to earlier ex-
amples, Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s biography of ʿIyāḍ is much more detailed, but his infor-
mation consists almost entirely of citations and extracts from Muḥammad’s al-
Taʿrīf,36 along with a poem conveyed by al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān and others (ghayrhu).
However, Ibn al-Khaṭīb essentially ignored the political events in which ʿIyāḍ had
taken part, unlike Muḥammad, who wrote about them a certain amount of detail.
Subsequently, a qāḍī of Naṣrid Granada from Málaga, Abū al-Ḥasan al-
Bunnāhī (formerly known as al-Nubāhī, d. the end of the 8th/14th century) in-
cluded ʿIyāḍ in his biographical dictionary of the qāḍīs of al-Andalus, al-Marqaba
al-ʿulyā fī man yastaḥiqq al-qaḍāʾ wa-l-fatyā (“The Supreme Watchtower about
Those Who Deserve the Judgeship and Issuing Legal Opinions [Muftiship]”).37 In
his description of ʿIyāḍ, he cites Ibn Bashkuwāl almost verbatim, although he
also conveys the new information that ʿIyāḍ lived in Málaga for a while and had
property there. Al-Bunnāhī states that this information was mentioned by ʿIyāḍ’s
descendant (ḥafīd) in the section which the latter compiled in “the introduction”
(al-taʿrīf) to ʿIyāḍ and his works, information, and sermons.38 This “introduction”
probably refers to al-Taʿrīf by Muḥammad – although technically he was his son
rather than just a descendant – and it is likely that al-Bunnāhī could access this
information because he was from Málaga.
As such, from the above it can be stated that all the various biographies of
ʿIyāḍ that were composed in al-Andalus and the Maghrib were based primarily

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34 Al-Tādilī, al-Tashawwuf (2010), 92–93. See also Ferhat 2014, 123–124.
35 Vidal-Castro, “Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Lisān al-Dīn”, EI3. On ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-
Iḥāṭa (2003), 4: 188–194.
36 On citing Ibn al-Khaṭīb, he said “min kitāb waladihi fī maʾāthirihi, wa-huwa kunnāsh nabīh”
(from his son’s book on his exploits, and it is an outstanding booklet) and “qāla waladuhu fī
taʾlīfihi al-nabīl” (his son said in his noble work). Thus, he was familiar with al-Taʿrīf, although
he did not mention the title. See also Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), lām.
37 Carmona, “al-Nubāhī”, EI2.
38 Al-Bunnāhī, al-Marqaba (1995), 132–133. Muḥammad also mentioned this property;
Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, al-Taʿrīf (2009), 98.
 Communicating a Biography | 153

on three originals: those by Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, Ibn Bashkuwāl, and al-Fatḥ b.

Khāqān.

Tab. 1: Maghribi and Andalusi sources

Author Birthplace Source Reference for the Poem Mention

(year of death) source of
al-Shifāʾ

al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān Jaén or Se- Qalāʾid al-iqyān ʿIyāḍ ○

(529 H/1134 CE) ville (2010), 683–691
Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ Ceuta al-Taʿrīf (2009) ʿIyāḍ and the oth- ○ ○
(575 H/1179-80 CE) ers39
Ibn Bashkuwāl Córdoba al-Ṣila (1989), ʿIyāḍ
(578 H/1183 CE) 2: 660–661
al-Ḍabbī Lorca Bughyat al-multa- His teacher
(599 H/1203 CE) mis (1997), 383–
384
Ibn al-Abbār Valencia al-Muʿjam (2011), Muḥammad b. ○
(658 H/1260 CE) 366–370 ʿIyāḍ? or ʿIyāḍ?
Ibn Bashkuwāl?
Ibn al-Khaṭīb Granada al-Iḥāṭa (2003), Muḥammad b. ○ ○
(776 H/1374-5 CE) 4: 188–194 ʿIyāḍ,
al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān
al-Bunnāhī (end of Málaga al-Marqaba Ibn Bashkuwāl
8th/14th century) (1995), 132–133

3.2 ʿIyāḍ in the Mashriqi sources40

Of the Mashriqi sources that relate the biography of ʿIyāḍ, the earliest is ʿImād al-
Dīn al-Iṣfahānī’s (d. 597 H/1201 CE) Kharīdat al-qaṣr wa-jarīdat al-ʿaṣr (“The
Pearl-like Virgin of the Castle and the Register of the People of the Age”), which
was completed in 573 H/1178 CE.41 ʿImād al-Dīn was a kātib – chancery official

||
39 See also footnote 21.
40 For further information on the sources and authors examined here, see Guo 2010, 448–453.
41 Richter-Bernburg 2014, 29–51. He was known to have received favors from the Zangid ruler
Nūr al-Dīn b. Zangī (r. 541–569 H/1146–1174 CE) and the Ayyūbid sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn b. Ayyūb
(r. 569–589 H/1174–1193 CE).
154 | Maiko Noguchi

and court poet – and historian who originated from Isfahan, and his aforemen-
tioned text is a vast anthology of the works of various 6th/12th-century poets that
was inspired by the prolific author Abū al-Manṣūr al-Thaʿālibī’s (d. 429 H/1038
CE) Yatīmat al-dahr fī maḥāsin ahl al-ʿaṣr (“The Matchless Peal of Time on the
Beautiful Achievements of the People of the Age”). The poets included in
Kharīdat al-qaṣr all lived in the Islamic world. In compiling his list of Maghribi
and Andalusi poets, ʿImād al-Dīn mainly referenced and cited those found in al-
Fatḥ b. Khāqān’s Qalāʾid al-iqyān.42 Such is the case in the entry on ʿIyāḍ, al-
though he made a significant error in both the date and place of ʿIyāḍ’s death,
stating that it was “at Fez in AH 543”.43 ʿImād al-Dīn’s words are almost identical
to those of al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān with changing the order of the text, although he
excludes some letters (rasāʾil) that are found in the entry on ʿIyāḍ in Qalāʾid al-
iqyān. As such, because they were ignored in ʿImād al-Dīn’s source, Qalāʾid al-
iqyān, ʿIyāḍ’s education and subsequent career are also not described in Kharīdat
al-qaṣr. It is worth noting that the anthology of poetry and works was the first text
from the Mashriq to refer to ʿIyāḍ as well as the Islamic West, and that it was com-
posed only thirty years after his death.
After ʿImād al-Dīn, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Qifṭī – also known as
Ibn al-Qifṭī (d. 646 H/1248 CE) – a historian from Qifṭ, in Upper Egypt, included
ʿIyāḍ in Inbāh al-ruwāt ʿalā anbāh al-nuḥāt (“The Awaking of the Transmitters on
the Illustriousness of Grammarians”), a biographical dictionary of members of
the literati.44 Although al-Qifṭī does not detail his sources, the wording indicates
that he employed Ibn Bashkuwāl, albeit with some alterations; for example, he
omits the names of ʿIyāḍ’s teachers, which are mentioned by Ibn Bashkuwāl. He
describes ʿIyāḍ as an ʿālim who gathered many ḥadīths and a qāḍī, in addition to
recording ʿIyāḍ’s works, such as Sharḥ khabar Umm Zarʿ (“Commentary on Tra-
dition of Umm Zarʿ”), Mashāriq al-anwār, and Tamām al-muʿlim fī sharḥ kitāb

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42 ʿImād al-Dīn, Kharīdat al-qaṣr (1966–72), 1: kāfbāʾ.
43 ʿImād al-Dīn, Kharīdat al-qaṣr (1966–72), 3: 501–505.
44 Dietrich, “Ibn al-Ḳifṭī”, EI2. His father was a deputy to the chancellor (al-qāḍī al-fāḍil) of Ṣalāḥ
al-Dīn. Al-Qifṭī himself was in charge of the dīwān of the finances of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s son, al-Malik
al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī (r. 589–613 H/1193–1216 CE) and of his successor, and then finally appointed vi-
zier. According to the editor of Inbāh al-ruwāt, although there is no information about the begin-
ning or completion of writing, the work must have been started by 626 H/1228-9 CE and the copy
of this edition finished in 638 H/1240-1 CE. See al-Qifṭī, Inbāh al-ruwāt (1986), 1: 27. On ʿIyāḍ’s
biography, see al-Qifṭī, Inbāh al-ruwāt (1986), 2: 363–364.
 Communicating a Biography | 155

Muslim (“Completeness of The Teacher. Commentary on the Book by Muslim”).45

As such, al-Qifṭī’s work can be considered as the first of the Mashriqi sources to
contain a “proper” biography of ʿIyāḍ.
The next text to refer to ʿIyāḍ was al-Nawawī’s biographical dictionary of fa-
mous men.46 Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī (d. 676 H/1277 CE) was a Shāfiʿī jurist from
Nawā, south of Damascus, and in his Tahdhīb al-asmāʾ wa-l-lughāt (“An Account
of Names and the Languages”) the description of ʿIyāḍ copies that of Ibn Bash-
kuwāl almost verbatim and openly states it was the source. Although neither he
nor al-Qifṭī mention ʿIyāḍ’s teachers, he does say that ʿIyāḍ was highly skilled in
ḥadīth scholarship, jurisprudence, and Arabic. Before compiling his biographical
dictionary, al-Nawawī had compiled a work on the positive laws (furūʿ al-fiqh) of
the Shāfiʿī school, entitled Rawḍat al-ṭālibīn wa-ʿumdat al-muftīn (“Students’ Gar-
den and Muftis’ Support”), and he referred to ʿIyāḍ’s al-Shifāʾ in the “Kitāb al-
ridda” (“The Book of Apostasy”) of Rawḍat al-ṭālibīn.47 Thus, it is clear that al-
Shifāʾ, the most well-known of all ʿIyāḍ’s works, must have been brought to the
Mashriq before 669 H/1270 CE – that is, the date when al-Nawawī was said to be
finished compiling his work – even though he did not mention any of ʿIyāḍ’s
works in his biography.
The next text to relate the life of ʿIyāḍ was Ibn Khallikān’s (d. 681 H/1282 CE)
famous biographical dictionary Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-anbāʾ abnāʾ al-zamān (“Bi-
ographies of Deceased Notable People and History of the Sons of the Epoch”).48
He compiled this dictionary in 672 H/1273-4 CE, and it contains details of ʿIyāḍ’s
names, education, and works, a partial citation from Ibn Bashkuwāl – although
it omits his teachers’ names – some poems, an outline of a description from Ibn
al-Abbār, dates of his birth and death, and an explanation of proper nouns in-
cluded in this biography. He mentions ʿIyāḍ’s works, including Ikmāl al-muʿlim,

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45 Sharḥ khabar and Tamām al-muʿlim refer to ʿIyāḍ’s Bughyat al-rāʾid li-mā fī ḥadīth Umm Zarʿ
and Ikmāl al-muʿlim fī sharḥ Muslim respectively. For his works and their outlines, see Serrano
Ruano 2009, 417–433.
46 Heffening, “al-Nawawī”, EI2. On ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see al-Nawawī, Tahdhīb al-asmāʾ (n.d.),
sec. 1, part 2, 43–44.
47 Al-Nawawī, Rawḍat al-ṭālibīn (1985), 10: 70. On the date of compilation of this work, see al-
Nawawī, Rawḍat al-ṭālibīn (1985), 12: 316.
48 Ibn Khallikān was from Irbil, in Iraq, and after studying in Aleppo and Damascus he was
appointed as deputy to the chief qāḍī (qāḍī al-quḍāt) of Egypt. After that, he himself was ap-
pointed chief qāḍī of Damascus by two Mamlūk sultans, Baybars I (r. 658–676 H/1260–1277 CE)
and Qalāwūn (r. 678–689 H/1279–1290 CE). See Wedel, “Ibn al-Khallikān”, EI3. For ʿIyāḍ’s biog-
raphy, see Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1977–78), 3: 483–485.
156 | Maiko Noguchi

Mashāriq al-anwār, and al-Tanbīhāt (“The Admonition”),49 along with his poems
that were conveyed by his son and ʿImād al-Dīn and which had not been cited by
the Mashriqi biographers previously (with the exception of ʿImād al-Dīn, of
course). Moreover, Ibn Khallikān states that ʿIyāḍ composed “good poetry” (shiʿr
ḥasan), a statement that had never, as far as we know, been made before. The
description of ʿIyāḍ by Ibn Khallikān was synthetic, as the previously separate
components – the biographical description from Ibn Bashkuwāl and the poems
from the anthologies and the monograph – were combined.
Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī (d. 748 H/1348 CE) – a widely respected historian,
ḥadīth expert, and biographer from early Mamlūk Damascus – added to these de-
scriptions.50 Al-Dhahabī mentioned ʿIyāḍ in a number of his works, such as
Tārīkh al-islām wa-wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa-l-aʿlām (“The History of Islam and
Deaths of the Famous People and Signs”) and its abridgements, Tadhkirat al-
ḥuffāẓ (“Memorial of the Qurʾān Masters”) and Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ (“The Lives
of Noble Figures”), and others.51 His information on ʿIyāḍ, in which he cites Ibn
Bashkuwāl, Ibn Khallikān, and Ibn Ḥamāda al-Sabtī, among others, is much
more detailed than the preceding biographies, although some of the sources he
employed are not named. Even so, the information he cites from Ibn Ḥamāda,
who is believed to have been a student of ʿIyāḍ in Ceuta, is very important be-
cause we have hardly any information from Ibn Ḥamāda, not even from the Ma-
ghribi nor Andalusi sources, nor personal information about him.52 Al-Dhahabī
also gives the names of ʿIyāḍ’s five students; this information is the most detailed
of all his biographies.53 Furthermore, because al-Dhahabī is fulsome in his praise
of al-Shifāʾ, calling it ʿIyāḍ’s most significant and illustrious work, it is very likely
that it was widely circulated and highly regarded in the Mashriq at that time. With
al-Dhahabī’s work, what may be termed the “Mashriqi biography” of ʿIyāḍ may

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49 The full title of al-Tanbīhāt is al-Tanbīhāt al-mustanbiṭa ʿalā kutub al-Mudawwana wa-l-
Mukhtaliṭa (“Discovered admonitions on books of al-Mudawwana and al-Mukhtaliṭa”). Accord-
ing to the footnote, another manuscript of Wafayāt al-aʿyān adds al-Shifāʾ to these titles, al-
though it was omitted in this edition. See Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1977–78), 3: 483, n. 3.
50 Bori, “al-Dhahabī”, EI3.
51 Al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-islām (1994–2000), 37: 198–201; al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ
(1956–58), 2: 1304–1307; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1982–88), 20: 212–218. For others, see al-Dhahabī,
Tārīkh al-islām (1994–2000), 37: 198, n. 4.
52 He was known as Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Ḥamāda al-Sabtī (c. the first half of the 6th/12th cen-
tury), who wrote a mukhtaṣar (compendium) of ʿIyāḍ’s biographical dictionary, Tartīb al-
madārik. This work has been published partially as an appendix at the end of the Mohammedia
edition of Tartīb al-madārik. On Ibn Ḥamāda, see “Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥamāda” (anonymous).
53 Al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-islām (1994–2000), 37: 201; al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ (1956–58),
2: 1306; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1982–88), 20: 216.
 Communicating a Biography | 157

be considered essentially cemented from around the middle of the 8th/14th cen-
tury.
Two other scholars who wrote ʿIyāḍ’s biography are Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī
(d. 749 H/1349 CE) and Khalīl b. Aybak al-Ṣafadī (d. 764 H/1363 CE). Ibn Faḍl
Allāh al-ʿUmarī, a famous author and administrator for the Mamlūk state from
Damascus, included ʿIyāḍ in his encyclopedic work Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik
al-amṣār (“Routes toward Insight into the Capital Empires”).54 He describes ʿIyāḍ
and praises him, possibly because he had a high opinion of ʿIyāḍ as the author of
al-Shifāʾ. Al-ʿUmarī devoted a paragraph to a description of that book, in addition
to recording the personality and biography of ʿIyāḍ, including citations from the
descriptions of al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān, Ibn Bashkuwāl, and ʿImād al-Dīn. On the other
hand, al-Ṣafadī – a philologist, littérateur, biographer from Ṣafad who was
friends with al-ʿUmarī – included ʿIyāḍ in his huge biographical dictionary al-
Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt (“Complete Collection of Biographies of the Deceased”). Within
it are recorded ʿIyāḍ’s dates of birth and death, his career as a qāḍī in Ceuta and
Granada – this description seems to depend upon that of Ibn Bashkuwāl – a
poem in praise of ʿIyāḍ by the jurist Abū al-Ḥasan b. Hārūn al-Mālaqī, a list of his
works, and his poetry.55 What is particularly significant is that al-Ṣafadī wrote
that he studied al-Shifāʾ under his teacher Ibn Sayyid al-Nās (d. 734 H/1334 CE) in
Cairo in Ramaḍān 729 (June-July 1329). Moreover, he lists the transmitters of this
book (isnād), going back to ʿIyāḍ himself, which demonstrates the work’s dissem-
ination.56

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54 Salibi, “Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī”, EI2. On ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār
(2010), part 5 in vol. 3: 349–352.
55 Rosenthal, “al-Ṣafadī”, EI2. On ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (2008–10), 23: 428–
431. On Ibn Hārūn al-Mālaqī, see Ibn ʿAskar/Ibn Khamīs, Aʿlām Mālaqa (1999), 307–309.
56 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (2008–10), 23: 430–431. According to al-Ṣafadī’s isnād, Ibn Sayyid al-Nās
reported it from Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan (or al-Ḥusayn) b. ʿAtīq b. Rashīq in Cairo
in 677 H/1278-9 CE, and the latter reported it from Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. Jubayr who
reported it from Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-Tamīmī. Ibn Sayyid al-Nās was a biog-
rapher of the Prophet, traditionist, Shāfiʿī jurisprudent from Cairo, although he was descended
from a distinguished scholarly family in Seville (Pavlovitch, “Ibn Sayyid al-Nās”, EI3). Ibn Rashīq
(d. 680 H/1281-2 CE) was known as ʿIlm al-Dīn, a Mālikī qāḍī of Alexandria (Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj
[2005], 2: 255–256; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī [2008–10], 3: 16). Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Jubayr is probably the
famous Andalusi traveler and writer Ibn Jubayr (d. 614 H/1217 CE), although correctly, his kunya
is not Abū ʿAbd Allāh, but Abū al-Ḥusayn. According to Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Ibn Rashīq reported
it from Ibn Jubayr in 609 H/1212-3 CE (Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, ʿUyūn al-athar [1993], 2: 417). Further-
more, Ibn Jubayr’s teacher, Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā, is a grandson of aforementioned ʿIyāḍ’s teacher
Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā (Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila [2011], 2: 303, 379).
158 | Maiko Noguchi

In that period, various historians – such as Abū al-Fidāʾ (d. 732 H /1331 CE),
Ibn al-Wardī (d. 749 H/1349 CE), al-Yāfiʿī (d. 768 H/1367 CE), and Ibn Kathīr (d.
774 H/1373 CE) – also included ʿIyāḍ in the obituaries contained within their
chronicles.57 Although they add nothing new, it must be pointed out that they
tend to describe ʿIyāḍ as a traditionist and man of letters who composed good
poetry. Moreover, three of the historians mention the following works by ʿIyāḍ:
Mashāriq al-anwār, Ikmāl al-muʿlim, and al-Shifāʾ. The fourth, Abū al-Fidāʾ, only
mentions Mashāriq al-anwār and Ikmāl al-muʿlim.
The final writer to be examined is Ibn Farḥūn (d. 799 H/1397 CE), who also
compiled a biographical dictionary.58 He was from an Arab family that traced its
origins to the Quraysh and which had settled in al-Andalus but later returned to
Medina, via Tunisia. His al-Dībāj al-mudhahhab fī maʿrifat aʿyān ʿulamāʾ al-madh-
hab (“The Gilded Brocade about Knowledge of Notable ʿulamāʾ of the [Mālikī]

||
57 Abū al-Fidāʾ was a prince of Ayyūbids of Ḥamā, historian, geographer. His universal history,
al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar (“The Concise History of Humanity”), covers the pre-Islamic
period up to 729 H/1329 CE (Talmon-Heller, “Abū l-Fidāʾ”, EI3). He wrote about ʿIyāḍ’s name,
birth, qualities as an ʿālim such as imām, ḥāfiẓ, and faqīh, etc., and his works Ikmāl al-muʿlim
(although he mistakenly refers to it as al-Ijmāl, something that could have been a mistake by a
copyist) and Mashāriq al-anwār (Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar [1998–99], 3: 32). Zayn al-Dīn Ibn al-
Wardī was a Shāfiʿī jurist, philologist, man of letters, historian and poet from Maʿarrat al-
Nuʿmān. His work, Tatimmat al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar (“Completion of the Concise His-
tory of Humanity”), was also known as Tārīkh Ibn al-Wardī (“The History of Ibn al-Wardī”) (Ben
Cheneb, “Ibn al-Wardī”, EI2). In this work, Ibn al-Wardī abridged the above-mentioned chronicle
of Abū al-Fidāʾ and continued it from 729 H/1329 CE to 749 H/1349 CE. Subsequently, his infor-
mation about ʿIyāḍ almost copies that of Abū al-Fidāʾ. He also mentions the latter’s career as
qāḍī of Ceuta and Granada, and his poem (Ibn al-Wardī, Tārīkh [1969], 2: 71). Al-Yāfiʿī was an
intellectual and a Ṣūfī from Yemen. He composed a historical book, Mirʾāt al-jinān wa-ʿibrat al-
yaqẓān fī maʿrifat mā yuʿtabar min ḥawādith al-zamān (“Mirrors of the Soul and the Observant
One’s Tears about Knowledge of What is Learned from the Events of the Time”), drawn from Ibn
al-Athīr (d. 630 H/1233 CE), Ibn Khallikān, and al-Dhahabī (Geoffroy, “al-Yāfiʿī”, EI2). He rec-
orded ʿIyāḍ as one of the most distinguished ḥuffāẓ and wrote about his teachers, his career as
qāḍī of Ceuta and Granada, his works, and his qualities as an ʿālim. He finished the description
of ʿIyāḍ by citing one of his poems (al-Yāfiʿī, Mirʾāt al-jinān [1970], 3: 282–283). Finally, Ibn
Kathīr, one of the best-known historians and traditionists of the Bahri dynasty in Syria, includes
ʿIyāḍ in his great history of Islam, al-Bidāya wa-l-nihāya (“The Beginning and the End”) (Mirza,
“Ibn Kathīr”, EI3). Ibn Kathīr describes ʿIyāḍ as a qāḍī and faqīh, mentions ʿIyāḍ’s works and
states “he composed good poetry”, although he does not cite any poems specifically (Ibn Kathīr,
al-Bidāya [1966], 12: 225).
58 After studying in Medina, Ibn Farḥūn travelled to Egypt and Syria, before being appointed a
Mālikī qāḍī in Medina. See Fadel, “Ibn Farḥūn”, EI3. Cf. Aḥmad Bābā, Nayl al-ibtihāj (2004), 1:
15–17. For ʿIyāḍ’s biography, see Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (2005), 2: 36–41.
 Communicating a Biography | 159

School”) is a biographical dictionary of Mālikī jurists, containing around 630 en-

tries, that was inspired by Tartīb al-madārik, a similar dictionary written by ʿIyāḍ
himself.59 Ibn Farḥūn also studied al-Shifāʾ, under al-Zubayr b. ʿAlī al-Uswānī (d.
748 H/1347 CE), a Qurʾān reciter.60 Thus, his description of ʿIyāḍ is comparatively
long. In order to produce ʿIyāḍ’s biography, he gathered all the descriptions
found in the various relevant Andalusi and Maghribi sources, and probably the
Mashriqi ones as well. While he often used his own words – that is, he did not
literally copy the preceding biographer’s wording – his account is heavily de-
pendent on Ibn Bashkuwāl and Ibn al-Khaṭīb, in particular. Thus, Ibn Farḥūn has
known Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s text al-Iḥāṭa, which was compiled around the same time,
and used it for his description.61

Tab. 2: Mashriqi sources

Author Birthplace Source Reference for the Poem Mention of

(year of death) source al-Shifāʾ

ʿImād al-Dīn al- Isfahan Kharīdat al-qaṣr al-Fatḥ b. ○

Iṣfahānī (1966–72), 3: Khāqān
(597 H/1201 CE) 501–505

al-Qifṭī Qifṭ (Upper Inbāh al-ruwāt Ibn Bashkuwāl?

(646 H/1248 CE) Egypt) (1986), 2: 363–
364

al-Nawawī Nawā Tahdhīb al-asmāʾ Ibn Bashkuwāl (○)

(676 H/1277 CE) (Damascus) (n.d.), sec. 1, part
2, 43–44

||
59 Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (2005), 1: 21–23.
60 Aḥmad Bābā, Nayl al-ibtihāj (2004), 1: 16. Cf. Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (2005), 1: 7.
61 According to the introduction to al-Iḥāṭa by the editor, Ibn al-Khaṭīb took time to compile his
work. It is thought that he started to gather information in 761 H/1358-9 CE, before his exile to
the Maghrib, resumed it after his return in 763 H/1362 CE, and continued to add to and revise it.
It seems that he finished it in 772 H/1370-1 CE, that is, before crossing over to the Maghrib for the
second time. See Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (2003), 1: 4. Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqqarī saw part of a copy
of this book in Cairo; according to him, this copy was donated to a khānqā as a waqf on 22 Muḥar-
ram 768 (28 September 1366). It is thought that the book was introduced to Cairo around this
time (al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb [2012], 7: 102–108). Meanwhile, Ibn Farḥūn noted the day of the
compilation of this dictionary in Shaʿbān 761 (June-July 1360) (Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj [2005], 2:
302); it precedes Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s. Thus, it is reasonable to think that Ibn Farḥūn also took time to
compile his work and consulted to a just-completed description by Ibn al-Khaṭīb.
160 | Maiko Noguchi

Author Birthplace Source Reference for the Poem Mention of

(year of death) source al-Shifāʾ

Ibn Khallikān Irbil (No. Iraq) Wafayāt al-aʿyān Ibn Bashkuwāl, ○

(681 H/1282 CE) (1977–78), 3: Muḥammad b.
483–485 ʿIyāḍ,
ʿImād al-Dīn al-
Iṣfahānī,
Ibn al-Abbār

al-Dhahabī Damascus Tārīkh al-islām Ibn Bashkuwāl, ○ ○

(748 H/1348 CE) (1994–2000), 37: Ibn Ḥamāda,
198–201; Ibn Khallikān,
Tadhkirat al- Muḥammad b.
ḥuffāẓ (1956–58), ʿIyāḍ
2: 1304–1307;
Siyar (1982–88),
20: 212–218

al-ʿUmarī Damascus Masālik al-abṣār al-Fatḥ b. ○ ○

(749 H/1349 CE) (2010), part 5 in Khāqān,
vol. 3: 349–352 Ibn Bashkuwāl,
ʿImād al-Dīn al-
Iṣfahānī

al-Ṣafadī Ṣafad (No. al-Wāfī (2008– Ibn Bashkuwāl?, ○ ○

(764 H/1363 CE) Palestine) 10), 23: 428–431 his teacher

Abū al-Fidāʾ Damascus al-Mukhtaṣar

(732 H/1331 CE) (1998–99), 3: 32

Ibn al-Wardī Maʿarrat al- Tārīkh (1969), 2: ○ ○

(749 H/1349 CE) Nuʿmān (W. 71
Syria )

al-Yāfiʿī Yemen Mirʾāt al-jinān ○ ○

(768 H/1367 CE) (1970), 3: 282–
283

Ibn Kathīr Bosra (So. al-Bidāya (1966), ○

(774 H/1373 CE) Iraq) 12: 225
 Communicating a Biography | 161

Author Birthplace Source Reference for the Poem Mention of

(year of death) source al-Shifāʾ

Ibn Farḥūn Medina al-Dībāj (2005), 2: Muḥammad b. ○ ○

(799 H/1397 CE) 36–41 ʿIyāḍ,
Ibn Bashkuwāl,
Ibn al-Khaṭīb,
Ibn Khallikān
or/and al-Dha-
habī?

4 The communication of biographical

information: A comparison of the Maghribi-
Andalusi and Mashriqi sources
I would now like to summarize how biographical information on ʿIyāḍ was com-
municated within and between the regions. As mentioned, ʿIyāḍ never undertook
a riḥla to the Mashriq nor went on the ḥajj, and there is little evidence that he had
any Mashriqi students; consequently, it could be expected that he would have
had little intellectual influence in the Mashriq at that time. Nevertheless, a num-
ber of biographies of ʿIyāḍ were compiled in the Mashriq quite soon after his
death, the result of writers believing that his biography was worthy of inclusion
in their dictionaries. Yet, which points about his life did they wish to emphasize?
To elucidate the main features of their descriptions of ʿIyāḍ, I will highlight two
main points: the first is concerned with his poems, or ability as a man of letters,
while the second is their focus on his written works, especially al-Shifāʾ.
The most oft-employed description of ʿIyāḍ was that by Ibn Bashkuwāl,
something that was common to both the Maghribi and the Mashriqi biographies.
It is perhaps natural that the brief and clear biography written by Ibn Bashkuwāl,
a student of ʿIyāḍ, became widely utilized. On the other hand, despite ʿIyāḍ’s po-
etry also being often referenced, it is cited primarily by biographers from the
Mashriq, in stark contrast with those from the Maghrib who mostly ignored it. As
stated above, the first source to contain ʿIyāḍ’s poems in the West was al-Fatḥ b.
Khāqān’s anthology Qalāʾid al-iqyān and the first of the Mashriqi sources was also
the anthology, Kharīdat al-qaṣr, by ʿImād al-Dīn, in which all the poems found in
Qalāʾid al-iqyān are included. Moreover, it appears that this situation came about
primarily through citations in Ibn Khallikān’s famous biographical dictionary,
162 | Maiko Noguchi

where the flattering phase “[he composed] good poetry” is to be found.62 As far as
Ibn Khallikān is concerned, his information about ʿIyāḍ’s son Muḥammad – that
he was the “qāḍī of Dénia” – probably came from Ibn Diḥya’s (d. 633 H/1235 CE)
anthology al-Muṭrib min ashʿār ahl al-Maghrib (“The Delightfulness from the Po-
etry of the People of the Maghrib”) rather than from Qalāʾid al-iqyān or Kharīdat
al-qaṣr, though he did not mention the former.63 Ibn Khallikān may have consid-
ered ʿIyāḍ to be a good poet not only because of the quality of the poetry itself but
also because it was frequently cited by famous anthologists.64 Subsequent bio-
graphical sketches also quote the same poem(s), and this resulted in repeated
emphasis being placed on ʿIyāḍ’s ability to compose good poetry or as a man of
letters in the Mashriq. While in the Maghrib and al-Andalus, ʿIyāḍ’s son
Muḥammad, Ibn al-Abbār, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb all made use of his poetry, it never
became part of his biographical tradition, where he was instead described pri-
marily as a traditionist and jurist.
Secondly, as far as the sources – that were examined in this paper – are con-
cerned, knowledge and appreciation of ʿIyāḍ’s most famous work, al-Shifāʾ, can
be attested earlier in the Mashriq than in the Maghrib and al-Andalus. At the time
of al-Nawawī – that is, around 669 H/1270 CE – this text was already in circula-
tion, and it was to become even more highly regarded around the time of al-Dha-
habī, that is, the middle of the 8th/14th century. Moreover, Ibn Farḥūn stated that
“copies of this work spread eastward and westward” (ṭārat nusakhuhu sharqan
wa-gharban), while, more than 150 years later, one of the most prolific Cairene
writers of the Middle Ages, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 H/1505 CE), wrote ab-
stracts of the ḥadīths contained within al-Shifāʾ, in a work entitled Manāhil al-
ṣafāʾ fī takhrīj aḥādīth al-shifāʾ (“The Pure Fountain about Extract of Ḥadīths from
al-Shifāʾ”).65
As such, was al-Shifāʾ ignored in the Maghrib and al-Andalus? The answer is,
of course, no. While the evidence in the biographical dictionaries is scarce – with

||
62 Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1977–78), 3: 484.
63 Ibn Diḥya al-Kalbī was a poet, philologist, and traditionist, probably from Valencia. He trav-
eled within al-Andalus, and to the Maghrib, North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Persia. After his
return to Egypt, he enjoyed the Ayyūbid ruler’s favor. His celebrated work, al-Muṭrib, is a vast
anthology of the poets of the Islamic West, which was compiled in Egypt and dedicated to his
royal patron, al-Malik al-Kāmil (r. 615–635 H/1218–1238 CE). Thus, it is likely that Ibn Khallikān
had access to this work. See Granja, “Ibn Diḥya”, EI2. On ʿIyāḍ’s poetry, which was conveyed by
his son, see Ibn Diḥya, al-Muṭrib (1955), 87.
64 Hermosilla refers to one of his poems cited by Ibn Khallikān and highlights that it shows
ʿIyāḍ’s talent in belles-lettres (Hermosilla 1978–79, 161).
65 Serrano Ruano 2009, 426.
 Communicating a Biography | 163

the exception of those by Muḥammad and Ibn al-Khaṭīb –, in order to get a better
understanding of the situation it will be useful to shift focus from the topic of
biography to that of the veneration of the Prophet Muḥammad. In the Islamic
West, the veneration of the Prophet Muḥammad as an ideal figure had been
steadily increasing from the 6th/12th century.66 The origin of this veneration is
attributable to Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī, who played a significant role in the develop-
ment of this movement, as he brought from the East a collection of ḥadīths, al-
Tirmidhī’s (d. 279 H/892 CE) al-Shamāʾil al-Muḥammadiyya (“The Appearance of
Muḥammad”), and taught it to his many students.67
ʿIyāḍ was taught this work by al-Ṣadafī directly,68 and so his al-Shifāʾ, based
as it is upon the sciences of ḥadīth, can be seen as a product of this movement.
Moreover, Ibn Bashkuwāl who was a student not only of ʿIyāḍ but also of al-Ṣa-
dafī, also wrote a similar work, entitled Kitāb al-Qurba ilā Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn (“The
Approach to Lord of Worlds”), and it has been pointed out that this closely re-
sembles part of al-Shifāʾ.69 Therefore, the influence of al-Shifāʾ can be confirmed
in the movement of the veneration of the Prophet Muḥammad immediately after
his compilation. This tradition of composing works venerating the Prophet was
continued by Ibn Diḥya. On the other hand, as Muḥammad al-Hāṭī has shown, a
large number of commentaries (sharḥ) on al-Shifāʾ were produced in the Maghrib
and al-Andalus, the first of which was composed by a Qurʾānic exegete from Mar-
rakesh, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ḥarrālī (d. 637 H/1239-40 CE or 638 H/1240-1 CE).70 Thus,
al-Shifāʾ was widely read by the people of the Maghrib and al-Andalus, including
Ṣūfīs.71 However, it is rather odd that al-Bunnāhī, the biographer of ʿIyāḍ, makes
no mention of this work even though, according to the later biographer Aḥmad
Bābā (d. 1036 H/1627 CE), he studied it.72 Furthermore, the well-known Maghribi
biographer Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī (d. 1025 H/1616 CE) is silent about al-Shifāʾ.73

||
66 Sato 2005, 28–33; Sato 2006, 7.
67 We can understand this situation from many descriptions in Ibn al-Abbār’s Muʿjam.
68 ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1979), 196.
69 Sato 2005, 28–33.
70 Al-Hāṭī 2015. On al-Ḥarralī, see Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (2011), 3: 415; al-Dhahabī, Siyar
(1982–88), 23: 47.
71 Sato 2005, 29–30.
72 Aḥmad Bābā, Nayl al-ibtihāj (2004), 1: 370–371.
73 Ibn al-Qāḍī barely conveys that a famous khaṭīb from Tlemcen, Ibn Marzūq (d. 781 H/1379
CE) wrote an unfinished commentary on al-Shifāʾ, although the former does not mention the
author’s name of this book (Ibn al-Qāḍī, Jadhwat al-iqtibās [1973–74], 1: 227).
164 | Maiko Noguchi

Fig. 1: Communication of biographical information

5 Conclusion
Biographies of ʿIyāḍ started to be written soon after his death and continued to
be composed for centuries after, not only in the Maghrib and al-Andalus but also
in the Mashriq. Significantly, the biographies of ʿIyāḍ written in the Maghrib and
al-Andalus are no more detailed than those compiled in the Mashriq. Moreover,
the Mashriqi authors took advantage of these biographies soon after they were
written. The descriptions of ʿIyāḍ reflect the biographer’s interests and the ap-
proach to historical compilation followed in each region.
Generally, it seems possible to construct a plausible figure of an ʿālim such
as ʿIyāḍ through examining and comparing two or more biographies but, at the
same time, it is important to consider how and why the information regarding
that figure was conveyed. This is because the way in which information is con-
veyed differs according to the values and ideas of both the individual biographers
and the society in which it was composed. The extent to which this one case-study
of ʿIyāḍ reflects a wider trend is a question that can only be answered via further,
future studies.
 Communicating a Biography | 165

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|
Part III: Maghribi Success in the East
Camilla Adang
A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ
bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn and Its Reception in the
Mashriq

Wa-li-Abī ʿAbd Allāh hādhā

kitābun ḥasanun jamaʿa fīhi
bayn Ṣaḥīḥay al-Bukhārī wa-Muslim
akhadhahu al-nāsu ʿanhu
—Ibn Bashkuwāl, al-Ṣila1

1 Introduction
Almost anyone who has worked on the history of al-Andalus, whether political,
intellectual or religious, will have had occasion to consult the work entitled Jadh-
wat al-muqtabis by al-Ḥumaydī (d. 488 H/1095 CE), which is one of the main
sources for the period prior to the rise of the Party-Kings (mulūk al-ṭawāʾif). This
work, a biographical dictionary, contains 988 entries mainly on ḥadīth experts,
judges and other legal scholars, poets and literary figures who either were native
to al-Andalus or settled there.2 The biographies are preceded by a brief survey of
the political history of al-Andalus, starting with the conquest by Ṭāriq b. Ziyād in
92 H/711 CE and ending with the last of the Ḥammūdid rulers in the author’s own
days. What distinguishes this work from similar ones, such as Ibn al-Faraḍī’s (d.
403 H/1013 CE) Tārīkh ʿulamāʾ al-Andalus, Ibn Bashkuwāl’s (d. 578 H/1183 CE)
Kitāb al-Ṣila and Ibn al-Abbār’s (d. 658 H/1260 CE) al-Takmila li-Kitāb al-Ṣila, is

||
1 Ibn Bashkuwāl, al-Ṣila (2019), 2: 193.
2 There are several editions; the most recent one is by Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf and Maḥmūd
Bashshār ʿAwwād.
||
Note: This study was prepared in the framework of the project Local contexts and global dy-
namics: al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE), fi-
nanced by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. The final version was
completed during a sabbatical semester at the Dipartimento di Studi sull’Asia e sull’Africa
Mediterranea, Università Ca' Foscari, Venice (April-October 2019). I thank Hassan Ansari, Mari-
bel Fierro, Livnat Holtzman, Mayte Penelas and Sabine Schmidtke for their valuable comments
and/or bibliographical references.

Open Access. © 2021 Camilla Adang, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-007
172 | Camilla Adang

that it was composed not in al-Andalus but in al-Ḥumaydī’s chosen domicile

Baghdad, at the request of one of his patrons there, who remains unnamed.
Whereas in al-Andalus itself the author was remembered mainly for this work
– as well as for his close connections with his teacher Ibn Ḥazm of Córdoba – the
situation in the East was completely different. While Jadhwat al-muqtabis was of
course known there, and would be used by important authors such as Yāqūt al-
Ḥamawī (d. 626 H/1229 CE), al-Dhahabī (d. 748 H/1348 CE) and al-Suyūṭī (d.
911 H/1505 CE),3 scholarly attention focused on another work of al-Ḥumaydī’s,
which garnered both praise and criticism: al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, a volumi-
nous work in which the author rearranges the traditions found in the two author-
itative ḥadīth collections (Ṣaḥīḥ) of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. In what follows, I
shall first provide some basic biographical information on the author, then de-
scribe the aims, sources and structure of al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, and finally
examine its reception among eminent ḥadīth scholars in the Mashriq and Egypt
as well as the lines of transmission that link these scholars to al-Ḥumaydī, to the
extent that these can be traced. In the Appendix a sample from the work is pre-
sented in translation. We shall see that this work by a scholar from Majorca who
was generally praised for his asceticism and modesty was to have a major impact
on ḥadīth scholarship east of the author’s country of origin.

2 The author: al-Ḥumaydī

The full name of the author is Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Abī Naṣr Futūḥ b.
ʿAbd Allāh b. Futūḥ b. Ḥumayd b. Yaṣil al-Azdī al-Ḥumaydī.4 His family, which
was of Arab descent, hailed from a suburb of Córdoba, but at some point his fa-
ther moved to the isle of Majorca, where al-Ḥumaydī was born before 420 H/
1029 CE. When still a child he was taken to attend lectures on ḥadīth and fiqh,
sitting on the shoulders of older students. At a more mature age he started stud-
ying with the controversial Ẓāhirī scholar Abū Muḥammad Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/
1064 CE), who lived for ten years in Majorca where he was given free rein to
spread the teachings that were unpalatable to the Mālikī religious establishment.5
Al-Ḥumaydī soon became known as one of Ibn Ḥazm’s most loyal disciples, and

||
3 Al-Najamī 1433/2012, 1: 442–566 lists the authors who made use of Jadhwat al-muqtabis and
discusses the extent to which they did.
4 On al-Ḥumaydī, see Huici Miranda, updated in Roselló Bordoy 2002; Roselló Bordoy/Har-
emska 2012; al-Najamī 1433/2012; Adang 2005, 313–317, with references to the primary sources.
5 On the life and works of Ibn Ḥazm, see Adang/Fierro/Schmidtke 2013.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 173

as a result he is usually regarded as a Ẓāhirī himself. When in 440 H/1048 CE Ibn

Ḥazm left the island under a cloud, his young student joined him in Almería and
thereafter may have accompanied him to Seville. In the Andalusi mainland al-
Ḥumaydī also studied with Abū ʿUmar Yūsuf b. ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463 H/1070 CE),
one of the foremost experts in ḥadīth of all times, as well as with several other
scholars such as Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-ʿUdhrī (d. 478 H/1085 CE) and Abū
Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik al-Khawlānī (d. ca. 440 H/1048 CE). In 448 H/1056 CE he
left the Peninsula for the East to continue his studies. He was by then well
equipped with knowledge of ḥadīth, its transmitters and its methodology,
knowledge he further expanded during the sessions he attended in Kairouan,
Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, Wasit, Medina and Mecca. Although undertaking
such a journey in search of knowledge (riḥla), combined with the pilgrimage to
Mecca, was a natural thing to do for a scholar who had the means and the oppor-
tunity, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE) suggests that the timing of al-Ḥumaydī’s
departure had to do with Ibn Ḥazm’s fall from grace, which also affected his par-
tisans.6 Once al-Ḥumaydī had passed through North Africa and arrived in Egypt,
he encountered a much more varied cultural, intellectual and religious landscape
than the one he had known in al-Andalus and the Maghrib, areas that were
largely dominated by the Mālikī school and where, apart from a small number of
Shāfiʿīs and even fewer Ḥanafīs, the only non-Mālikīs were a few men who iden-
tified with the Ẓāhiriyya. Studying ḥadīth in Egypt, Syria, the Hejaz and Iraq al-
Ḥumaydī was rubbing shoulders with members of all the Sunnī madhāhib, al-
though most of his contacts seem to have been with Shāfiʿī scholars, teachers and
peers alike. Among them, mention should be made of Abū Naṣr b. Mākūlā (d.
475 H/1082 CE), author of a work on names of muḥaddithūn with a similar and
potentially confusing orthography, whom he got to know in Egypt and who was
to become one of his patrons in Baghdad, where he ultimately decided to settle.7
Al-Ḥumaydī’s most influential teacher in Damascus was al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī
(d. 463 H/1071 CE), the historian and ḥadīth scholar, with whom he stayed in
touch also in the ʿAbbāsid capital.8 The biographical dictionaries and al-
Ḥumaydī’s own works supply the names of the many scholars with whom he
studied before and after his departure from al-Andalus.9 In the postscript to his

||
6 As reported by al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 19: 125–126.
7 Vadet, “Ibn Mākūlā”, EI2.
8 See on him Sellheim, “al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī”, EI2; Malti Douglas 1977.
9 The list has been reconstructed by al-Najamī 1433/2012, 1: 163–175, 180–216. No date is given
by al-Najamī for al-Ḥumaydī’s presence in Medina (al-Najamī 1433/2012, 1: 192), but on the basis
of an extant copy of the musnad of ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb by Abū Yaʿqūb b. Shayba b. al-Ṣalt (d.
262 H/875 CE) that was taught in the Great Mosque in that city on 12 Rabīʿ I 469 (14 October 1076)
174 | Camilla Adang

Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, the work dealt with in the present contribution, al-
Ḥumaydī mentions the teachers from whom he received the Ṣaḥīḥs of al-Bukhārī
and Muslim. Among the transmitters of the former work, the eminent Meccan
muḥadditha Karīma al-Marwaziyya (d. 463 H/1070 CE) occupies a special place.10
Al-Ḥumaydī was much admired in Baghdad both for his scholarship, espe-
cially in the field of ḥadīth, and his exemplary lifestyle. Many were the students
who sought him out, among them not a few Andalusis, even including one or two
Ẓāhirīs who may have felt an affinity with al-Ḥumaydī despite the fact that he
kept his Ẓāhirism to himself, as is stated by several biographers. Al-Ḥumaydī ap-
pears to have stayed in contact with Ibn Ḥazm, but how frequently they ex-
changed letters is not known.11 The claim, made in a recent publication, that he
was “Ibn Ḥazm’s envoy to the East” is surely overstated.12 He died in 488 H/
1095 CE in Baghdad, where he was ultimately buried, at his express request, near
the ascetic Bishr al-Ḥāfī.13 He donated his library as a waqf. Shortly before his
death, al-Ḥumaydī was visited by the Andalusi scholar Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbbād b.
Sarḥān al-Maʿāfirī (d. 543 H/1148 CE).14 He was by then seriously ill and bedridden
but, possibly seeing an opportunity to make his work known in al-Andalus, he

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and that contains a certificate of audition (samāʿ) by the Majorcan author, we can establish that
he was there at that time, even if we cannot know how long he stayed. See Ibn al-Ṣalt, Musnad
(1405/1985), 16: 29–30, samāʿ no. 14. The idea to compile a work arranged according to musnads
may already have taken shape in al-Ḥumaydī’s mind by then.
10 For a brief sketch of her life and importance, see the chapter devoted to her in Robinson 2016
(preceded by a chapter on Ibn Ḥazm, incidentally).
11 In their 1982 edition of al-Ḥumaydī’s Dhahab al-masbūk, 125, Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ẓāhirī and ʿAbd al-
Ḥalīm ʿUways state that Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī (d. 628 H/1231 CE) writes in his Bayān al-Wahm wa-
l-Īhām – a polemical work against ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī – that al-Ḥumaydī corresponded with
his former master from Iraq: kāna yukātibu Ibn Ḥazm min al-ʿIrāq, which suggests a certain reg-
ularity. However, the reference in Ibn al-Qaṭṭān’s work refers to one very specific case: Ibn Ḥazm
had denied the soundness of a certain tradition on the grounds that one of its transmitters was
unreliable. Al-Ḥumaydī wrote to him from Iraq (qad kataba … min al-ʿIrāq) arguing that the tra-
dition was sound and explaining the status of the transmitter. Ibn al-Qaṭṭān adds that he does
not know whether Ibn Ḥazm changed his opinion or not; see Ibn al-Qaṭṭān, Bayān al-Wahm
(1417/1997), 5: 226. There may well have been a frequent exchange of letters between the two
Andalusis, but this passage alone is not sufficient proof.
12 The title of al-Najamī’s important two-volume study of al-Ḥumaydī is Min al-Balyār ilā Bagh-
dād. Al-Ḥumaydī al-Andalusī, rasūl Ibn Ḥazm ilā al-Mashriq.
13 This was three years after he had first been buried near the grave of the Shāfiʿī legal scholar
Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī (d. 476 H/1083 CE), who had been one of his teachers; see Adang 2005, 316.
14 On ʿAbbād b. Sarḥān, see Ibn Bashkuwāl, al-Ṣila (2019), 2: 73, no. 973; al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-
islām (1410/1990), 37: 147, no. 150. According to Ibn Bashkuwāl, he was rather less knowledge-
able about ḥadīth than he claimed.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 175

gave Ibn Sarḥān permission to take his copy of the Jamʿ and to teach it, as well as
his other works. After that, Ibn Sarḥān read the work to the Baghdadi grammarian
and ḥadīth scholar Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Ṭarkhān b. Baltakīn b. Bajkam al-
Turkī (d. 513 H/1119 CE), who said that he had already heard it recited once during
a session and on another occasion had read it back to al-Ḥumaydī to receive his
approval.15 Back in al-Andalus, Ibn Sarḥān transmitted the work to the bibliog-
rapher Ibn Khayr (d. 575 H/1179 CE), who is the source of this information.16
Since al-Ḥumaydī left al-Andalus in his late twenties, most of his active life
was spent in the Mashriq, where he also wrote most of his works, the only excep-
tion apparently being Marātib al-jazāʾ, which deals with eschatology and which
may have been composed in his homeland. Besides the two above-mentioned
works – Jadhwat al-muqtabis and al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn – and a series of brief
edifying tracts on the importance of refraining from slander and the cultivation
of friendship and good neighbourly relations, his writings, not all of which have
come down to us, were concerned with history, advice for rulers, epistolary art
and, most relevant for our present purpose, ḥadīth.17 It is to his most important
work in this field that we now turn.

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15 On the Shāfiʿī Ibn Ṭarkhān, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 19: 423, no. 245; al-Dhahabī,
Tahdhīb (1412/1991), 2: 502, no. 4684, where it is stated that he spent much time with al-Ḥumaydī
(ṣaḥiba al-Ḥumaydī wa-lāzamahu). He also received several other works from the author, namely
Jadhwat al-muqtabis, Kitāb al-Mutashākih fī asmāʾ al-fawākih and Kitāb Nawādir al-aṭibbāʾ,
which he transmitted to the noted Andalusi religious scholar Abū Bakr b. al-ʿArabī (d. 543 H/1148
CE), through whom the works reached Ibn Khayr; see Ibn Khayr, Fahrasa (2009), 281–282, 472,
nos. 421, 1036, 1037. Ibn Khayr also received these works from the Cordoban qāḍī Abū al-Ḥakam
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Ghashalyān (d. 541 H/1146 CE), who had obtained, in writing,
a license from al-Ḥumaydī to transmit them.
16 Ibn Khayr, Fahrasa (2009), 161, no. 162. That Ibn Sarḥān also transmitted other works by al-
Ḥumaydī, namely to the Andalusi jurist and ḥadīth scholar Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. Masarra
al-Yaḥṣubī (d. 552 H/1157 CE), is clear from the Fahrasa of al-Mintawrī (d. 834 H/1430 CE); see al-
Mintawrī, Fahrasa (1432/2011), 264, no. 428. Al-Ḍabbī (d. 599 H/1203 CE) has the somewhat puz-
zling information that Ibn Sarḥān transmitted “musnad al-Ḥumaydī Abī ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad
b. Abī Naṣr” on our author’s authority, and that he himself transmitted it to Abū al-Ḥasan b. al-
Niʿma in Almería in the year 504 H/1110 CE, having been, according to his own statement, the
only one to bring the work to al-Andalus. In all likelihood the reference is to al-Jamʿ bayn al-
Ṣaḥīḥayn, which is composed of musnads, and Ibn Sarḥān gave the author’s full name so as not
to create confusion with another Ḥumaydī, Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr (d. 219 H/834 CE),
whose collection of ḥadīths is known as Musnad al-Ḥumaydī.
17 For a descriptive list of the author’s works, see al-Najamī 1433/2012, 252–298. For additional
information on the extant manuscripts of and publications on works by al-Ḥumaydī, see Maribel
Fierro et al., Historia de los Autores y Transmisores Andalusíes (HATA), accessible through the
176 | Camilla Adang

3 The work: al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn

Al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn18 by al-Ḥumaydī belongs to what may be regarded as a
sub-genre of ḥadīth literature, in which traditions from two or more existing col-
lections, the Ṣaḥīḥs or/and others, are combined and rearranged according to dif-
ferent criteria. Our author’s work was not the first one of this kind; it was pre-
ceded by al-Ṣaḥīḥ min al-akhbār fī dhikr aḥādīth al-nabī al-mukhtār, subtitled on
the Damascus manuscript al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, a compilation by Abū Bakr
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Jawzaqī of Nishapur (d. 388 H/998 CE), which com-
bines the traditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim without providing isnāds so as to
facilitate memorisation.19 This work roughly follows the order of the books in the
two Ṣaḥīḥs, i.e. starting with “al-Īmān” (belief) and followed by the books on rit-
ual purity, mandatory prayer and prayers for different occasions, etcetera. It is
quite possible that al-Jawzaqī’s work inspired al-Ḥumaydī to produce his own
compilation, just like other authors after him would in turn adopt or adapt al-
Ḥumaydī’s model.

4 Al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn: structure and aims

The structure of al-Ḥumaydī’s work is significantly different from that of al-Jaw-
zaqī’s compilation: all the ḥadīths attributed in one of the two Ṣaḥīḥs or both to a
given Companion are grouped together by al-Ḥumaydī in a musnad, e.g. musnad
Zayd b. Thābit, musnad ʿAbd Allāh b. Salām, and musnad Asmāʾ bt. Abī Bakr. In
the Appendix I shall illustrate this procedure with the musnad of Muʿāwiya b. Abī
Sufyān. In his introduction al-Ḥumaydī emphasizes the importance of the two
Ṣaḥīḥs, which cover all aspects of Islamic belief and practice. The two imāms, al-
Bukhārī and Muslim, have established the probity of the transmitters, which in
the end determines a tradition’s soundness. This, then, is what lies at the basis of
the structure chosen by the author. In the first section of the Jamʿ al-Ḥumaydī
presents the statements transmitted by the so-called ʿasharat al-mubashsharīn bi-

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portal http://kohepocu.cchs.csic.es/historia-de-los-autores-y-transmisores-andalusies-/-his-
tory-of-the-authors-and-transmitters-of-al-andalus.
18 There are two editions, published in 1414/1994 and 1437/2016 respectively. References in this
article are to the first one. The work is discussed in detail in al-Asadī 1424/2003.
19 On al-Jawzaqī, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 16: 493–494, no. 364. The manuscript of his
Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn can be viewed online: https://www.alukah.net/library/0/83900/ (last ac-
cessed Aug. 9, 2019).
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 177

l-janna (The ten who received glad tidings of paradise), namely Abū Bakr, ʿUmar,
ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ṭalḥa, al-Zubayr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ,
Saʿīd b. Zayd, and Abū ʿUbayda b. al-Jarrāḥ. This section is followed by the trans-
missions of the prominent ones after the Ten (masānīd al-muqaddamīna baʿd al-
ʿashara), who are sixty-four in number and include men such as ʿAbd Allāh b.
Masʿūd, Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, Muʿādh b. Jabal and Ubayy b. Kaʿb. These are then
followed by those among the Prophet’s Companions who transmitted numerous
traditions (masānīd al-mukthirīna min al-ṣaḥāba). These are six in number, viz.
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar, Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh, Abū Saʿīd al-
Khudrī, Anas b. Mālik, and Abū Hurayra. Forty-one Companions make up the sec-
tion of the muqillīn: the ones who transmitted few ḥadīths. The book closes with
a section on female Companions, thirty-seven in all, including Muḥammad’s
wives. In this section the most prominent place is reserved for ʿĀʾisha, who is
credited with sixty-seven traditions and who should have been included among
the mukthirīn had the author not chosen to separate the female transmitters from
the males. Within a typical musnad, al-Ḥumaydī first presents the traditions that
can be encountered in both al-Bukhārī and Muslim (al-muttafaq ʿalayhi), subse-
quently the ḥadīths found in al-Bukhārī only (afrād al-Bukhārī), and finally the
traditions only included in Muslim’s collection (afrād Muslim). However, some
musnads only contain one or more traditions found in one of the two Ṣaḥīḥs. As
he clarifies in his introduction, al-Ḥumaydī does not provide a complete isnād,
but usually gives no more than one or two names of people who heard the tradi-
tion from the musnid in question, a fact that drew criticism from some of his de-
tractors. At times he provides one or two lines of biographical information on the
person whose musnad he provides, as for example in the case of Umm Ḥarām bt.
Milḥān b. Khālid al-Khazrajiyya (“her proper name is al-Ghumayṣāʾ, and she is
the maternal aunt of Anas b. Mālik”) or Abū Wāqid al-Laythī (“his proper name
is Ḥārith b. ʿAwf, but Ḥārith b. Mālik is also given. He assisted at [the battle of]
Badr. Medinan; dwelled in Mecca”).20 Al-Ḥumaydī once more explains the aims
of his work in a postscript, in which he also includes a lengthy quotation from
Ibn Ḥazm’s Iḥkām fī uṣūl al-aḥkām on the reasons for the differences of opinion
among the first generations of Muslims as well as later ʿulamāʾ, pointing in par-
ticular to their geographical distribution which meant that not everyone heard
the same traditions.21 Distinguishing the weak ḥadīths from the generally ac-
cepted ones therefore became imperative, and al-Ḥumaydī set himself the task to

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20 Al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1414/1994), 4: 288, no. 230, and 3: 388, no. 100.
21 Al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1414/1994), 4: 323–328; Ibn Ḥazm, al-Iḥkām (1979), 2: 124–130. Al-
Ḥumaydī omits some of the examples given by Ibn Ḥazm, whom he calls Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī b.
178 | Camilla Adang

make the sound traditions easily accessible. For his work, al-Ḥumaydī used a
number of ḥadīth manuals and collections besides the two Ṣaḥīḥs, a fact for which
he was taken to task by later critics, as will be shown below. The works in ques-
tion are by Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-Ismāʿīlī (d. 371 H/981 CE), Abū Masʿūd
Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad al-Dimashqī (d. 401 H/1010 CE), Abū Bakr Aḥmad b.
Muḥammad al-Barqānī (d. 425 H/1033 CE), and a number of other scholars who
had compiled collections of sound traditions that were based upon the Ṣaḥīḥs of
al-Bukhārī and Muslim, though provided with different, and preferably shorter
isnāds. Moreover, their versions of these traditions at times showed discrepancies
vis-à-vis the Ṣaḥīḥayn not only in their chains of transmission, but also in the
wording or the length of the ḥadīths. Often they also included explanatory notes.22
Examples of this will be seen below in the musnad of Muʿāwiya. Al-Ḥumaydī ex-
plicitly indicates where he uses one of these alternative sources, so as to distin-
guish between the contents of the Ṣaḥīḥayn and those of other works. Yet, as will
be seen, he was accused by various later scholars of blurring this distinction,
causing confusion.
Al-Ḥumaydī also compiled a companion volume to his Jamʿ, entitled Tafsīr
gharīb mā fī al-Ṣaḥīḥayn. Following the same order as in the work on which it is
based, though without any internal division into traditions within each musnad,
the author explains somewhat unusual words and expressions, apparently mak-
ing use of earlier Gharīb works such as the ones by Ibn Qutayba (d. 276 H/889 CE)
and Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224 H/838 CE). In the (few) glosses to the
musnad of Muʿāwiya, for example, al-Ḥumaydī offers synonyms or definitions as
well as an explanation of the wording of the call to prayer, which figures in a
tradition that has Muʿāwiya repeat the adhān after the muezzin.

5 The reception of al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ

In what follows I shall provide an overview of the reception history of al-
Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ, from the 11th to the 15th century CE. The authors who studied,

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Aḥmad b. Saʿīd al-Yazīdī al-Fārisī, thus accepting his master’s account of his family’s Persian
origins, which was rejected by his contemporary, the historian Ibn Ḥayyān (d. 469 H/1076 CE),
as an invention to obscure the family’s Iberian Christian background.
22 On the mustakhrajāt genre, see Brown 2007, 101, 104–109, followed by three case-studies.
For a list of such works see al-Asadī 1424/2003, 1: 192–197, and Chapter 3 of the same work for
an inventory of additions from the mustakhrajāt found in al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ. The editors of the
1437/2016 edition of the Jamʿ have seen fit to mark such passages in red so as to alert the reader.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 179

memorized, summarised, commented on or criticized the work will be presented

in roughly chronological order. To the extent possible, the role of al-Ḥumaydī’s
direct or indirect students in the transmission of the work will be highlighted.
We start our survey in the Islamic West, with ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā al-Yaḥṣubī (d.
544 H/1149 CE), the famous qāḍī of Ceuta, who took an interest in al-Ḥumaydī’s
Jamʿ.23 The work was transmitted to him in writing, probably at his request, by
Abū Naṣr ʿAbd al-Malik b. (Abī) Muslim b. Abī Naṣr al-Hamadānī, also known as
al-Nahāwandī, who acted as judge in Mecca and perhaps also as imām of the
maqām Ibrāhīm in the holy city.24 Since al-Nahāwandī died in 519 H/1125 CE, Qāḍī
ʿIyāḍ must have received the work before or in this year or even shortly after,
which means that it may already have been available in the West before Ibn
Sarḥān transmitted it in al-Andalus. Al-Nahāwandī, who apparently studied with
al-Ḥumaydī together with the well-known ḥadīth scholar Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī (d.
514 H/1120 CE) from the region of Zaragoza,25 also transmitted some other materi-
als from the author, with his ijāza. Although al-Nahāwandī’s madhhab affiliation
is not indicated, his geographical origin as indicated by his nisba would seem to
point to Ḥanafism.
The first author who actively engaged with al-Ḥumaydī’s work was the Ḥan-
balī ʿAwn al-Dīn Abū al-Muẓaffar Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad al-Shaybānī al-Dūrī al-
Baghdādī, better known as Ibn Hubayra (d. 560 H/1165 CE), who for sixteen years
acted as vizier to the ʿAbbāsid caliphs al-Muqtafī (r. 530–555 H/1136–1160 CE) and
al-Mustanjid (r. 555–566 H/1160–1170 CE) and who played a major role in the ul-
timate defeat of the Seljuks and the temporary political restrengthening of the
ʿAbbāsids.26 But Ibn Hubayra was not only a shrewd and at times ruthless politi-
cian, who even took part in active combat, but also a committed scholar who or-
ganized majālis at his own home. In the introduction to his partially extant al-
Ifṣāḥ ʿan maʿānī al-ṣiḥāḥ, which is conceived as a commentary on al-Ḥumaydī’s
Jamʿ – the very first one – he states that he wanted to compile a work combining

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23 On Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, see Gómez-Rivas 2013.
24 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, al-Ghunya (1402/1982), 172, no. 72; Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, al-Ilmāʿ (1389/1970), 221–222. On
al-Nahāwandī, see al-Fāsī al-Makkī, al-ʿIqd (1406/1986), 5: 516.
25 On al-Ṣadafī, see Puente 1998. He had an ijāza from al-Ḥumaydī, though it is not clear for
which works. He must have received this license to transmit before relations between the two
deteriorated for unknown reasons. According to Puente 1998, 83–84, al-Ṣadafī received a great
deal of ḥadīth material from al-Ḥumaydī which found its way into the ascetic writings of Ibn
Bashkuwāl (d. 578 H/1183 CE).
26 A long biographical entry on Ibn Hubayra may be found in Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, al-Dhayl
(1425/2005), 107–186, no. 186. On his vizierate, see Ibn Ṭiqṭaqā, al-Fakhrī (1966), 312–315, 316;
see also Mason 1972; Peacock 2015, 112, 113, 114, 115, 152–153, 196.
180 | Camilla Adang

the traditions of the two Ṣaḥīḥs, and that he found that al-Ḥumaydī had already
produced such a book, and an excellent one at that (aḥsana fī taʾlīfihi). The work
was transmitted to Ibn Hubayra in the year 531 H/1136 CE during a formal teach-
ing session (samāʿ) in his native village of Dūr, located in the district of Dujayl,
north-west of Samarra, by the Majorcan’s student Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b.
Muḥammad al-Harawī, otherwise unknown. Al-Harawī had received the work
during a session presided over by al-Ḥumaydī himself in 487 H/1094 CE.27 This
must have been in Baghdad. Another student of al-Ḥumaydī’s who may have
transmitted some of his teacher’s writings to Ibn Hubayra was Abū al-Ḥasan Saʿd
al-Khayr Muḥammad b. Sahl (d. 541 H/1146 CE), an intrepid ḥadīth scholar and
faqīh from Valencia who apparently made it as far as China.28 We do not know
when exactly he arrived in Baghdad, but clearly in time to study the Jamʿ as well
as Jadhwat al-muqtabis with al-Ḥumaydī.29 Ibn Hubayra calls Saʿd al-Khayr “our
master”, but unfortunately he does not indicate if the ḥadīth collections that he
received from him included the Jamʿ.30 Taking al-Ḥumaydī’s compilation as his
basic text for al-Bukhārī and Muslim, as a shortcut, so to speak, Ibn Hubayra fol-
lows the structure of the Jamʿ, quoting (verbatim) the ḥadīths in the order in
which they appear there before adding his own remarks. Like al-Ḥumaydī’s, his
concern is not with the isnād, but while al-Ḥumaydī presents the material as is,
without much further comment, Ibn Hubayra uses the Jamʿ as a hook on which
to hang his observations, most of them of a legal or semi-legal nature. It would
be interesting to examine to what extent his legal opinions faithfully reflect
known Ḥanbalī positions. That the vizier’s work has survived at all, albeit par-
tially, may be due to the fact that he had several copies prepared and sent to the
libraries of provincial governors and viziers after it had been discussed in his
presence and at his instigation by members of all the madhāhib who were
brought, at considerable expense, to Baghdad from different areas of the Muslim
world.31 It would seem that after his death by poisoning Ibn Hubayra’s enemies,

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27 Ibn Hubayra, al-Ifṣāḥ (1417/1996), 1: 41.
28 On Saʿd al-Khayr, see Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam (1415/1995), 18: 51, no. 4124; Sibṭ Ibn al-
Jawzī, Mirʾāt al-zamān (1434/2013), 20: 370–371; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 158–160, no.
93; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 15: 189–190, no. 263; al-Subkī, Ṭabaqāt al-
Shāfiʿiyya (1383/1964), 7: 90, no. 785. His daughter Fāṭima (d. 600 H/1203 CE) was to become a
respected muḥadditha; see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 21: 412–413, no. 209.
29 He transmitted al-Ḥumaydī’s Jadhwa to the Damascene historian Ibn ʿAsākir; see al-Daʿjānī
1425/2004, 1: 222. His transmission of the Jamʿ will be referred to below.
30 Ibn Hubayra, al-Ifṣāḥ (1417/1996), 1: 46.
31 See Makdisi, “Ibn Hubayra”, EI2, 803.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 181

perhaps given the green light by al-Mustanjid, took care to destroy his personal
library, including the books he collected as well as the ones he authored.32
Ibn Hubayra was known as a great champion of Ḥanbalism and many mem-
bers of this school enjoyed his patronage, but no one more so than the famous
polymath Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Jawzī (d.
597 H/1200 CE), with whom he established close relations.33 Ibn al-Jawzī de-
scribes himself as being extremely well read: besides the entire catalogue (tha-
bat) of the library of the prestigious Niẓāmiyya madrasa in Baghdad, established
in 457 H/1065 CE, he mentions having exhausted the list of al-Ḥumaydī’s works
as well.34 His erudition is reflected in his immense output, assessed at several
hundred works and opuscules representing a variety of genres such as exegesis,
ḥadīth, biography, theology and morals. Among his most famous works, mention
should be made of Zād al-masīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr, Talbīs Iblīs, Dhamm al-hawā, Ṣifat
al-ṣafwa, al-Wafāʾ bi-aḥwāl al-Muṣṭafā, and al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-mulūk wa-l-
umam, all of which are readily available in more or less scholarly or even popular
editions. He also produced two works that are directly related to al-Ḥumaydī’s
Jamʿ and his Tafsīr gharīb al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, namely Jāmiʿ al-masānīd, in which he
adds Ibn Ḥanbal’s Musnad and al-Tirmidhī’s Jāmiʿ to the combination, and Kashf
al-mushkil min ḥadīth al-Ṣaḥīḥayn. Ibn al-Jawzī structured his Jāmiʿ al-masānīd as
follows. Like al-Ḥumaydī, he dispenses with the thematic division and instead
groups together into musnads all traditions emanating from the same authority.
However, unlike al-Ḥumaydī, who adopted a kind of hierarchical structure, Ibn
al-Jawzī’s order is almost completely alphabetical, starting, under alif, with
Ubayy b. Kaʿb, Ubayy b. Mālik, Aḥmad b. Ḥafṣ, and so on, and ending, under yāʾ,
with Yūnus b. Shaddād. At the end, however, the author deviates from this struc-
ture by adding some categories of transmitters who could not be easily accom-
modated, e.g. those known not by their given name but rather by their agnomen.
A substantial section, taking up the entire last volume in the printed edition, is
devoted to female Companions, as in the Jamʿ. Although Ibn al-Jawzī does not
mention al-Ḥumaydī’s work among his sources here, ʿAlī Ḥusayn al-Bawwāb,
who has edited both the Jamʿ and the Jāmiʿ, has shown that the Ḥanbalī author
often quotes traditions from al-Ḥumaydī rather than directly from al-Bukhārī and
Muslim, and that many references to al-Barqānī, al-Ismāʿīlī and others are simply

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32 Editor’s introduction to Ibn Hubayra, al-Ifṣāḥ (1417/1996), 1: 14.
33 On the two men and the relations between them, see Laoust, “Ibn al-Djawzī”, EI2; Makdisi,
“Ibn Hubayra”, EI2.
34 Ibn al-Jawzī, Ṣayd al-khāṭir (1412/1992), 449, section 338.
182 | Camilla Adang

lifted from al-Ḥumaydī’s compilation.35 In the second work, Kashf al-mushkil,

however, Ibn al-Jawzī’s indebtedness to al-Ḥumaydī is fully acknowledged. In
fact, Kashf al-mushkil is simply a commentary on the Jamʿ and follows its struc-
ture throughout, explaining more or less obscure words and identifying persons.
This does not mean that every single tradition in al-Ḥumaydī’s work elicited a
comment from Ibn al-Jawzī in Kashf al-mushkil. Although it is much more elabo-
rate than al-Ḥumaydī’s Tafsīr gharīb al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, it is obvious that Ibn al-Jawzī
extensively used this book besides the Jamʿ, despite his criticism of the two
works. He does not always understand, for example, why al-Ḥumaydī includes a
particular Companion in one category as opposed to another, more suitable one.
He also argues that the author has misidentified several transmitters and that he
overlooked materials that are included in the Ṣaḥīḥayn while on the other hand
attributing to these two collections traditions that cannot be found there.36
Through which channel(s), now, did Ibn al-Jawzī receive the Jamʿ? Several
possibilities suggest themselves. First of all, Ibn Hubayra may have transmitted
the work to his protégé. He is known to have held sessions during which he taught
his own work, which is, after all, derived from al-Ḥumaydī’s. Ibn al-Jawzī assisted
at these sessions and compiled an epitome of Ibn Hubayra’s Ifṣāḥ, and thus indi-
rectly of the Jamʿ, entitled Maḥḍ al-maḥḍ, which has not come down to us.37 But
it is obvious that Ibn al-Jawzī had access to a complete version of al-Ḥumaydī’s
work. A perhaps more likely informant is therefore Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad b.
Nāṣir b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Salāmī of Baghdad (d. 550 H/1155 CE), a Shāfiʿī-
Ashʿarī muḥaddith who at some point became a Ḥanbalī and who had received
the Jamʿ from al-Ḥumaydī himself.38 Al-Salāmī, who played an important role in
Ibn al-Jawzī’s early education, is known to have transmitted the Jamʿ to Abū Bakr
ʿAbd Allāh b. Manṣūr b. ʿImrān (b.) al-Bāqillānī (d. 593 H/1197 CE), who was su-
pervisor of the Friday mosque in Wasit and through whom the Jamʿ reached the
Twelver Shīʿī Ibn al-Biṭrīq, as we shall see.39 A third possibility is Abū al-Fatḥ
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Bāqī b. al-Baṭṭī (d. 564 H/1169 CE), who had apparently

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35 Al-Bawwāb’s introduction to Ibn al-Jawzī, Jāmiʿ al-masānīd (1426/2005), 29–30. The musnad
of Muʿāwiya can be found in Ibn al-Jawzī, Jāmiʿ al-masānīd (1426/2005), 7: 151–165, no. 549, and
includes 37 traditions.
36 Al-Bawwāb’s introduction to Ibn al-Jawzī, Kashf al-mushkil (1418/1997), 1: 39–40.
37 Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, al-Dhayl (1425/2005), 2: 118. It should be added here that Ibn al-Jawzī
is one of the main sources for the biography of Ibn Hubayra included in Ibn Rajab’s Dhayl.
38 On al-Salāmī, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 265–271, no. 180.
39 On (Ibn) al-Bāqillānī, see Ibn al-Dubaythī, Dhayl (1427/2006), 3: 519–521, no. 1719; al-
Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 21: 246–248, no. 128. It is said that he used uncanonical readings in
his recitation of the Qurʾān and was taken to task for it, but that he ignored the criticism.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 183

been al-Ḥumaydī’s last student and who cannot have been more than eleven
years old when he attended his lectures.40 At a later age, Ibn al-Baṭṭī established
himself as a scholar, teaching not only Ibn al-Jawzī but, among many others, also
Saʿd al-Khayr, whom he may already have met at al-Ḥumaydī’s classes. Whoever
his direct source was, Ibn al-Jawzī at one point gives the impression that he, or
this person, had seen an autograph by al-Ḥumaydī, when he corrects what he
takes to be a mistake in the latter’s hand.41
Another scholar who extensively used al-Ḥumaydī’s work as a source is the
Shāfiʿī Majd al-Dīn Abū al-Saʿādāt al-Mubārak b. Muḥammad b. al-Athīr al-Jazarī
(d. 606 H/1210 CE),42 brother of the author of al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh, who admits as
much in his Jāmiʿ al-uṣūl fī aḥādīth al-rasūl, which is partly preserved. Ibn al-Athīr
was born in a town north of Mosul, where he took his first steps in the study of
Arabic grammar and lexicography, Qurʾān and ḥadīth. It was in Mosul itself that
he began to engage more actively in scholarship in a variety of disciplines. His
preceptor in adab was an Andalusi: Abū Bakr Yaḥyā b. Saʿdūn al-Qurṭubī (d.
567 H/1171 CE).43 After an apparently brief visit to Baghdad, where he met other
scholars, Ibn al-Athīr returned to Mosul. There he filled a number of administra-
tive positions for successive Zangid rulers and was even offered the vizierate,
which he declined. When he lost the use of his limbs after a serious illness, he
refused the efficacious medicine prepared for him by an unnamed Maghribī, ar-
guing that only in his debilitated state would he not be pestered by officials and
rulers. Scholars and students alike visited him at his home, where he died in
606 H/1209 CE. It is not clear when Ibn al-Athīr managed to write his various
works, including Jāmiʿ al-uṣūl. In this compilation the author combines the two
Ṣaḥīḥs with four other collections, namely the Muwaṭṭaʾ of Mālik b. Anas and the

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40 On Ibn al-Baṭṭī, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 481–483, no. 304; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī
(1381–1425/1962–2004), 3: 209, no. 1196; al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-islām (1410/1990), 33 (years 481–
490): 281; Ibn Nuqṭa, al-Taqyīd (1403/1983), 1: 74–75, no. 77; Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam
(1415/1995), 18: 185, no. 4277. Before pursuing a scholarly career, Ibn al-Baṭṭī served as ḥājib to
the commander of the caliphal army; see Ohlander 2008, 111, n. 157. He is known to have trans-
mitted at least one other tract by al-Ḥumaydī: al-Tadhkira, a collection of sayings on morals and
manners which he received from the author and transmitted to the learned Baghdadi trader Abū
Ṭālib ʿAbd al-Laṭīf b. al-Qubayṭī (d. 641 H/1243 CE); see al-Wādī Āshī, Barnāmaj (1982), 294–295,
no. 170.
41 Where in a certain ḥadīth in the musnad of Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr al-Anṣārī it should read
yataṣaddaqu, he says, al-Ḥumaydī wrote yanṣarifu (kataba al-Ḥumaydī bi-khaṭṭihi); Ibn al-Jawzī,
Kashf al-mushkil (1418/1997), 3: 36, no. 46. In a footnote to the 1414/1994 edition of the Jamʿ (2:
351, no. 1568) it is stated that all extant manuscripts of the work have yanṣarifu.
42 See on him Rosenthal, “Ibn al-Athīr”, EI2.
43 On Ibn Saʿdūn, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 546–547, no. 349.
184 | Camilla Adang

Sunan of al-Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī, which taken together constitute
in his view the fundamental corpus of reliable traditions, generally accepted and
used by fuqahāʾ and other scholars. This selection of six works was not Ibn al-
Athīr’s own: rather, he took it from Tajrīd al-Siḥāḥ wa-l-Sunan by Abū al-Ḥasan
(or Ḥusayn) Razīn b. Muʿāwiya al-ʿAbdarī (d. 524 H/1129 CE or 535 H/1140 CE), an
Andalusi scholar who settled in Mecca and there became the imām of the
Mālikīs.44 Razīn’s work serves as the basis for Jāmiʿ al-uṣūl, but Ibn al-Athīr has
significantly expanded it for, he says, the Tajrīd – as well as al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ –
only provides the contents (mutūn), without comments or explanations of unu-
sual words, a topic to which he devoted a separate, voluminous work: al-Nihāya
fī gharīb al-ḥadīth wa-l-athar.45 Ibn al-Athīr unapologetically states that for the
ḥadīths from the two Ṣaḥīḥs, he has usually relied on al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ, which
shows the confidence he had in its accuracy.46 He indicates the different lines of
transmission through which he received the Jamʿ and the methods by which he
was taught it.47 His direct teacher was the Shāfiʿī scholar and Ṣūfī Abū Aḥmad
ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. ʿAlī (d. 607 H/1210 CE), also known as Ibn Sukayna.48 In the
year 585 H/1189 CE Ibn al-Athīr attended a study session with him in Mosul, dur-
ing which he and one or several others read the Jamʿ back to their teacher to re-
ceive his approval. Abū Aḥmad himself had studied part of the work during a
session with his father ʿAlī b. ʿAlī b. ʿUbayd Allāh b. Abī Manṣūr al-Amīn b.
Sukayna (d. 532 H/1137 CE),49 and read the remainder of the book under Abū Isḥāq
Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Nabhān b. Muḥriz al-Ghanawī al-Raqqī (d. 543 H/
1149 CE),50 so that he ultimately mastered the entire work. Both Ibn Sukayna sr.
and Abū Isḥāq al-Ghanawī al-Raqqī had received the work directly from al-
Ḥumaydī himself and granted Abū Aḥmad a license to transmit it (ijāza). Abū

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44 See Fierro, “Razīn b. Muʿāwiya”, EI2. See also al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 204. The
above-mentioned Ibn Saʿdūn al-Qurṭubī had studied with him.
45 Ibn al-Athīr, al-Nihāya (1421/2000).
46 Ibn al-Athīr, Jāmiʿ al-uṣūl (1389/1969), 1: 55.
47 Ibn al-Athīr, Jāmiʿ al-uṣūl (1389/1969), 1: 204.
48 On Ibn Sukayna jr., see Ibn al-Dubaythī, Dhayl (1427/2006), 4: 171–174, no. 1974; al-Dhahabī,
Siyar (1417/1996), 21: 502–505, no. 262; Ibn Kathīr, Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya (2004), 2: 712–713, no.
784; al-Subkī, Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya (1383/1964), 8: 324–325, no. 1227; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–
1425/1962–2004), 19: 309–311, no. 292. On his Ṣūfism, see Ohlander 2008, 110–111.
49 On Ibn Sukayna sr. see Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam (1415/1995), 17: 331, no. 4041; al-Dhahabī,
Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 49–50, no. 25; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 21: 334, no. 216,
where it says samiʿa al-Jamʿ li-l-Ḥumaydī.
50 See on him al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 6: 118, no. 2550; Ibn Nuqṭa, Takmilat
al-Ikmāl (1408/1987), 4: 434–435, no. 4611; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 20: 175–176, no. 112;
Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam (1415/1995), 18: 66–67.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 185

Isḥāq, it should be added, also transmitted the Jamʿ to the muqriʾ Abū Shujāʿ
Muḥammad b. Abī Muḥammad b. Abī al-Maʿālī al-Maqrūn of Baghdad (d. 597 H/
1200 CE),51 who in turn taught it to the Ḥanbalī legal scholar and ḥadīth specialist
al-ʿIzz Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Ghanī (d. 613 H/1217 CE) and others during sessions
that took place in 589 H/1193 CE and 596 H/1199 CE.52
Whereas, as we have seen, al-Ḥumaydī – and Ibn Hubayra and Ibn al-Jawzī
in his wake – arranged his material into musnads, that is, according to the name
of the first person to report from or about the Prophet, rather than according to
topics as is the case in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, Ibn al-Athīr adopted a topical structure,
though not following the division we find in al-Bukhārī or Muslim, but an alpha-
betic one instead. This, too, he copied from Razīn’s work. Under ḥarf al-hamza,
then, he has “Kitāb al-īmān”, “Kitāb al-iʿtiṣām”, “Kitāb al-iʿtikāf”, “Kitāb iḥyāʾ al-
mawāt”, etcetera; under ḥarf al-bāʾ he presents “Kitāb al-birr”, “Kitāb al-buyūʿ”
and so on. Thus the traditions associated with Abū Bakr or ʿUmar, for example,
which appear under one rubric in al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ as well as in Ibn Hubayra’s
Ifṣāḥ and Ibn al-Jawzī’s Jāmiʿ, are scattered throughout Ibn al-Athīr’s work like in
Razīn’s.
A further work closely related to al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ is al-Ḥujja Sharḥ al-Jamʿ
bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn li-l-Ḥumaydī by the Ḥanafī Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. al-Khaṭīr b. Abī
al-Ḥusayn al-Nuʿmānī al-Ẓahīr (d. 598 H/1201 CE), who is also called al-Fārisī be-
cause he studied law in Shiraz.53 Rather than being a direct commentary on al-
Ḥumaydī’s work, the Ḥujja seems in fact to have been a digest based on Ibn Hu-
bayra’s Ifṣāḥ, with some material added. The author was originally from al-
Nuʿmāniyya, a village between Baghdad and Wasit. He was a versatile scholar,
who wrote works in a variety of religious, rational and philological disciplines.
He is even said to have known Hebrew, which came in useful in his disputations
with Jews. From Iraq he went to Syria and then lived for some time in Jerusalem,
where he came to the attention of al-Malik al-ʿAzīz ʿUthmān, the second son of
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī, who persuaded him to come with him to Egypt where he
hoped his new protégé would be able to beat the Shāfiʿī-Ashʿarī scholar Abū al-
Fatḥ al-Shihāb al-Ṭūsī (d. 596 H/1199 CE) in disputation.54 However, after his de-
feat and subsequent fall from princely grace Ibn al-Khaṭīr spent the remainder of

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51 See al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 21: 324–325, no. 170.
52 Editors’ introduction to al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1437/2016), 1: 61–63. On al-ʿIzz Muḥammad b.
ʿAbd al-Ghanī, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 22: 42–44, no. 30.
53 On Ibn al-Khaṭīr, see Ibn al-Sāʿī, al-Durr (1428/2007), 367; Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-
udabāʾ (1993), 2: 857–860, no. 315; al-Tamīmī, al-Ṭabaqāt (1403/1983), 3: 55–56.
54 See on him al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 5: 9, no. 1962. The Ḥanbalī ḥadīth
scholar Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm b. Naḥā, known as Ibn Nujayya (d. 599 H/1203 CE), who
186 | Camilla Adang

his life teaching Ḥanafī fiqh at a madrasa in Cairo. The Ḥujja, which has not, to
the best of my knowledge, come down to us, may date from this period. Unfortu-
nately, we do not know in which manner he received Ibn Hubayra’s work, or al-
Ḥumaydī’s, or both.
Another Ḥanafī who felt inspired by al-Ḥumaydī’s work was Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar
b. Badr al-Mawṣilī.55 Of Kurdish descent, he was born in Mosul in 557 H/1161 CE
and died in Damascus in 622 H/1225 CE, after having studied with Ibn al-Jawzī
and other scholars of the latter’s generation and having transmitted ḥadīth in
Aleppo and Jerusalem. His materials were not much sought after: al-Dhahabī
states that the only one to pass on his traditions was a woman, Shuhda, who was
the daughter of Ibn al-ʿAdīm (d. 660 H/1262 CE), the historian of Aleppo. Al-
Mawṣilī wrote a number of works in the fields of ḥadīth, theology and law. The
title of the work that interests us here is al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn maʿa ḥadhf al-
sanad wa-l-mukarrar min al-bayn.56 In his introduction the author explains what
made him decide to compile this relatively short work: the fact that people shun
ḥadīth because of its sheer volume, lengthy isnāds and repetitions. It is intended,
then, as a concise yet comprehensive reference work, without chains of transmis-
sion and devoid of repetitions. Al-Mawṣilī mentions that what distinguishes his
work from those of his predecessors al-Jawzaqī and al-Ḥumaydī is that whereas
the former did not have separate sections for the traditions that occur in only one
of the two Ṣaḥīḥs (afrād), which al-Ḥumaydī’s did, the latter did not divide the
material into topical chapters (lam yubawwib), which al-Jawzaqī’s did. While al-
Mawṣilī explicitly mentions al-Ḥumaydī, he neither refers to his own contempo-
rary Ibn al-Athīr, nor to Razīn b. Muʿāwiya, though he clearly follows the struc-
ture of their works, described above. Although al-Mawṣilī does not indicate with
whom he studied al-Ḥumaydī’s work, a possible candidate is Ibn al-Jawzī, him-
self the author of several works inspired by the Jamʿ, as we have seen.
Ibn al-Jawzī had also taught another well-known author who elaborated on
al-Ḥumaydī’s work, namely Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Maqdisī
al-Ḥanbalī (d. 643 H/1245 CE), who compiled a work on the ḥadīths included in
the Jamʿ, of which unfortunately only a small part is extant.57 Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn was

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was married to Saʿd al-Khayr’s daughter Fāṭima (see n. 28 above), also clashed with al-Shihāb
al-Ṭūsī; see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 21: 393–396, no. 199 at 395.
55 On al-Mawṣilī, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 22: 287–288, no. 164.
56 Al-Mawṣilī, al-Jamʿ (1416/1995).
57 Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn, al-Istidrāk (1436/2014). This is not the original title of the work, but rather cho-
sen by the editor. The manuscript has “min kalām al-ḥāfiẓ Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn ʿalā shayʾ min aḥādīth
al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn li-l-Ḥumaydī”; see https://www.bukhari-pedia.net/book/jame_anda-
lusi/4143 (last accessed Sept. 2, 2019). On Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 23: 126–
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 187

born in 569 H/1173 CE near Damascus and travelled widely in Greater Syria,
Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Transoxania and the Hejaz and reportedly studied with several
hundred scholars, among them a surprisingly large number of women.58 As a fo-
rum to transmit the knowledge he acquired, and with a focus on ḥadīth in gen-
eral, he founded and, it is said, almost single-handedly constructed a madrasa in
the Ṣāliḥiyya quarter of Damascus that became known as the Ḍiyāʾiyya, to which
he left his books, including a copy of the Jamʿ, as waqf. Besides his work on al-
Ḥumaydī’s compilation, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn produced several other works on ḥadīth and
its transmitters, among them the multivolume al-Aḥādīth al-mukhtāra, in which
he presents a large selection of traditions that have in common that they do not
appear in the two Ṣaḥīḥs. For this reason, it contains few references to al-
Ḥumaydī’s work, which by contrast is of course specifically dedicated to the
ḥadīths in the Ṣaḥīḥayn. Other works by Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn (some thirty titles are known)
include Ṣifat al-janna, Faḍāʾil bayt al-Maqdis, al-Nahy ʿan sabb al-ṣaḥāba,
Manāqib aṣḥāb al-ḥadīth, and Ittibāʿ al-sunan wa-jtināb al-bidaʿ. Al-Ḍiyāʾ is
praised by his students and later scholars as much for his piety and asceticism as
for his learning. While Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn may have obtained some of his knowledge of
the Jamʿ from Ibn al-Jawzī, there are two other scholars who might fit the bill: (1)
Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī, to be discussed presently, and (2) Ibn Sukayna jr. who, as
was mentioned above, transmitted al-Ḥumaydī’s work to Ibn al-Athīr on the au-
thority of two direct students of the author – his father ʿAlī and Abū Isḥāq al-
Ghanawī al-Raqqī. In fact, the latter’s name is associated with the manuscript
that ended up in the Ḍiyāʾiyya.59
A scholar who, while not known to have authored a work concerning the
Jamʿ, is said to have memorized al-Ḥumaydī’s work is Najm al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās
Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Khalaf b. Rājiḥ b. Bilāl b. Hilāl b. ʿĪsā al-Maqdisī (d.
638 H/1241 CE), best known as Ibn Rājiḥ, who is described as a legal scholar well-
versed in the differences of opinion among the schools of law, on which he wrote
a book.60 Originally a Ḥanbalī like his father, he studied al-Muqniʿ fī fiqh al-imām
Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal with its author, the famous legal scholar Muwaffaq al-Dīn b.
Qudāma al-Maqdisī (d. 620 H/1223 CE), who had studied with Ibn al-Baṭṭī, the last

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130, no. 97; al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ (1377/1958), 4: 1405–1406; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–
1425/1962–2004), 4: 65–66, no. 1515; Talmon-Heller 1992; Talmon-Heller 2002.
58 See Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn, Thabat mawsūʿāt (1999). His wife Āsiya was the sister of Ibn Rājiḥ, referred
to below, and a muḥadditha in her own right.
59 Editors’ introduction to al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1437/2016), 1: 61.
60 On Ibn Rājiḥ, see al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 8: 25, no. 3424; al-Asnawī, Ṭaba-
qāt al-Shāfiʿiyya, (1407/1987), 1: 214–215, no. 404; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 23: 75–76, no.
54.
188 | Camilla Adang

person known to have studied with al-Ḥumaydī. He was of ascetic disposition,

studying day and night and much given to prayer. He even had visions in which
God told him that He was pleased with him. Together with his brother he travelled
to Hamadan and on to Bukhara, where he became an authority in ḥadīth. By the
time he returned to Damascus, he had become a Shāfiʿī and was appointed qāḍī.
It is not known whether this change of madhhab was a condition to qualify for
the position. Ibn Rājiḥ, too, had studied with Ibn al-Jawzī who, like in the previ-
ous case, may have been the source of this scholar’s familiarity with al-
Ḥumaydī’s work.
The major (and perhaps unsurprising) Ḥanbalī interest in al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ
is further confirmed by the fact that the faqīh and ḥadīth scholar Taqī al-Dīn Abū
ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Yūnīnī of Baʿlabakk (d. 658 H/1260 CE) is
said to have studied the Jamʿ repeatedly and to have memorized it in its entirety.61
Taqī al-Dīn, who traced his descent back to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, studied with Ibn
Qudāma al-Maqdisī. He was also a practising Ṣūfī to whom supernatural wonders
(karāmāt) were ascribed. Among his students, mention should be made of Ḍiyāʾ
al-Dīn al-Maqdisī, referred to above. Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī’s fame was eclipsed by
that of his two sons Quṭb al-Dīn Mūsā (d. 726 H/1326 CE) and Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAlī (d.
701 H/1302 CE). While the former became known as the author of a historical
chronicle that continued Sibṭ b. al-Jawzī’s Mirʾāt al-zamān fī tārīkh al-aʿyān,62 the
latter is credited with having produced the first critical edition of al-Bukhārī’s
Ṣaḥīḥ.63 From one of his teachers, Sharaf al-Dīn received ḥadīth materials taught
by al-Ḥumaydī to Ibn al-Baṭṭī as well as some poetry by Ibn Ḥazm.64 But what is
particularly interesting for our purpose is the fact that there exists a partial man-
uscript of al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ that was apparently owned by Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī
and that contains remarks in the hand of Sharaf al-Dīn confirming that he studied

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61 On Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī, see al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 2: 121, no. 467; al-
Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ (1377/1958), 4: 1429–1442, no. 1145; al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-islām
(1410/1990), 48 (years 651–660): 356–361, no. 456.
62 See on him Guo 1998, which includes a translation of part of the work. The Dhayl contains a
fascinating and lengthy biographical sketch of the author’s father, in which it is repeated no
fewer than six times that Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī studied and memorized the Jamʿ; see al-Yūnīnī,
Dhayl (1375/1955), 2: 38–72, at 40, 58, 59, 60, 62 and 71.
63 Quiring-Zoche 1998.
64 Al-Baʿlabakkī, Mashyakha (1423/2002), 129, 131, 132.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 189

the work repeatedly, presumably with his father, and moreover collated the man-
uscript with a copy belonging to the influential ḥadīth scholar Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, to
whom we now turn.65
Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, whose full name is Taqī al-Dīn Abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān b. ʿAbd al-
Raḥmān al-Shahrazūrī, was born in 577 H/1181 CE in the Zangid-controlled Kurd-
ish North of Iraq.66 It was in the major cities of this region, Irbil and Mosul, that
he received his first education in Shāfiʿī law and ḥadīth. In order to expand his
knowledge and establish scholarly contacts, he travelled to Baghdad, where
among others he studied with Ibn Sukayna the younger, followed by visits to Ni-
shapur, Marw, Qazwin and Hamadan. He settled in Aleppo, which by now had
come under Ayyūbid rule and where he was appointed to teach Shāfiʿī fiqh at the
Asadiyya madrasa. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ seems to have lived in Damascus for a brief pe-
riod before moving to Jerusalem, where he taught for ten years at a prestigious
college, but in the end he moved back to Damascus. At first he kept a low profile
during clashes between Ḥanbalīs and Ḥanafīs in order not to incur the wrath of
the Ayyūbid prince al-Muʿaẓẓam, but his prospects improved after the latter’s
death. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ died in 643 H/1245 CE, leaving some fifteen works mainly on
ḥadīth and Shāfiʿī fiqh, including a biographical compendium of members of the
madhhab and a collection of fatwās. His main claim to fame is a work entitled
Kitāb Maʿrifat anwāʿ ʿilm al-ḥadīth, usually simply referred to as al-Muqaddima,
a handbook of the science of ḥadīth that has elicited a great many commentaries,
some of which I shall mention towards the end of this survey.67 The first chapter
deals with sound traditions. Speaking of the mustakhrajāt of al-Barqānī, Abū
Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī and others who provided fuller versions of traditions found in the
collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, not seldom with additional comments, Ibn
al-Ṣalāḥ states that a considerable amount of this material can be found in al-
Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn by al-Ḥumaydī. “Occasionally a person who does not know
better transmits something he finds in this book as if it were from one or both of
the Ṣaḥīḥs, and falls into error because it is one of these additions not present in

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65 Princeton, MS Garrett 2213Y. Access to digital images of the manuscript is through
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/4733523#view (last accessed Aug. 9, 2019).
66 On this man, see Robson, “Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ”, EI2, and the works mentioned in the next note.
67 Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, Muqaddima (n.d.). A translation of the work was published in 2005 by Dickin-
son as An Introduction to the Science of the Ḥadīth. The Muqaddima, along with the commentary
literature on the book, is analysed in Gharaibeh’s The Sociology of Commentarial Literature (un-
published). Both Dickinson and Gharaibeh provide detailed biographical information on Ibn al-
Ṣalāḥ.
190 | Camilla Adang

either of the two Ṣaḥīḥs”, he writes, stopping short of advising against studying
the work.68
Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s familiarity with the Jamʿ is abundantly clear from the
Muqaddima, besides being confirmed by the marginal comments and colophons
in a number of extant manuscripts of the Jamʿ. One has already been referred to:
the copy that had been in the possession of the elder Yūnīnī and that was studied
and collated by his son. Others reflect transmissions from al-Ḥumaydī to some of
his students.69 One of these was the Iraqi Shāfiʿī legal scholar Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-
Ḥusayn b. Khamīs (d. 552 H/1157 CE),70 who read the text back to the author for
his approval and then passed it on to the muqriʾ Abū al-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd b.
Manṣūr b. Abī Ṭāhir (d. 605 H/1208 CE),71 who transmitted it to Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ. An-
other copy, reproducing the transmissions of Abū Isḥāq al-Ghanawī and Saʿd al-
Khayr, also reached Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, who moreover owned a copy, based on a tran-
scription of al-Ḥumaydī’s autograph, that had been used by his father Ṣalāḥ al-
Dīn (d. 612 H/1216 CE).72
The caveat expressed by Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ in his Muqaddima did not mean that al-
Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ was condemned to oblivion. The well-known Shāfiʿī scholar al-
Nawawī (d. 676 H/1277 CE) related that he would take a class on al-Jamʿ bayn al-
Ṣaḥīḥayn every day as a young man in Damascus.73 Although he does not specif-
ically mention al-Ḥumaydī as its author, and there were other works of that same
title around, for example the one by ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī (d. 581 H/1185 CE),74
it is likely that the work he refers to is indeed that by the Majorcan, as he refers to
it quite regularly in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Parts of al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ,
as well as two other (adab) works by the author, could be consulted in the library
attached to the mausoleum of the Ayyūbid al-Malik al-Ashraf in Damascus,

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68 See Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, Muqaddima (n.d.), 164, 166; Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, Maʿrifa (2005), 11, 12.
69 On the three manuscripts of the Jamʿ that are collectively described as nuskhat Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ
see the introduction of the 1437/2016 edition of the work (1: 36–60).
70 On Ibn Khamīs, see Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1398/1978), 2: 139–140, no. 188; al-
Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 13: 78–79, no. 67; al-Subkī, Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya
(1383/1964), 7: 81, no. 769; al-Asnawī, Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyya (1407/1987), 1: 234, no. 442.
71 See on him Ibn al-Mustawfī, Tārīkh Irbil (1980), 126–129, no. 50.
72 See on him al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 22: 148, no. 96. Besides the fact that he is the father
of Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ there is little about him that interests the compilers of the biographical diction-
aries.
73 Al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ (1377/1958), 4: 1470–1474, no. 1162. On this important
author, see Heffening, “al-Nawawī”, EI2.
74 On Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Azdī al-Ishbīlī, also known as Ibn al-Kharrāṭ, see Puente
2004; Adang 2013, 522–525.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 191

whose holdings were catalogued in the 670s/1270s.75 The holdings of the

Ẓāhiriyya library in the same city, which in the 1980s were transferred to the Asad
Library,76 include a manuscript of an abridgement of al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ penned
by the Ḥanafī jurist and ḥadīth scholar Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Dammūn b.
Muṣṭafā al-Rūmī (d. 730 H/1329 CE), who was a respected imām in one of the
mosques in the Ṣāliḥiyya quarter of Damascus. He states that he read the work to
the Shāfiʿī shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Bājarbaqī (d. 690 H/1291 CE) who, after a crit-
ical discussion, gave him an ijāza to transmit it.77 It may be assumed that the
shaykh was familiar with the source text: al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ. According to the
description of the manuscript in the catalogue of the Ẓāhiriyya compiled by al-
Albānī, al-Rūmī reproduced the section from Ibn Ḥazm’s Iḥkām fī uṣūl al-aḥkām
on ikhtilāf that had been included by al-Ḥumaydī in his Jamʿ.78 The famous Ḥan-
balī legal scholar and theologian Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H/1328 CE), who needs no
introduction, memorized al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ before any other work on ḥadīth.79 In
one of his numerous works, namely al-Ṣawāʾiq al-mursala, Ibn Taymiyya’s stu-
dent Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751 H/1350 CE), likewise a Ḥanbalī, quotes the
same lengthy passage from Ibn Ḥazm’s Iḥkām that was just referred to, on al-
Ḥumaydī’s authority, which shows that he was familiar with the Jamʿ.80 In a short
tract lamenting the deplorable state of religious knowledge entitled Bayān zaghal
al-ʿilm, which can be attributed to the great Shāfiʿī historian, biographer and
ḥadīth scholar al-Dhahabī, aspiring ḥadīth scholars are told to study al-Jamʿ bayn

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75 Hirschler 2016, 392, no. 1438 (= p. 464 in Hirschler’s edition of the catalogue): parts Two and
Four of al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ, in different hands. See also p. 241, no. 710; p. 352, no. 1269a, and p.
309, no. 1164c for other works by the author. The Ashrafiyya library also held a partial copy of
al-Jawzaqī’s Jamʿ.
76 See Tamari/Hudson 1996, 11.
77 See the introduction of the 1437/2016 edition of the Jamʿ, 1: 49–50, where al-Rūmī is tenta-
tively identified as the copyist of one of the extant manuscripts of the Jamʿ associated with Ibn
al-Ṣalāḥ. Jamāl al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. ʿUmar b. ʿUthmān al-Bājarbaqī was
originally from Mosul, but moved to Damascus in 677 H/1278 CE and preached in the Great
Mosque there. In 679 H/1280 CE he acted as qāḍī in Gaza. His son Muḥammad achieved notoriety
as an antinomian Ṣūfī: accused of heresy by a Mālikī qāḍī, he fled Damascus to escape execution;
see Knysh 1999, 303.
78 Al-Albānī 1422/2001, 531, no. 673.
79 Al-Bazzār, al-Aʿlām (1396/1976), 22.
80 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, al-Ṣawāʾiq (1408/1987), 2: 520–541. I owe this reference to Livnat
Holtzman. On Ibn al-Qayyim, see Bori/Holtzman 2010.
192 | Camilla Adang

al-Ṣaḥīḥayn.81 Here, too, the author is not mentioned by name, but the possibility
that it is al-Ḥumaydī’s work that al-Dhahabī is recommending in the strongest of
terms is not to be excluded, seeing that he expressed his approval of the work
elsewhere: rattabahu aḥsan tartīb.82
The Ḥanbalī scholar ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Riḍwān b.
ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, who is otherwise unknown but who probably wrote in the early
8th/14th century, to go by the dates of the extant manuscripts, produced an ab-
breviated version of the Jamʿ. This work, entitled Maṭlaʿ al-nayyirayn Mukhtaṣar
al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn li-l-Ḥumaydī, has been preserved in several copies.83 As
he writes in his introductory comments, Ibn Riḍwān has taken al-Ḥumaydī’s
work as the basis for his Maṭlaʿ, but with several adaptations. First of all, his
structure is roughly alphabetical. Thus under ḥarf al-alif the compiler first pre-
sents the traditions from men known by their kunyā (Abū …). Moreover, under
each letter of the alphabet he first presents the musnad of the best-known Com-
panions, so that the alphabetical order is not fully adhered to. Interestingly, Ibn
Riḍwān has not grouped all female Companions together in a separate, final sec-
tion, unlike al-Ḥumaydī and Ibn al-Jawzī; rather, they appear at the end of each
alphabetical rubric. Thus under alif Ibn Riḍwān lists the ummahāt: Umm Salama,
Umm Hāniʾ, Umm Ḥabība, and others, whereas Sawda and Subayʿa, for instance,
appear under the letter sīn. Within each musnad Ibn Riḍwān has retained al-
Ḥumaydī’s division into traditions included in the two Ṣaḥīḥs and others found
in al-Bukhārī or Muslim only.
We may also refer to the later Mālikī scholar al-Qāsim b. Yūsuf b. Muḥammad
b. ʿAlī al-Tujībī al-Sabtī (d. 730 H/1329 CE), whose family was originally from Va-
lencia but who was born and raised in Ceuta. Both in his Barnāmaj and in his
travel account Mustafād al-riḥla wa-l-ightirāb, he refers specifically to al-
Ḥumaydī. Whereas in the former work he only cites some lines of poetry trans-
mitted by al-Ḥumaydī and briefly mentions the Jamʿ when quoting the author’s

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81 Al-Dhahabī, Bayān (1434/2013), 74. The editors of two of the three editions I had at my dis-
posal identify the author of the work referred to as al-Ḥumaydī, the third does not express an
opinion. I am currently preparing a study of this tract including an English translation.
82 Al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1417/1996), 19: 121.
83 Two of these, both from the Feyzullah Efendi collection nowadays housed in the Süley-
maniye Library in Istanbul (MSS 304 and 542), can be viewed online, and even a cursory glance
reveals that they differ from each other on several points, for example in the attention given to
biographical detail. See alukah.net/many/files/manuscript_6914/makhtotah.pdf, alukah.net/
manu/files/manuscript_8340/matale-alnirin-2.pdf (last accessed Aug. 9, 2019).
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 193

praise of al-Bukhārī,84 in the section on learned men he met in Mecca in the sec-
ond work he mentions the Jamʿ as one of the many collections of ḥadīth transmit-
ted by a local scholar he met: al-ʿImād Abū al-Ḥasan (also known as Abū
Muḥammad) ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī al-Shāfiʿī
al-Makkī.85 Although al-Tujībī does not state that he himself took al-Ḥumaydī’s
work from him, though he obviously knew it, it is interesting to look at the isnād
through which al-ʿImād had received it. His direct teacher was his grandfather,
Najm al-Dīn Abū Rabīʿ, or Abū Dāwūd, Sulaymān b. Khalīl b. Ibrāhīm al-ʿAsqa-
lānī (d. 661 H/1262 CE), a Ḥanbalī turned Shāfiʿī who acted as preacher and muftī
at the Ḥaram in Mecca.86 He in turn had received it in writing from the Ḥanbalī
Burhān al-Dīn Abū al-Futūḥ Naṣr b. Abī al-Faraj al-Ḥuṣrī (d. 619 H/1222 CE),87 who
had an ijāza from Ibn al-Baṭṭī, already referred to, who, finally, had received it
from al-Ḥumaydī with a license to transmit it.
Besides the many Sunnī scholars discussed above, we know of two important
Twelver Shīʿī authors who made extensive use of al-Ḥumaydī’s work, namely
Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan al-Asadī al-Ḥillī, better known as Ibn al-Biṭrīq (d. 600 H/
1203 CE) and Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Ḥasanī al-Ḥillī or Ibn Ṭāwūs (d. 664 H/
1265 CE). While the motivation of the Sunnī scholars to summarize, rearrange,
comment or elaborate on the Jamʿ was usually to provide an accessible compen-
dium of reliable traditions, the Shīʿī authors used al-Ḥumaydī’s work, together
with other compilations, mainly for apologetical or polemical purposes, as a
source for traditions that either reflect positively on ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, the first
Imām, and his family (ahl al-bayt) or reveal that they were wronged by Compan-
ions of the Prophet that are venerated by the Sunnīs such as ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb
and his son ʿAbd Allāh.
Ibn al-Biṭrīq refers to the Jamʿ in two of his works, namely ʿUmdat ʿuyūn ṣiḥāḥ
al-akhbār fī manāqib imām al-abrār and Khaṣāʾiṣ al-waḥy al-mubīn. In the first
work the author quotes from a large number of Sunnī sources to show that these
contain many ḥadīths that are sympathetic towards ʿAlī and his house. At the be-
ginning of the work he lists these sources, the main ones being, besides al-
Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ, the Musnad of Ibn Ḥanbal, the Tafsīr of al-Thaʿlabī, Manāqib ʿAlī
by the Shāfiʿī scholar Ibn al-Maghāzilī, the compilation of Razīn b. Muʿāwiya,

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84 Al-Tujībī, Barnāmaj (1981), 151 and 92 respectively.
85 Al-Tujībī, Mustafād al-riḥla (1975), 367.
86 On al-ʿAsqalānī, see al-Fāsī al-Makkī, al-ʿIqd (1406/1986), 4: 603–605, no. 1331.
87 On al-Ḥuṣrī, see al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-islām (1410/1990), 44 (years 511–620): 466–468, no.
641.
194 | Camilla Adang

mentioned above as one of the sources of Ibn al-Athīr, and a number of other
works. In the introductory section, Ibn al-Biṭrīq indicates the number of traditions
he is quoting from each of these sources. Thus he states that he has taken 56
ḥadīths from al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ. These he then subdivides into traditions con-
cerning ʿAlī (30), Fāṭima (1), Khadīja (2), al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn (7), Jaʿfar b. Abī
Ṭālib (2), Abū Ṭālib (2), the twelve Imāms (7), the Mahdī (6), and events after the
death of the Prophet (10), arriving in the end at 67 ḥadīths. For each of his sources
the author subsequently indicates the isnāds through which it reached him,
sometimes together with the dates on which he himself as well as his informants
were taught the work. He has three different chains of transmission for al-
Ḥumaydī’s compilation, each going back to the Majorcan author himself, as fol-
lows: in the month of Rabīʿ I, 585 (April-May 1189), Ibn al-Biṭrīq received the Jamʿ
from a man he calls al-amīr ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Ibn al-
Wazīr, who was the son of a vizier of the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Mustarshid (ruled
512–529 H/1118–1135 CE).88 ʿIzz al-Dīn had been taught or given the work by al-
sharīf al-khaṭīb Abū Yaʿlā Ḥaydara b. Badr al-Rashīdī al-Hāshimī al-Wāsiṭī (d.
562 H/1167 CE), a descendant of Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, who had received it di-
rectly from al-Ḥumaydī.89 On another, unspecified date, Ibn al-Biṭrīq received the
Jamʿ from the Ḥanafī Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr Allāh b. ʿAlī b. Manṣūr b. Harāsa or
Kharāsha of Wasit (d. 586 H/1190 CE), described as qāḍī of the great waqf of
Barīsamā.90 This man had received the work from someone who is once called
Saʿīd and another time Saʿīda, and whom I have not been able to identify.91 The
reading Saʿīda seems to be the more reliable, as the text has Abū al-Fatḥ state
akhbaratnī and mention her audition from al-Ḥumaydī. This sheds an interesting
light on the composition of the latter’s student body. Having himself intensively
studied Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī with a great female authority on ḥadīth, Karīma al-
Marwaziyya, it should not surprise us that al-Ḥumaydī welcomed women to his
lectures. A third person from whom Ibn al-Biṭrīq received the work, this time in

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88 On the father, see Ibn al-Ṭiqṭaqā, al-Fakhrī (1966), 304–305; al-Dhahabī, al-Mukhtaṣar
(1371/1951), 1: 32; he turned to religion and became a Ṣūfī towards the end of his life.
89 On Ḥaydara, see Ibn al-Dubaythī, Dhayl (1427/2006), 3: 218–219, no. 1358; al-Dhahabī, al-
Mukhtaṣar (1371/1951), 2: 53, no. 638. With al-Ḥumaydī he also studied Kitāb al-Shihāb by Abū
ʿAbd Allāh al-Quḍāʿī (d. 454 H/1062 CE). The latter had been one of the Majorcan’s main teachers
in Cairo.
90 See on him Ibn al-Dubaythī, Dhayl (1427/2006), 5: 72–73, no. 2706. For Bārisamā Yāqūt has
Bārūsmā, identifying it as two areas in the Sawād of Iraq called Upper and Lower Bārūsmā min
kūrat al-Astān al-Awsaṭ, which I have not been able to identify; see Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam
al-buldān (1397/1977), 1: 320.
91 Ibn al-Biṭrīq, ʿUmda (1407/1986), 20, 43 for Saʿīd and Saʿīda respectively.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 195

Rabīʿ II 585 (May-June 1189) was the muqriʾ Abū Bakr (b.) al-Bāqillānī. This man,
as was seen, had the Jamʿ from Abū al-Faḍl al-Salāmī, who had it directly from
the author.
And although in Ibn al-Biṭrīq’s second work, Khaṣāʾiṣ al-waḥy al-mubīn, the
impact of al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ is negligible as it is especially the Qurʾān which is
tapped for references to ʿAlī and his house, here, too, the author makes a point of
indicating the chains of transmission through which the work reached him, albeit
that he mentions only two isnāds (the ones through Ḥaydara and al-Salāmī) as
opposed to the three we find in the ʿUmda.92 In order to illustrate the way in which
Ibn al-Biṭrīq makes use of the Jamʿ, these two examples from the ʿUmda may suf-
fice.

Also from al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn by al-Ḥumaydī: the 7th ḥadīth from the ones included
by Muslim only from the musnad of Salama b. al-Akwaʿ with the aforementioned isnād,
which has: from Abān b. Salama from his father, who said: I guided the white mule on
which rode the Prophet of God (may God bless him and grant him salvation) with al-Ḥasan
and al-Ḥusayn, one sitting in front and the other behind him, until we reached the apart-
ment of the Prophet.93

From al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn by al-Ḥumaydī: the 2nd ḥadīth of the ones accepted by both
al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the musnad of Jābir b. Samura with the aforementioned isnād,
saying: from ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿUmayr from Jābir b. Samura who said: I heard the Prophet
say: After me there will be twelve princes (amīr). He said: I did not hear that word, so my
father said that [the Prophet] had said: all of them are from Quraysh.94

The references are indeed accurate, which is only to be expected, seeing that Ibn
al-Biṭrīq had become familiar with the work through the mediation of no fewer
than three indirect students of al-Ḥumaydī.
The second Shīʿī author, Ibn Ṭāwūs, refers to the Jamʿ in four of his many
works: Fatḥ al-Abwāb bayna dhawī al-albāb wa-bayna rabb al-arbāb fī al-isti-
khārāt, al-Yaqīn, Saʿd al-suʿūd li-l-nufūs, and al-Ṭarāʾif fī maʿrifat madhāhib al-
ṭawāʾif. A description of the structure and subject matter of these writings is pro-
vided by Etan Kohlberg in his seminal work on the author and his library, which
also includes an inventory of the references to al-Ḥumaydī.95 These are especially
numerous in al-Ṭarāʾif. Whereas Ibn al-Biṭrīq had three isnāds for the Jamʿ, Ibn

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92 Ibn al-Biṭrīq, Khaṣāʾiṣ al-waḥy (1417/1996), 21.
93 Ibn al-Biṭrīq, ʿUmda (1407/1986), 400, no. 814; cf. al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1414/1994), 1: 587,
no. 976.
94 Ibn al-Biṭrīq, ʿUmda (1407/1986), 419–420, no. 871; cf. al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1414/1994), 1:
337, no. 520.
95 Kohlberg 1992, 200.
196 | Camilla Adang

Ṭāwūs has two, which differ from those of his fellow-Shīʿī.96 One of the men (or
perhaps the only man) from whom he received the work was Muḥibb al-Dīn
Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd b. al-Najjār (d. 643 H/1245 CE), the compiler of Dhayl
Tārīkh Baghdād, who was attached to the Mustanṣiriyya madrasa and had stud-
ied among others with Ibn al-Jawzī.97 In Dhū al-Qaʿda 633 (7 July-5 August 1236)
Ibn al-Najjār granted Ibn Ṭāwūs an ijāza to transmit the Jamʿ. This was in Bagh-
dad. Ibn al-Najjār, now, had received the work from Abū Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
b. Sukayna, who had it from his father who, as we have seen earlier, had received
a license from al-Ḥumaydī himself to teach part of the work. Ibn Ṭāwūs also re-
ceived the work through Abū Isḥāq al-Ghanawī al-Raqqī, whom we have also en-
countered more than once. Considering the chronology, Ibn Ṭāwūs can hardly
have received the work directly from Abū Isḥāq, and it is therefore likely that he
received the text, or part of it, from Ibn al-Najjār after the latter had received it
from Abū Aḥmad b. Sukayna. In his Yaqīn Ibn Ṭāwūs quotes (once) from a man-
uscript, possibly owned by him as part of his impressive library, which contained
certificates of audition as well as licenses to transmit. Some of these marginal
notes were dated to the year 541 H/1146 CE.98 Unfortunately, he does not elabo-
rate. Some of the materials from the Jamʿ were apparently not taken by Ibn Ṭāwūs
from the source, but from Ibn al-Biṭrīq’s ʿUmda.99
Whereas Ibn al-Biṭrīq uses the Sunnī collections, the Jamʿ included, as a
source of positive traditions concerning the ahl al-bayt, Ibn Ṭāwūs appears to see
them also as repositories of texts that reflect the hostility of the Prophet’s Com-
panions, the compilers of the ḥadīth collections and their Sunnī adherents to-
wards ʿAlī and his family (among the people to bear the brunt of his indignation
are ʿĀʾisha bt. Abī Bakr, ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb and the latter’s son ʿAbd Allāh100).
Apart from such traditions, Ibn Ṭāwūs quotes ḥadīths describing ritual and social
practices that differ from Shīʿī ones. Here is an example from al-Ṭarāʾif.

One of the strange contradictions that I have seen with them, or with most of them, is that
they associate with the ahl al-dhimma and consider them to be pure, whereas in their col-

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96 Ibn Ṭāwūs, Fatḥ al-Abwāb (1422/2002), 149; Kohlberg 1992, 201.
97 On Ibn al-Najjār, see Ibn al-Dubaythī, Dhayl (1427/2006), 2: 88, no. 525; al-Dhahabī, Siyar
(1417/1996), 23: 131–134, no. 98; al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ (1377/1958), 1428–1429, no.
1140; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1381–1425/1962–2004), 5: 9–11, no. 1140; Farah, “Ibn al-Nadjdjār”, EI2.
98 Ibn Ṭāwūs, al-Yaqīn (1410/1989), 521; Kohlberg 1992, 201.
99 Kohlberg 1992, 201.
100 The only two traditions from the Jamʿ that are quoted by Ibn Ṭāwūs in his Saʿd al-suʿūd
(1421/2000), 595–596, reflect negatively on ʿUmar.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 197

lections of sound ḥadīths they relate the opposite. An example is what al-Ḥumaydī men-
tions in his book al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, in the musnad of Abū Thaʿlaba al-Khushanī, who
said: I went to the Messenger of God and said to him: Oh Messenger of God, I live in the land
of a people of the ahl al-Kitāb; may we eat from their bowls? And in a hunting area: may I
hunt with my bow and with my untrained dog and my trained dog? What is permissible for
me? And he said: As to what you mentioned, that is, the bowls of the ahl al-Kitāb: if you
find others, do not eat from them, but if you do not, then rinse them and eat from them. As
for what you hunted with your bow and have mentioned God’s name over, eat it, and what
you have caught with your trained dog and mentioned God’s name over, eat it, and what
you have caught with your untrained dog and managed to slaughter [alive], eat it. Said ʿAbd
al-Maḥmūd [Ibn Ṭāwūs101]: this is a clear statement by their Prophet that it is forbidden to
eat from the bowls of the ahl al-dhimma until they have been rinsed, but you will not see
[the Sunnīs] doing that; rather, you will see a group of them eating with the ahl al-dhimma
from one bowl.102

While Ibn Ṭāwūs’s criticism is not directed in particular against al-Ḥumaydī, who
for him is merely one of several scholars who relayed the contents of the collec-
tions regarded as authoritative by the Sunnīs,103 it is different in the case of the
later Shāfiʿī scholar Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. al-Ḥusayn al-ʿIrāqī (d. 806 H/
1403 CE),104 who wrote several commentaries on the Muqaddima of Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ
which, as we have seen, included some mild criticism of the compiler of the Jamʿ.
Al-ʿIrāqī, who was actually born in Cairo, is known mainly for a versified tract
most commonly referred to as al-Alfiyya though its full title is al-Tabṣira wa-l-
tadhkira fī ʿulūm al-ḥadīth. In a brief section on mustakhrajāt collections of
ḥadīth, some of which were used by the Majorcan author, al-ʿIrāqī states, in one
hemistich: “would that al-Ḥumaydī had distinguished when he added”.105 In an
autocommentary entitled Sharḥ al-Tabṣira wa-l-tadhkira as well as in a commen-
tary on Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ entitled al-Taqyīd wa-l-Īḍāḥ the author elaborates on this
comment.106 He states that al-Ḥumaydī has added certain expressions and sup-
plements that do not occur in the Ṣaḥīḥayn, without distinguishing them from the
collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. He quotes Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s cautionary com-
ment that non-specialists may inadvertently transmit these additional materials
as if they were part of the Ṣaḥīḥayn (see above), and asks where these additions

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101 This is the pseudonym used by Ibn Ṭāwūs in this work; see Kohlberg 1992, 57, 376.
102 Ibn Ṭāwūs, al-Ṭarāʾif (1400/1979), 533. Cf. al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1414/1994), 3: 460, no.
2996.
103 He writes that al-Ḥumaydī is regarded as trustworthy (thiqa) by all four Sunnī madhhabs;
see Ibn Ṭāwūs, al-Ṭarāʾif (1400/1979), 12.
104 On al-ʿIrāqī, see Gharaibeh (unpublished), 7.5.1.
105 Al-ʿIrāqī, Alfiyya (1427/2006), 96, verse 36.
106 Al-ʿIrāqī, Sharḥ al-Tabṣira (1423/2002), 1: 124–125; al-ʿIrāqī, al-Taqyīd (1405/1984), 17.
198 | Camilla Adang

come from. They do not have the status of sound traditions, for they do not faith-
fully reflect the wording of these traditions and al-Ḥumaydī does not supply full
isnāds for them. Whereas al-Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn by ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī
does meet al-ʿIrāqī’s criteria and may thus be studied and transmitted, this is not
true for al-Ḥumaydī’s work which, it is implied, one should steer clear of. Al-
ʿIrāqī’s student Abū ʿAbd Allāh Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Zarkashī of Cairo (d.
794 H/1392 CE), who had also familiarized himself with the work of two other
commentators, Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 804 H/1401 CE) and al-Bulqīnī (d. 805 H/
1403 CE), seems to concur with this view.107 However, several decades after al-
ʿIrāqī the eminent ḥadīth scholar Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 H/1448 CE) de-
fends al-Ḥumaydī against the implied criticism of Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ and the explicit
attacks by al-ʿIrāqī and his peers, all of whom were Egyptian Shāfiʿīs like himself.
In his al-Nukat ʿalā Kitāb b. al-Ṣalāḥ Ibn Ḥajar dedicates a lengthy passage to the
allegations, which he refutes.108 In his view, pace his predecessors, al-Ḥumaydī
very clearly and consistently indicated where his text deviated from that of one
or both of the Ṣaḥīḥs, and where quotations from al-Barqānī, al-Ismāʿīlī or Abū
Masʿūd begin and end, so that he cannot be accused of deliberately or even inad-
vertently confusing his readers. In order to prove his point, he quotes a large
number of passages from the Jamʿ. His contemporary, the well-known Egyptian
ḥadīth scholar and historian Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (d. 902 H/1497 CE) follows
up on Ibn Hajar’s comments in his Fatḥ al-Mughīth bi-sharḥ Alfiyyat al-ḥadīth,
taking an intermediate view: often al-Ḥumaydī creates ambiguity by, for exam-
ple, attributing a tradition to the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī when in fact it is from al-
Barqānī’s Mustakhraja, he says, but on many occasions he does clearly indicate
his source.109
In our own days, discussions on the Jamʿ in printed media and the internet
show that this matter has still not been settled to everyone’s satisfaction.

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107 Al-Zarkashī, al-Nukat (1419/1998), 1: 196, par. 48; 230, par. 55. Al-Zarkashī and his work, as
well the other commentators of his generation and the generation of his masters, are discussed
in detail in Gharaibeh (unpublished), 7.5.
108 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Nukat (1404/1984), 300–310. The author also refers to al-Ḥumaydī in other
works, such as his commentary on al-Bukhārī. Al-ʿAkāyla 2014 repeats Ibn Ḥajar’s arguments.
109 Al-Sakhāwī, Fatḥ al-Mughīth (1426/2005), 1: 72-74. On Ibn Ḥajar, see Rosenthal, “Ibn
Hadjar”, EI2; Gharaibeh (unpublished), 7.6.1.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 199

6 Some conclusions
From the above survey, in which I have attempted to follow the trail of al-
Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, we may conclude that for some three hundred
years after the Andalusi author’s death, his magnum opus was constantly being
copied, studied, taught, excerpted and commented upon by members of all four
Sunnī schools of law, and to a lesser extent by Twelver Shīʿī scholars. In many
cases we are able to identify the direct and indirect students of the author who
passed the work on. The role of Ibn al-Jawzī, whose name crops up repeatedly,
deserves further examination. While we find active engagement with the work
among Ḥanbalīs, Shāfiʿīs and Ḥanafīs (including several madhhab-switchers),
there was apparently less interest among Mālikīs. This may be due on the one
hand to the fact that the Jamʿ was mainly transmitted in the Mashriq, where the
Mālikīs were a minority, and on the other because in the predominantly Mālikī
West (al-Andalus and North Africa) several works in the genre by local scholars
were available, such as the ones by Muḥammad b. Zarqūn (d. 621 H/1224 CE), Ibn
Abī Ḥijja (d. 642 H/1244 CE) and ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī, already referred to. The
fact that al-Ḥumaydī was associated with Ibn Ḥazm and Ẓāhirism may be an ad-
ditional reason for Mālikī reluctance to study and transmit the work.110 We have
seen that al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ was on the one hand praised and to some extent
even imitated, while on the other it was criticized for allegedly failing to distin-
guish between the contents of the Ṣaḥīḥayn proper and additions or emendations
based on other collections such as the mustakhrajāt of al-Barqānī and al-Ismāʿīlī.
This allegation was refuted by Ibn Ḥajar, who defends al-Ḥumaydī against the
strictures of a number of Egyptian Shāfiʿī commentators on the Muqaddima of Ibn
al-Ṣalāḥ whose direct acquaintance with al-Ḥumaydī’s work is difficult to assess.
The Jamʿ had a different reception among Shīʿī scholars, who apparently re-
garded the work as a representative and convenient repository of traditions about
ʿAlī and his house that were considered sound by Sunnīs. Among the men of
learning to have engaged with al-Ḥumaydī’s work we find some of the most emi-
nent scholars of their respective generations whose fame extends well into the
modern period, such as Ibn al-Jawzī, Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī, Sharaf al-Dīn al-
Yūnīnī, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī and al-Sakhāwī among the Sunnīs,
and Ibn Ṭāwūs and Ibn al-Biṭrīq among the Twelver Shīʿīs.

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110 Though I should add that ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq played an important role in the transmission of the
works of Ibn Ḥazm; see Adang 2013, 522–525, 532. Moreover, ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq’s Jamʿ was severely
criticized by Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī, so that it cannot be said that it received general acclaim
among the Mālikīs.
200 | Camilla Adang

Coming back now to the question of al-Ḥumaydī’s possible role in the trans-
mission of the works of Ibn Ḥazm, which was briefly touched upon in the intro-
duction. In a 2011 article, Maribel Fierro expressed the hope that a study of al-
Ḥumaydī’s influence in Baghdad might allow us to ascertain to what extent he
was instrumental in the circulation of Ibn Ḥazm’s teachings outside al-Andalus.111
Unfortunately, I have found little hard evidence that any of his students, at least
the ones mentioned here, received writings by Ibn Ḥazm from him, beyond some
poetry. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī’s statement that al-Ḥumaydī spread Ibn Ḥazm’s
fame in the Mashriq may allude to the many references to the latter in Jadhwat al-
muqtabis rather than refer to books by Ibn Ḥazm.112 Whether al-Ḥumaydī did not
offer to teach his master’s writings or there was simply no interest in them at the
time cannot be established. In fact, the Ẓāhirī scholar’s main works seem to have
been transmitted in or to the Mashriq by the direct and indirect students of
Shurayḥ al-Ruʿaynī of Seville (d. 539 H/1144 CE), probably the last person to have
received Ibn Ḥazm’s ijāza. These men included, besides ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī,
luminaries such as the Almohad qāḍī Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad b. Baqī (d. 625 H/
1228 CE) and the influential ḥadīth scholar Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī (d. 576 H/1180 CE),
active in Alexandria, who received additional works by Ibn Ḥazm from the Ẓāhirī
Ibn Marzūq.113 It is through Shurayḥ’s transmissions that a number of works by
Ibn Ḥazm reached the mystic Muḥyī al-Dīn b. ʿArabī (d. 638 H/1240 CE), who con-
tributed to their spread in the Mashriq. Al-Dhahabī, among others, owed much of
his familiarity with the writings of Ibn Ḥazm to the mystic from Murcia.114

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111 Fierro 2011, 79, n. 59.
112 Ibn Ḥajar, Lisān al-mīzān (1423/2002), 5: 489: nashara dhikrahu bi-l-Mashriq. On the refer-
ences by al-Ḥumaydī, see Terés 1964.
113 Adang 2005, 321–322.
114 See Addas 2019, esp. 36–38, 43–48; Adang 2013.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 201

Appendix: Musnad Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān115

The traditions accepted by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim from
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān (may God be
pleased with him)
[2895] The first ḥadīth: from ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās from Muʿāwiya, who said: I
cut the hair of the Messenger of God (God’s prayer and peace be upon him) with
a long blade.116
Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī quoted this ḥadīth in his book, and Abū Bakr Aḥmad b.
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Ghālib al-Khwārizmī al-Barqānī also produced it on the
latter’s authority in his book, in the transmission of Muḥammad b. al-Muthannā
from Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān from Ibn Jurayj, who said that [Muʿāwiya] cut the hair of
the Messenger of God with a long blade, or: I saw him cut it at Marwa.

[2896] The second ḥadīth: from Abū Muḥammad Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib, who said:
Muʿāwiya came to Medina and addressed a sermon to us. He took out a bunch of
hair, and said: I never thought anyone would use this except the Jews. When the
Messenger of God heard of it, he called it cheating (al-zūr). Abū Masʿūd al-Di-
mashqī said: meaning: [hair] extension.117
In a ḥadīth of Qatāda from Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib it is said that Muʿāwiya said
on a certain day: You have adopted an evil fashion; the Messenger of God forbade
cheating. He said: a man came, carrying a staff, and with a piece of cloth on his
head. Muʿāwiya said: Is this not cheating? Qatāda said: meaning: the pieces of
cloth that women use to increase [the volume of] their hair.118
Both [al-Bukhārī and Muslim] extracted this from the ḥadīth of Ḥumayd b.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, namely that he heard Muʿāwiya on the minbar, during
the year of the Ḥajj, and that [Muʿāwiya] reached for a lock of hair that was held
by a guard and said: O people of Medina, where are your learned men? I heard

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115 Al-Ḥumaydī, al-Jamʿ (1414/1994), 3: 405–411, from the muqillīn section. The glosses to this
section are on pages 233–235 of the author’s Tafsīr gharīb mā fī al-Ṣaḥīḥayn. I have used the one-
volume Dār Ibn Kathīr edition (1423/2002) for al-Bukhārī, and the 1427/2006 Dār Ṭayba edition,
also in one volume, for Muslim, and have consulted the English translations of the Ṣaḥīḥayn.
116 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Ḥajj”, bāb 127, no. 1730, p. 417; Muslim, “Ḥajj”, bāb 33, nos. 209, 210, pp.
570–571.
117 Al-Bukhārī, “Aḥādīth al-anbiyāʾ”, bāb 54, no. 3488, p. 863; “al-Libās”, bāb 83, no. 5938, p.
1493; Muslim, “al-Libās”, bāb 33, no. 123, p. 1021.
118 Muslim, “al-Libās”, bāb 33, no. 124, p. 1021.
202 | Camilla Adang

the Messenger of God forbid such a thing, saying: The Israelites were destroyed
when their women used this.119
In a ḥadīth of Maʿmar from al-Zuhrī, it says [instead]: the Israelites were
merely punished.120

[2897] The third ḥadīth: From Ḥumayd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf who said: I
heard Muʿāwiya say during a sermon: I heard the Messenger of God say: If God
wants to bestow a favour on someone, He makes him understand the religion. I
am merely a distributor, but God gives. This nation will continue to follow God’s
command, and those who oppose them will not harm them until God’s command-
ment comes to pass.121
In a ḥadīth of Ismāʿīl b. Abī ʿUways from Ibn Wahb there is something similar;
he said: The affairs of this nation will continue to be in order until the Hour ar-
rives, or until God’s commandment comes to pass.122
In a ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Mubārak from Yūnus b. Yazīd there is some-
thing similar; he said: God is the Giver, and I am the distributor; this nation will
continue to be victorious over those who oppose them until God’s commandment
comes to pass while they are victorious.123
This is the wording in the ḥadīths in the transmission of al-Bukhārī from
Ḥumayd. Muslim does not have any traditions from Ḥumayd apart from his say-
ing: If God wants to bestow a favour on someone, He makes him understand the
religion. I am merely the distributor, but God gives.124
The third section appears in both Muslim and al-Bukhārī from the ḥadīth of
ʿUmayr b. Hāniʾ, namely that he heard Muʿāwiya say on the minbar: I heard the
Messenger of God say: A party within my nation will continue to stand by God’s
command, and those who deceive or oppose them will not harm them, until the
commandment of God will come while they are victorious over the people. This
is the wording of the ḥadīth in Muslim.125
The wording of the ḥadīth in al-Bukhārī is similar. It has: A nation within my
nation will continue to stand by the commandments of God, and he added: Mālik
b. Yukhāmir said: I heard Muʿādh say: While they are in al-Shām [instead of:

||
119 Al-Bukhārī, “Aḥādīth al-anbiyāʾ”, bāb 54, no. 3468, pp. 859–860; “al-Libās”, bāb 83, no.
5932, p. 1492; Muslim, “al-Libās”, bāb 33, no. 122, p. 1021.
120 Muslim, “al-Libās”, bāb 33, no. 123, p. 1021.
121 Al-Bukhārī, “al-ʿIlm”, bāb 13, no. 71, p. 30.
122 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Iʿtiṣām”, bāb 10, no. 7312, p. 1806.
123 Al-Bukhārī, “Farḍ al-khums”, bāb 7, no. 3116, p. 768.
124 Muslim, “al-Zakāt”, bāb 33, no. 100, p. 459.
125 Muslim, “al-Imāra”, bāb 53, no. 174, pp. 925–926.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 203

while they are victorious]. Muʿāwiya said: This Mālik claims that he heard Muʿādh
say: While they are in al-Shām.126
Muslim quoted from the ḥadīth of Yazīd b. al-Aṣamm who said: I heard
Muʿāwiya mention a ḥadīth which he transmitted from the Prophet, and I have
not heard him transmit any ḥadīth of the Prophet from his minbar except for this
one. He said: The Messenger of God said: If God wants to bestow a favour on
someone, He makes him understand the religion, and a group of Muslims will
continue to fight for the truth, being victorious over those who resist them, until
Resurrection Day.127

[2898] The fourth ḥadīth: From Ḥumayd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān that he heard
Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān addressing a sermon on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ to the people
in Medina, that is, upon his arrival there, and according to the ḥadīth in al-Bu-
khārī: in the year of the Ḥajj, on the minbar, and he said: O people of Medina,
where are your learned men? I have heard the Messenger of God say: This is the
Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ; God has not prescribed a fast for you on it. I fast, so whoever so
wishes may fast, and whoever wishes may break the fast.128

The traditions included only by al-Bukhārī

[2899] The first ḥadīth: Al-Bukhārī quoted it as an addition to a ḥadīth of
Ḥumayd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, namely, that he heard Muʿāwiya relate a tradition to
a group of Qurashīs in Medina and mention Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, saying: He was one of
the most trustworthy among those narrators who transmitted from the People of
the Book, even though we know some of his [information] to be lies.129

[2900] The second ḥadīth: From ʿĪsā b. Ṭalḥa that one day he heard Muʿāwiya,
upon hearing the muezzin, repeat the words after him up to wa-ashhadu anna
Muḥammadan Rasūl Allāh.130
In a ḥadīth of Hishām, the companion of al-Dustawāʾī, from Yaḥyā it says
something similar: Yaḥyā b. Abī Kathīr said, and our brothers transmitted, that

||
126 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Manāqib”, bāb 28, no. 3641, p. 895; “al-Tawḥīd”, bāb 29, no. 7460, p. 1842.
127 Muslim, “al-Imāra”, bāb 53, no. 175, p. 926.
128 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Ṣawm”, bāb 69, no. 2003, p. 480; Muslim, “al-Ṣiyām”, bāb 19, no. 126,
p. 503.
129 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Iʿtiṣām”, bāb 25, no. 7361, p. 1816.
130 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Adhān”, bāb 7, no. 612, p. 156.
204 | Camilla Adang

when [the muezzin] said ḥayya ʿalā al-ṣalāt, [Muʿāwiya] said: lā ḥawla wa-lā
quwwata illā li-Llāh. Then he said: This is what we heard your prophet say.131
Al-Bukhārī also extracted [it] from the ḥadīth of Abū Umāma Asʿad b. Sahl,
who said: I heard Muʿāwiya – who was sitting on the minbar when the muezzin
called Allāhu akbar Allāhu akbar – say: Allāhu akbar Allāhu akbar. Then [the mu-
ezzin] called ashhadu an lā ilāha illā llāh, and Muʿāwiya said: wa-anā ashhadu an
lā ilāha illā llāh. And when the call to prayer ended, he said: O people, I heard the
Messenger of God say the same things you just heard from me as he was sitting
on this minbar and the call for prayer was sounded.132

[2901] The third ḥadīth: From Muḥammad b. Jubayr b. Muṭʿim, who related that
while he was with him in a delegation from Quraysh, word reached Muʿāwiya that
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ related that there will be a king from Qaḥṭān. At this
Muʿāwiya got angry and stood up, and after praising God in the manner He is
worthy of, he said: Now then, word has reached me that some men among you
are relating stories that are not in the book of God, nor can they be traced back to
the Messenger of God; those are the ignorant ones among you. Beware of the vain
desires that lead their holders astray. I have heard the Messenger of God say: This
rule belongs to Quraysh. No one shall show enmity towards them but God will
topple him on his face, as long as they uphold the religion.133

[2902] The fourth ḥadīth: From Abū Saʿīd Jamrān [Ḥumrān] b. Abān from
Muʿāwiya, who said: You are performing prayer in a way in which I have never
seen the Messenger of God perform it, and I have been in his company, and he
has forbidden both, namely to pray two rakʿas after ʿaṣr.134

The traditions included only by Muslim

[2903] The first ḥadīth from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī who said: Muʿāwiya went to a
circle in the mosque and said: What makes you sit [here]? They said: We are sit-
ting here in order to remember God. He said: [Tell me] by God, nothing else makes
you sit [here]? They said: By God, nothing else makes us sit [here]. [Muʿāwiya]

||
131 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Adhān”, bāb 7, no. 613, p. 156.
132 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Jumʿa”, bāb 23, no. 914, p. 221.
133 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Manāqib”, bāb 2, no. 3500, pp. 865–866; “al-Aḥkām”, bāb 2, no. 7139,
p. 1764.
134 Al-Bukhārī, “al-Mawāqīt”, bāb 31, no. 587, p. 149; “Faḍāʾil asḥāb al-Nabī”, bāb 28, no. 3766,
p. 924.
 A Majorcan in Baghdad. Al-Ḥumaydī’s Jamʿ bayn al-Ṣaḥīḥayn | 205

now said: I am not asking you to take an oath out of suspicion of you, for there is
no one in my position who has narrated so few traditions from the Messenger of
God as I have. But the Messenger of God [himself] went out to a circle of his Com-
panions and said: What makes you sit [here]?, and they said: We are sitting [here]
in order to remember God and to praise Him for having guided us to Islam and
having blessed us with it. [The Messenger of God] said: [Tell me] by God, nothing
else makes you sit [here]?, and they said: By God, nothing else makes us sit [here].
[The Messenger of God] said: I am not asking you to take an oath out of suspicion
of you, but Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to me and he informed me that God
was boasting about you to the angels […].135
Abū Bakr al-Barqānī extracted this in his book in the transmission of Abū
Bakr b. Abī Shayba from whom Muslim [in turn] extracted it, and it says that the
Messenger of God went out to a circle of his Companions, and then something
similar, until the [Messenger’s] saying: By God, nothing else makes you sit [here]?
And they said, By God, nothing else makes us sit here, and he said: I am not ask-
ing you to take an oath out of suspicion of you …. Then he mentions the rest of
this ḥadīth, which includes: and to have blessed us with you.

[2904] The second ḥadīth: From Abū ʿAmr Jarīr b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Bajalī, who said:
We were sitting with Muʿāwiya, and the years of [the life of] the Messenger of God
were mentioned, and Muʿāwiya said: the Messenger of God was taken away at the
age of sixty-three, Abū Bakr died when he was sixty-three, and ʿUmar was killed
when he was sixty-three.136
In a ḥadīth of Shuʿba it says that Jarīr said that he heard Muʿāwiya deliver a
sermon in which he said: the Messenger of God died when he was sixty-three, and
likewise Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, and I am [now] sixty-three.137

[2905] The third ḥadīth: From the ḥadīth of ʿUmar b. ʿAṭāʾ b. Abī al-Juwār that
Nāfiʿ b. Jubayr sent him to al-Sāʾib, the son of the sister of Nimr to ask him about
something that Muʿāwiya had seen him do during prayer. He said: Yes, I prayed
on Friday with him in the maqṣūra, and when the imām pronounced salutation I
got up from my place and prayed, and when he came in he sent for me and said:

||
135 Muslim, “al-Dhikr wa-l-duʿāʾ”, bāb 11, no. 40, pp. 1242–1243.
136 Muslim, “al-Faḍāʾil”, bāb 33, no. 119, p. 1104.
137 Muslim, “al-Faḍāʾil”, bāb 33, no. 120, pp. 1104–1105. Muʿāwiya’s age at death is variously
given as 73, 75, 78, 80 or 85; see Hinds, “Muʿāwiya I”, EI2, 264.
206 | Camilla Adang

Do not repeat what you did. If you perform the Friday prayer, do not pray regular
ṣalāt until we have talked or left [the prayer site]138
In a ḥadīth of Ḥajjāj b. Muḥammad from Ibn Jurayj it says: and when he made
the salutation, I got up from my place, but without mentioning the imām.139

[2906] The fourth ḥadīth: From Humām b. Munabbih from Muʿāwiya, who said:
The Messenger of God said: Do not importune with questions, for by God, none
of you who asks me for something and then gets what he asked for while I dislike
it, will be blessed in that which I gave him.140

[2907] The fifth ḥadīth: From ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĀmir al-Yaḥṣubī who said: I heard
Muʿāwiya say: Beware of traditions, except a tradition that was current in the time
of ʿUmar, for ʿUmar would cause the people to fear God. I heard the Messenger of
God as he was saying: Whomever God wants to do a favour, he makes him under-
stand the religion, and I heard the Messenger of God say: I am a treasurer; if I give
to someone from the goodness of my soul, he will be blessed through it, but if I
give to someone because he asks, being corrupt, he is like the one who eats and
never gets full.141

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Khaoula Trad
The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth
Commentaries on the Mashriq

1 Introduction
Within twenty years of the prophet Muḥammad’s death, Islam fanned out west-
ward,1 beginning with Ifrīqiya2 until reaching the Iberian Peninsula in 92 H/
711 CE.3 From Kairouan to Fez and on to Córdoba, these lands were to remain
strongly interconnected, despite the changes of dynasties and the historical
events that would push the two shores of the western Mediterranean to confront
one another4 and at times to each consider the other part as the enemy.5 Al-Ma-
ghrib al-ifrīqī and al-Maghrib al-andalusī6 formed a nucleus of a geographical, so-
cial, cultural and religious convergence. The conquest was not only a territorial
and political expansion, but also a specifically religious and ideological one, and
so the spread of Islam brought with it the development and flourishing of the Is-
lamic sciences, including ʿulūm al-ḥadīth and in particular the genre of ḥadīth
commentaries.
In this context, the present contribution intends to shed light on how ḥadīth
collections were introduced into the Islamic West, how they were received, how
Maghribi scholars dealt with them, and, accordingly, how the Maghrib came to
be considered as dār ḥadīth. In addition, I will dedicate a section to the leadership
of the Maghrib vis-à-vis the ḥadīth literature dealing with commentaries. As indi-
cated in the title, the central purpose of this study is to highlight the importance
of Maghribi ḥadīth commentaries and their impact on the Mashriq. I will take the

||
1 Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ (1964), 28–29.
2 Present-day Tunisia, western Libya and eastern Algeria.
3 Lévi-Provençal 1938, 14; Chalmeta 1994, 133. A detailed study on the date of the conquest is
available on Sánchez Albornoz 1945, 52–105.
4 Marín 1985, 45.
5 They were explicitly called al-jāratayn al-ʿaduwwatayn (“the enemy neighbors”). See Nūr al-
Dīn 1989, 104.
6 See below.
||
Note: This paper was presented at the international conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”,
which took place on 20–21 December 2018.

Open Access. © 2021 Khaoula Trad, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-008
214 | Khaoula Trad

Ṣaḥīḥ of Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAsākir al-Dīn Muslim b. al-Ḥajjāj (d. 261 H/875 CE) as a
case study, and will attempt to demonstrate its importance through subsequent
Maghribi works that were based on it. As for the impact of Maghribi ḥadīth com-
mentaries on Mashriqi scholars, I will focus on two commentaries: Ikmāl al-
Muʿlim fī sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE) and al-Mufhim li-
mā ashkala min talkhīṣ kitāb Muslim by Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī (d. 656 H/
1258 CE).

2 Contextualization
2.1 The Maghrib and the Mashriq
Geographers and historians differed about the definition of the term al-Maghrib,
ascribing to it diverse geographical dimensions.7 Literally, al-Maghrib (the West)
is the opposite of al-Mashriq (the East). From its original meaning indicating the
place where the sun sets,8 it came to designate, during the period of al-fitna al-
kubrā (35–41 H/656–661 CE), the western part of the Islamic world, which at that
time comprised Egypt, its surroundings and the Levant.9 As the Islamic Empire
continued to expand westward and consolidate its hold on North Africa, the Is-
lamic West, now regarded as extending from Barqa in present-day Libya through
to the Atlantic, came to be considered as a homogeneous cultural entity. There
was, however, the ongoing question of whether or not al-Andalus was a part of
the Maghrib or not. Al-Idrīsī (d. ca. 560 H/1164-5 CE), for example, describes al-
Andalus as being very close to the Maghrib, and representing a natural extension
of it that influences and is influenced by the events happening there.10 By con-
trast, in Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī’s (d. 626 H/1229 CE) Muʿjam al-buldān,11 the Maghrib is
taken to comprise al-Andalus and the territories between Milyāna12 and the Sūs
mountains.13 In al-Miqbās fī akhbār al-Maghrib wa-Fās – attributed to Abū

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7 See the studies by Giovanna Calasso and by Víctor de Castro included in this same volume.
8 Saʿdūn 1988, 19.
9 Muʾnis 2003, 24; Laqbāl 1951, 14.
10 Al-Idrīsī, Nuzhat al-mushtāq (1989), 2: 525.
11 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān (1988), 5: 161.
12 A town in north-western Algeria, considered as the border of Ifrīqiya.
13 It is located in the Sūs, which is a region in mid-southern Morocco, bordered by the Grand
Atlas Mountains to the north, by the Anti-Atlas to the east and south, and by the Atlantic Ocean
to the west.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 215

Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. Mūsā al-Warrāq (alive in 555 H/1160 CE)14 – it includes
all the lands from the banks of the Nile in Alexandria up to Salé.15 However, de-
spite these differing views, the majority of geographers and historians reached
the general consensus that al-Maghrib referred to “the Islamic lands [that] ex-
tended from western Egypt until the Atlantic Ocean, including al-Andalus. Con-
sidering the existence of al-Maghrib al-ifrīqī and al-Maghrib al-andalusī, the term
Maghrib or Maghāriba includes, indeed, al-Andalus and its inhabitants”.16
As for al-Mashriq, it begins in Egypt and extends through the Levant (bilād
al-shām), the Arabian peninsula (al-jazīra al-ʿarabiyya), upper Mesopotamia (al-
jazīra al-furātiyya), Iraq, Khorasan, Transoxiana (bilād mā warāʾa al-nahr), Persia
(bilād Fāris), iqlīm al-Jibāl,17 Sindh, Sistan (Sijistān) and Daylam (bilād al-
daylam).18 Although Egypt is situated in the middle – thus playing the role of a
connecting boundary, and sharing cultural, political, historical and ethnic char-
acteristics with both parts – it is generally considered to belong to the Mashriq.

2.2 The introduction of ḥadīth literature in the Maghrib

The 2nd/8th century is held to mark the spread of Mālikism out of its original
birthplace in Medina, where its eponymous founder Mālik b. Anas (d. 179 H/
795 CE) lived and taught, and Egypt was the first province outside the Arabian
Peninsula to receive this doctrine.19 By the end of the century, the Mālikī legal
school in Alexandria was established,20 which made a significant contribution to
the spread of Mālikism into the West. Alexandria was the principal gateway to

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14 Ibn ʿIdhārī, al-Bayān (2013), 1: 26.
15 A town in north-western Morocco.
16 Al-ʿAbbādī 1978, 10.
17 Ibn Ḥawqal, Ṣūrat al-arḍ (1992), 304.
18 Al-Jabrānī 2016, 42.
19 Al-Jaydī 1987, 19.
20 Due to its strategic location as a nexus between the Maghrib and the Mashriq. See Ibn
ʿAṭāʾillāh, al-Ḥikam (1984), 5. In addition, ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. Khālid b. Yazīd al-Jumaḥī (d. 163 H/
780 CE) – who was the first to introduce the “issues” (masāʾil) of Mālik’s madhhab into Egypt –
was from Alexandria, as were Zayn b. Shuʿayb b. Kurayb al-Maʿāfirī (d. 184 H/801 CE) and Ṭulayb
b. Kāmil al-Lakhmī (d. 173 H/790 CE). Likewise, Ibn al-Qāsim (d. 191 H/807 CE), Ashhab (d.
203 H/819 CE) and ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (d. 214 H/830 CE) taught there before travelling
to Medina to meet Mālik in order to certify what they had learned or to obtain the honour of isnād
superiority (nayl sharaf ʿulūw al-isnād); e.g. Ibn al-Qāsim asserts that he knew all there was to
know about Mālik and his madhhab before meeting him (mā kharajtu li-Mālik illā wa-anā ʿālim
bi-qawlihi). See Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-madārik (1983), 3: 56, 54–61.
216 | Khaoula Trad

Ifrīqiya and would afterward become the base for Maghribi scholars during their
riḥla fī ṭalab al-ʿilm, or journey in search of knowledge, which was often carried
out in combination with the ḥajj.21 After Medina and Alexandria, Kairouan con-
stituted the third major Mālikī hub. At the beginning of the 3rd/9th century,
Mālikism had become the main madhhab in the Maghrib, together with
Ḥanafism.22 ʿAlī b. Ziyād al-Tūnisī (d. 183 H/799 CE)23 introduced the Muwaṭṭaʾ of
Mālik in Ifrīqiya24 before 161 H/777 CE25 and al-Ghāzī b. Qays (d. 199 H/815 CE)
later brought it to Córdoba.26 Being the second seminal book introduced in the
Maghrib after the Qurʾān, the Muwaṭṭaʾ contributed substantially to the develop-
ment and establishment of Mālikī law in the region. The process of reception was
accompanied by that of reflection and adaptation; in Ben ʿAshūr’s words:

Exegesis, thematization, the definitive choice between the solutions proposed and the shift
from proposed doctrine to declarations of uniform law, the establishment of mechanisms
for memorization and automated thought – all of this belongs to the Maghrib.27

Some scholars started to combine their interest in the study of Mālikī furūʿ legal
treatises such as the Mudawwana with that of ḥadīth, as did Muḥammad Ibn
Waḍḍāḥ (d. 287 H/897 CE). His contemporary Baqī b. Makhlad (d. 276 H/889 CE)
went as a step further, as he did not follow the Mālikī legal school. After some
thirty-five years of long journeys in search of knowledge, Baqī b. Makhlad intro-
duced the Muṣannaf of Ibn Abī Shayba (d. 235 H/850 CE) in al-Andalus.28 His
ḥadīth-oriented outlook elicited the strong opposition of some Mālikī jurists,29 but

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21 The journey in search of knowledge was a requirement for everyone who aspired to
strengthen and widen their skills, to meet great authorities and learn from them. Traditionally,
the riḥla was an eastward journey because it was associated with the pilgrimage to Mecca.
22 Two schools of thought preceded the Mālikī madhhab in the Maghrib, those of al-Thawrī (d.
161 H/777 CE) and al-Awzāʿī (d. 157 H/774 CE), but they quickly disappeared, making way for the
consolidation of Mālikism.
23 Also known as al-Imām al-Ṭarābulusī. He was a companion of Mālik and the teacher of Asad
b. al-Furāt (d. 213 H/828 CE) and Imām Saḥnūn (d. 240 H/854 CE).
24 Specifically in Kairouan. See al-Sharīf 1999, 34.
25 Ghrab 1992, 170–171.
26 Al-Ḥamīdī 2008, 313, maintains that Ziyād b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Lakhmī (d. 193 H/809 CE),
known as Shabṭūn, was the first to introduce the Mālikī school of law in al-Andalus and accord-
ingly the dissemination of the doctrine is attributed to him. More details on this topic can be
found in Idris 1967, 397–414; Fierro 1989, 68–93; Carmona 2005.
27 Ben ʿAshūr 1992, 85.
28 Ibn al-Faraḍī, Taʾrīkh (2008), 1: 145.
29 Aṣbagh b. Khalīl (d. 273 H/988 CE) prevented Qāsim b. Aṣbagh from listening to Baqī b. Makh-
lad and had forbidden the disciples from being taught by ahl al-ḥadīth. He went so far as to assert
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 217

Baqī b. Makhlad was able to survive persecution and had many students who at-
tended his lessons. Thanks to him and to Ibn Waḍḍāḥ, al-Andalus came to be
considered dār ḥadīth.
Gradually, the collections of ḥadīth spread across the Maghrib. The Sunan of
Abū Dāwūd (d. 275 H/888 CE) occupied the first place and captured the attention
of the Cordoban jurists.30 As regards al-Andalus, the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd (d.
275 H/888 CE) was introduced by, among others, Aḥmad b. Duḥaym b. Khalīl b.
ʿAbd al-Jabbār b. Ḥarb al-Qurṭubī (278–338 H/891–949 CE).31 Abū Bakr
Muḥammad b. Muʿāwiya b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (d. 358 H/971 CE), known as Ibn al-
Aḥmar, introduced the Sunan of al-Nasāʾī (d. 303 H/915 CE) into al-Andalus
around 350 H/963 CE.32 The Jāmiʿ of al-Tirmidhī (d. 279 H/892 CE) came next,33
gaining more popularity in al-Andalus than in Ifrīqiya, where it was replaced by
Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ. It was followed by al-Dāraquṭnī’s (d. 385 H/995 CE) Sunan and
the Musnad of Ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 H/855 CE), while Ibn Māja’s (d. 273 H/886 CE)
Sunan did not attract scholarly attention in the Maghrib.34 Thus, the 4th/10th cen-
tury marks the beginning of the heyday of ʿulūm al-ḥadīth in al-Andalus, where
scholars became increasingly well-versed in this discipline as “the opposition be-
tween ahl al-raʾy and ahl al-ḥadīth diminished”.35

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that he would rather be buried with a pig’s head than with the Muṣannaf of Ibn Abī Shayba. See
al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1992), 13: 202. See also Talīdī 1995, 24.
30 Ibn Khayr, Fahrasa (1998), 91.
31 Robson 1952, 584.
32 He set out on his riḥla in 295 H/907 CE, and saw al-Nasāʾī in 297 H/909 CE in Fustat. From
there he went on to Baghdad, Basra and India. When he came back to al-Andalus, he brought
with him the Sunan and taught it to Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Rabīʿ b. Bannūsh al-Tamīmī
(d. 415 H/1027 CE). See Ibn Khayr, Fahrasa (1998), 91; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1992), 16: 68.
33 Al-Dhahabī (d. 748 H/1348 CE) maintains in Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ that Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī en-
tered al-Andalus only after the death of Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/1064 CE) and in Mīzān al-iʿtidāl he
states that the Jāmiʿ was unknown to Ibn Ḥazm (innahu majhūl) and that he had never heard
about its existence nor its ʿilal. See al-Dhahabī, Mīzān al-iʿtidāl (1963), 3: 678; al-Dhahabī, Siyar
(1992), 18: 202. Indeed, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463 H/1071 CE), who was a teacher and close com-
panion of Ibn Ḥazm, taught the Jāmiʿ to his disciples and heard it from Abū ʿAlī al-Ghassānī al-
Jayyānī (d. 498 H/1105 CE). In addition, as we know that he never left al-Andalus, Jāmiʿ al-Tir-
midhī must have been brought there at least sixty years before the death of Ibn Ḥazm. This is an
indication, partial but pertinent, that Ibn Ḥazm may have heard about al-Tirmidhī and his Jāmiʿ;
however, if this were the case, it is not clear why he would have failed to ever mention it. See Ibn
ʿAtiyya, Fahrasa (1983), 70; Robson 1954, 259. In spite of what al-Dhahabī reported, it is recorded
in Ibn ʿAṭiyya’s Fihrist that Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf Ibn al-Jayyānī (d. 390 H/1000 CE) in-
troduced al-Tirmidhī’s Jāmiʿ into al-Andalus, as Robson 1954, 259 already pointed out.
34 See more in Brown 2011.
35 Fierro 2011, 76.
218 | Khaoula Trad

The Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī reached Kairouan in the year 357 H/967 CE thanks to
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Qābisī (d. 403 H/1012 CE), a prominent Qayrawānī jurist and
traditionist.36 ʿAbd Allāh al-Aṣīlī (d. 392 H/1001 CE), one of al-Qābisī’s students
who had accompanied him on his riḥla, entered al-Andalus during the final days
of al-Ḥakam al-Mustanṣir’s rule, in 366 H/976 CE, and brought with him the
Ṣaḥīḥ.37 As regards the introduction of Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ into the Maghrib, Cordoban
imām and muḥaddith Qāsim b. Aṣbagh (d. 340 H/951 CE) is said to have written a
compilation of ḥadīth based on Muslim’s work: Kitāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ ʿalā hayʾat Ṣaḥīḥ
Muslim.38 The aforementioned Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf Ibn al-Jayyānī (d.
390 H/1000 CE)39 is explicitly mentioned as having introduced this work into al-
Andalus.40
To summarize, although initially in the Maghrib Mālikī jurists paid little at-
tention to the reception of aḥādīth and ʿilm al-ḥadīth, from the 4th/10th century
onwards, after the introduction of most of the so-called six canonical collections,
the circulation of ḥadīth increased, as did its study and its development as a
genre. From then on, many Maghribi scholars devoted their lives to studying the
prophetic tradition in all its aspects. They scrutinized the materials, commented
on them, wrote glosses (ḥāshiyāt), summaries (talākhīṣ) and abridged versions
(mukhtaṣarāt), and commented on the mutūn and asānīd. Moreover, they looked
into its problems (mushkilāt) and terms (alfāẓ), added epilogues (takmilāt), re-
searched the biographies of the traditionists (tarājim), determined and identified
its authorities (rijāl), composed prefaces (iftitāḥiyyāt) and conclusions
(khatamāt), etc. The high proficiency that Maghribi scholars attained in ʿilm al-
ḥadīth allowed them to make specific contributions in this field, which we will
now examine.

2.3 The development of ḥadīth commentaries in the Maghrib

A significant corpus of ḥadīth and legal literature was produced in the Maghribi
milieu; as stated by Blecher,

Beginning in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries, largely but not exclusively among Maliki
hadith scholars in southern Spain and North Africa, the hadith collections themselves came

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36 Al-Qābisī, al-Risāla (1986), 9.
37 Ibn al-Faraḍī, Taʾrīkh (2008), 1: 335.
38 Al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ (1971), 2: 49.
39 See footnote 33.
40 Ibn al-Faraḍī, Taʾrīkh (2008), 2: 244; Makkī 1968, 203.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 219

to be understood as worthy of systematic commentary. These commentaries took the form

of live lessons, oral glosses during a recitation of hadith commentary, and multivolume
written works for use as reference during devotional study, recitation, legal instruction, and
legal practice.41

Before this development took place, Maghribi scholars had already written com-
mentaries, starting with al-Mudawwana al-kubrā by Qayrawānī jurist al-Imām
Saḥnūn (d. 240 H/854 CE), a work that, to quote Nicole Cottart, is “à l’origine de
toute littérature de commentaires”.42
Based on al-Asadiyya,43 Saḥnūn developed the legal basis established by
Mālik in the Muwaṭṭaʾ through his dialogue with Mālik’s direct disciple, the Egyp-
tian jurist Ibn al-Qāsim (d. 191 H/806 CE). Although Saḥnūn’s own opinions are
sparse, he wrote down all that he had heard, and then sifted through the material,
classifying and systematizing it.44 One of al-Ghāzī b. Qays’s disciples, ʿAbd al-Ma-
lik b. Ḥabīb (d. 238 H/854 CE), composed the first commentary on the Muwaṭṭaʾ,
entitled Tafsīr gharīb al-Muwaṭṭaʾ.45
As for the first commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, it is generally assumed that
it was written by al-Khaṭṭābī (d. 388 H/988 CE), with the title Aʿlām al-ḥadīth fī
sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.46 Around the same time, the Maghribi scholar Abū Jaʿfar
Aḥmad b. Naṣr al-Dāwūdī al-Tilimsānī (d. 402 H/1011 CE) wrote a commentary
known as al-Naṣīḥa fī sharḥ al-Bukhārī.47 Al-Khaṭṭābī, an Easterner – whose work
is preserved and can be found in modern editions – died fourteen years earlier
than al-Dāwūdī, whose work has since been lost. Al-Khaṭṭābī declares in his com-
mentary’s preface that after the insistence of his disciples in Balkh48 he decided
to dictate his sharḥ there.49Al-Dāwūdī, on the other hand, wrote his commentary

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41 Blecher 2016, 1.
42 Cottart, “Mālikiyya”, EI2, 6: 263.
43 The legal work by Asad b. al-Furāt, who composed it in Egypt after discussing 36,000 juristic
themes (masāʾil fiqhiyya) with Ibn al-Qāsim. See Ziriklī 2002, 298.
44 Puente 1995, 311.
45 Al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1992), 12: 103; Ibn Ḥabīb, Tafsīr (2001), 1: 151–154; Muranyi 1997, 88.
46 Al-Dimashqī 1988, 623. It is possible that al-Khaṭṭābī’s commentary could either be in
Khizānat al-Qarawiyyīn in Fez among the non-catalogued list of manuscripts, or could have been
lent out and unfortunately not been returned. See al-Kattānī, Madrasa (n.d.), 2: 569, 580–581.
47 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-madārik (1983), 7: 103; Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (1972), 1: 166. Al-Dāwūdī
also wrote a commentary on the Muwaṭṭaʾ titled al-Nāmī fī sharḥ Muwaṭṭaʾ al-Imām Mālik. To my
knowledge the work is not preserved, so we do not know exactly what kind of commentary it
was.
48 In the north of Afghanistan.
49 Al-Khaṭṭābī, Aʿlām al-ḥadīth (1988), 1: 101.
220 | Khaoula Trad

in Tlemcen, far in the West.50 There is, moreover, no indication that the two ever
met. Al-Dāwūdī’s commentary was the first commentary on the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bu-
khārī written in the Maghrib; although it has not been preserved, it is described
as having been extensive and precise.51 As we can gather based on al-Dāwūdī’s
date of death, his commentary was written at roughly the same time as that of al-
Khaṭṭābī, which is usually given precedence without taking into account this
Western counterpart.
During Ramaḍān of the year 499 H/1106 CE, in the great mosque of al-Mah-
diyya, al-Imām al-Māzarī (d. 536 H/1141 CE) dedicated his lessons to the study of
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. At the end of the month52 his disciples gave him their notes of his
dictations. He added and removed passages, rearranged it, and named it al-
Muʿlim bi-fawāʾid Muslim.53 All the commentaries composed before al-Muʿlim
were either unfinished works or belonged to the genre of sharḥ gharīb al-ḥadīth,
which focused on explaining difficult, unusual and obscure words.54 Therefore,

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50 Mawsūʿat al-ʿulamāʾ (2013), 2: 10; Nwīhiḍ 1980, 140.
51 Al-ʿAynī, ʿUmdat al-qāriʾ (n.d.), 2: 277, 8: 40, 16: 202; Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī
(1960), 3: 99; al-Qasṭalānī, Irshād al-sārī (1905), 1: 42.
52 Ramaḍān 499 fell in June 1106, which implies more hours of daylight, and thus longer ses-
sions or lectures. This strengthens the hypothesis of al-Nayfar, who asserted that the whole work
was dictated during the month of Ramaḍān, despite descriptions of how careful and slow al-
Māzarī’s dictations were. See al-Māzarī, al-Muʿlim (1988), 1: 193.
53 In the majority of biographical books (kutub al-tarājim) the work is entitled al-Muʿlim bi-
fawāʾid Muslim, as Ibn Khalqān, Ibn Khaldūn, Ibn ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, Ibn ʿAṭiyya and others
maintained. However, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, for instance, in the biographical work dedicated to his teach-
ers, al-Ghunya, specifies that he received by licence from al-Māzarī his work al-Muʿlim fī sharḥ
Muslim. See Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-madārik (1982), 65; al-Māzarī, al-Muʿlim (1988), 1: 190–192.
54 While al-Mufhim fī sharḥ gharīb Muslim composed by Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Ghāfir b. Ismāʿīl
al-Fārisī (d. 529 H/1135 CE) paid attention to difficult and unclear terms (gharīb al-ḥadīth) (see
Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān [1978], 3: 225), Ibn al-Ḥājj’s (d. 529 H/1135 CE) al-Ījāz wa-l-bayān
li-sharḥ khuṭbat kitāb Muslim maʿa kitāb al-Īmān had been limited to the commentary of the first
chapter of the Ṣaḥīḥ, and remained unfinished at the time of the author’s death (see Ibn Khayr,
Fahrasa [1998], 165). ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĪsā al-Shaybānī al-Andalusī (d. 530 H/1136 CE) likewise
passed away before finishing his commentary, entitled Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (see Ibn Bashkuwāl,
al-Ṣila [2010], 1: 385). Another commentary appeared in the same period as al-Muʿlim, namely al-
Irshād by Ibn Barrajān (d. 536 H/1141 CE). However, he limited his commentary only to the tradi-
tions containing Qurʾānic verses (see al-Kattānī al-Fāsī, Niẓām al-ḥukūma [n.d.], 2: 141). Finally,
Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad al-Iṣbahānī (d. 530 H/1136 CE) took the helm after the death
of his son, who had passed away while working on his commentary to the two Ṣaḥīḥayn (see
Ḥājjī Khalīfa, Kashf al-ẓunūn [1941], 2: 558).
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 221

al-Māzarī’s is considered to be the first comprehensive commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ

Muslim and an important pillar upon which most later commentaries were built.55
The Sevillian jurist Abū Bakr b. al-ʿArabī al-Ishbīlī’s (d. 543 H/1148 CE) com-
mentary, entitled ʿĀriḍat al-aḥwadhī fī sharḥ al-Tirmidhī, was the first Maghribi
commentary on al-Tirmidhī’s Jāmiʿ.56 Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571 H/1176 CE), in his account
of the life of Ibn al-ʿArabī, asserts that after returning to al-Andalus after his long
riḥla in 495 H/1100 CE, he devoted a sharḥ to Jāmiʿ Abī ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī.57 In the
chapter “Abwāb al-qirāʾāt”, Ibn al-ʿArabī states that he dictated it in 533 H/
1138 CE (amlaynāhu sanat thalāth wa-thalāthīn bi-jamīʿi wujūhihā). Likewise, Abū
Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. ʿAbd al-Salām al-Zuhrī, one of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s disciples, says that
he heard him dictate ʿĀriḍat al-aḥwadhī in 540 H/1145 CE,58 just three years before
his death and after having written his works Aḥkām al-Qurʾān59 and al-Qabas.60
Thus, he wrote this commentary during a period of intellectual maturity and after
having abandoned his position as judge, at a time when he was able to devote all
his energies to writing (taṣnīf), dictation (imlāʾ) and teaching (tadrīs).61
In the Islamic West, the genre of ḥadīth commentaries was nurtured by the
increase and diversification of the shurūḥ produced there. Many of these com-
mentaries, e.g. al-Muʿlim and ʿĀriḍat al-aḥwadhī, were influential sources of in-
spiration for later works.62 We might ask, then, in what ways this Maghribi influ-
ence shows up in works by Mashriqi scholars.

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55 Sezgin 1967, 1: 136, 137.
56 Brockelmann and Sezgin mention the presence of a manuscript of a sharḥ in the
Maḥmūdiyya Library in Medina (only the last part according to Spies 1936) attributed to al-
Ḥusayn b. Masʿūd al-Baghawī (d. 510 H/1117 CE). See Brockelmann 1977, 3: 190; Sezgin 1967, 1:
155. Nevertheless, none of the biographical dictionaries mentions this, and in the introduction
to his commentary, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī denies the existence of other commentaries before
ʿĀriḍat al-aḥwadhī. See al-Suyūṭī, Qūt al-mughtadhī (2013), 1: 18.
57 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh (1997), 54: 24.
58 Aʿrāb 1987, 111.
59 He finished it in 530 H/1135-6 CE. See Ibn al-ʿArabī, Aḥkām al-Qurʾān (2003), 7: 151.
60 He dictated it in 532 H/1137-8 CE. See Ibn al-ʿArabī, al-Qabas (1992), 66.
61 Ibn Bashkuwāl, al-Ṣila (2010), 2: 228.
62 Both the title and content influenced later commentaries: Ikmāl al-Muʿlim fī sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Mus-
lim, Ikmāl li-l-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Ikmāl al-Ikmāl, Ikmāl Ikmāl al-Muʿlim, Tuḥfat al-aḥwadhī sharḥ Jāmiʿ
al-Tirmidhī.
222 | Khaoula Trad

3 The Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim as a case study

3.1 Maghribi commentaries on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
Once it was introduced into the Maghrib, Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ drew the attention of
the scholars who encountered it, as reflected in the diversity and the number of
works they composed on it. The Eastern authors Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (d. 643 H/1245 CE)63
and al-Nawawī (d. 676 H/1277 CE),64 as well as the Maghribi al-Tujībī (d. 730 H/
1329 CE)65 and other scholars claimed that Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim was preferred over Ṣaḥīḥ
al-Bukhārī in the western Islamic lands.66 Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808 H/1406 CE) con-
firms this:

The Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim has been given much attention by Maghribi scholars. They applied
themselves to it and agreed that it was superior to the work of al-Bukhārī. Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ said:
“It is considered superior [by Maghribis and other scholars] to the work of al-Bukhārī, be-
cause it is free from admixtures of material that is not sound and that al-Bukhārī wrote down
disregarding his own conditions [of soundness], mostly in connection with the chapter
headings”.67

From what I have found in the biographical books (kutub al-tarājim), together
with kutub al-barāmij and al-fahāris, that I have consulted,68 I have provisionally
concluded that commentaries (shurūḥ) comprised the lion’s share as compared
to the other genres within ʿilm al-ḥadīth. As mentioned above, the Muʿlim of al-
Māzarī is considered the first and oldest complete commentary on Muslim’s com-
pilation. In this table, I have placed the Maghribi commentaries in ascending or-
der according to the scholars’ date of death.

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63 Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, Ṣiyāna (1984), 70.
64 Al-Nawawī, al-Minhāj (2000), 21.
65 Al-Tujībī, Barnāmaj (1981), 93.
66 For more details about the preference for Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim over Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, see Trad (in
press), 5–6.
67 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Muqaddima (1958), 2: 459.
68 Kutub al-barāmij wa-l-fahāris wa-l-maʿājim wa-l-athbāt are bibliographical dictionaries that
focus on the transmission of works in different disciplines. For a detailed review on this topic,
see ʿAmad 1993, 11–15.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 223

Tab. 1: Maghribi commentaries on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim

Scholars Works

al-Māzarī (d. 536 H/1141 CE) al-Muʿlim bi-fawāʾid Muslim

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE) Ikmāl al-Muʿlim fī sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
Ibn Mawjuwāl al-Balansī (d. 566 H/1170 CE) Sharḥ fī Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
Ibn Qurqūl (d. 569 H/1173 CE) Maṭāliʿ al-anwār ʿalā Ṣiḥāḥ al-āthār
Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-Ḍabbī (d. 599 H/1202 CE) Maṭāliʿ al-anwār li-Ṣiḥāḥ al-āthār
Ibn Abī Jamra, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
(d. 599 H/1202 CE)
Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad al-Dhahabī al-Balansī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
(d. 601 H/1204 CE)
ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Ghassānī al-Wādī Āshī Iqtibās al-sirāj fī sharḥ Muslim Ibn al-Ḥajjāj
(d. 609 H/1212 CE)
Ibn al-Mawwāq (d. 642 H/1244 CE) Sharḥ Muqqadimat Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Yaḥyā al-Anṣārī (d. 646 H/ al-Mufṣih al-mufhim wa-l-muwaḍḍaḥ al-mul-
1248 CE) him li-maʿānī Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī (d. 656 H/1258 CE) al-Mufhim li-mā ashkala min talkhīṣ Kitāb Muslim
Ibn Abī al-Aḥwaṣ (d. 679 H/1280 CE) al-Muʿrib al-mufhim fī sharḥ Muslim
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Laythī al-Andalusī Ikmāl li-l-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ
(d. 707 H/1307 CE)
Muḥammad b. Juzayy al-Kalbī al-Gharnaṭī Wasīlat al-muslim fī tahdhīb Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
(d. 741 H/1340 CE)
Abū al-Faraj ʿĪsā b. Masʿūd al-Zawāwī Sharḥ Muslim
(d. 744 H/1343 CE)
al-Sharīf al-Sallāwī al-Idrīsī (d. 780 H/ Ikmāl al-Ikmāl
1378 CE)
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ubbī al-Tūnisī (d. 827 H/ Ikmāl Ikmāl al-Muʿlim
1423 CE)
Ibn al-Shāṭ (d. 890 H/1485 CE) Taʿlīq ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Sanūsī al-Ḥusaynī Mukammal Ikmāl al-Ikmāl
(d. 895 H/1489 CE)
Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Marrākushī Bughyat kull muslim min Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
(d. 1348 H/1929 CE)

The analysis of the Maghribi commentaries that follows below – in this case, two
have been selected – will allow us to gain a better understanding of the im-
portance and reception of these works in the East, and will shed some light on
the Maghrib’s impact on the Mashriq.
224 | Khaoula Trad

3.1.1 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s commentary

As the title Ikmāl al-Muʿlim fī sharḥ Muslim indicates (ikmāl meaning “comple-
tion”), the commentary of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ sought to rearrange and further develop a
pre-existing work elaborated by al-Māzarī, al-Muʿlim bi-fawāʾid Muslim.69 In
addition, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s Ikmāl al-Muʿlim was based on the book Taqyīd al-muhmal
by Abū ʿAlī al-Ghassānī al-Jayyānī (d. 498 H/1105 CE).70 In the introduction, ʿIyāḍ
pays tribute to the high status of both works and to their important contribution
to the genre. However, he also asserts that the authors overlooked certain prob-
lematic traditions, unclear terms and other other sources of confusion. With this
in mind, and with the continued insistence of his disciples, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ decided to
take the helm from his teachers and write a complete, comprehensive and de-
tailed commentary.71 Ikmāl al-Muʿlim was the first link in the chain of consecutive
commentaries based on al-Muʿlim, i.e. Ikmāl li-l-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ by Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-
Laythī al-Andalusī (d. 707 H/1307 CE), Ikmāl al-Ikmāl by al-Sharīf al-Sallāwī al-
Idrīsī (d. 780 H/1378 CE), Ikmāl Ikmāl al-Muʿlim by Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ubbī al-
Tūnisī (d. 827 H/1424 CE) and Mukammal Ikmāl al-Ikmāl by Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-
Sanūsī al-Ḥusaynī (d. 895 H/1490 CE).

3.1.2 Al-Qurṭubī’s (578–656 H/1182–1258 CE) commentary

To assess the real value of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s contribution and his continuators, previ-
ous and later commentaries on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim need to be taken into account, to-
gether with the intellectual atmosphere in which they arose. Abū al-ʿAbbās al-
Qurṭubī lived in the period where “the study of aḥādīth became widespread”.72
His commentary to Muslim’s work, entitled al-Mufhim fī sharḥ kitāb Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,
is preserved in many manuscripts, of which there are a number of modern edi-
tions. Although a sizeable number of ḥadīth commentaries had already been cir-
culating in both the Maghrib and the Mashriq, the Mufhim managed to reach a
sizeable audience because of its crucial role as an interface between, on the one

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69 Al-Māzarī was Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s teacher by correspondence, as Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s riḥla was only to al-
Andalus. Al-Māzarī gave him the license to transmit his work al-Muʿlim (ajāza lahu bihi).
70 Taqyīd al-muhmal wa-tamyīz al-mushkil fī rijāl al-Ṣaḥīḥayn is a compilation of the authorities
in the Ṣaḥīḥayn. It accurately verifies their names (asmāʾ), agnomens (kunā) and lineages (an-
sāb); highlights and corrects mistakes; and presents these authorities’ origins and tribal affilia-
tions. See al-Ghassānī al-Jayyānī, Taqyīd al-muhmal (2000), 93; Serrano Ruano 2013, 299.
71 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Ikmāl al-Muʿlim (1998), 1: 71–72.
72 Fierro 2011, 77. On al-Qurṭubī see Kaddouri 2005, 160–207.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 225

hand, al-Māzarī and Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, and, on the other, al-Ubbī and al-Sanūsī.73 In ad-
dition, this commentary is distinguished by offering a readily comprehensible
synthesis, coupled with an inimitable simplicity (al-sahil al-mumtanaʿ),74 as indi-
cated in the title, where mufhim means “that which makes intelligible”.
As for the date and place where al-Mufhim was written, they are not
mentioned in the book. However, al-Qurṭubī does make reference to his own pre-
vious works, and explicitly discusses his trip to the East, after which he settled in
Alexandria.75 Thus, this commentary must have been composed for the most part
in Egypt, and more specifically in Alexandria, between 619 H/1222 CE and 656 H/
1258 CE.76

3.2 The impact of Ikmāl al-Muʿlim and al-Mufhim on later

Eastern commentaries
What sort of influence did Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī’s commen-
taries have on the Mashriq? This can be ascertained on two levels: form and con-
tent.
As for form, the chapter division (tabwīb) of Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ is attributed to
Yaḥyā b. Sharaf al-Nawawī (d. 676 H/1277 CE).77 Muslim, in fact, did not divide his
book into chapters (kutub) and subchapters (abwāb),78 but rather arranged the
traditions following a logic-based and juristic order (tartīb fiqhī),79 possibly in or-
der to save space and avoid redundancy. While the oldest copies of the Ṣaḥīḥ
– e.g. the copy of Abū Isḥāq al-Ṣirīfaynī (d. 641 H/1242 CE) – do not contain the
abwāb,80 the later ones are arranged differently, and these differences vary from
place to place and according to the schools of law.81 Al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 H/1505 CE)

||
73 Al-Qurṭubī, al-Mufhim (1996), 1: 17.
74 Al-Qurṭubī, al-Mufhim (1996), 1: 17.
75 Al-Qurṭubī, al-Mufhim (1996), 6: 25–26.
76 For the dates of al-Qurṭubī’s return from his pilgrimage to Alexandria and his death, see Kad-
douri 2005, 192.
77 Al-Mundhirī, Mukhtaṣar (1987), 9.
78 In fact, the kutub form part of the process of tabwīb, since the kitāb is actually a large bāb
with internal ramifications or subchapters.
79 Āl Ḥumayyid 1999, 40.
80 Salmān 1994, 175.
81 There is, of course, still some ambiguity concerning Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s assertion that some copies
of Muslim were divided into chapters similarly to al-Bukhārī (wa-qad waqaʿa li-Muslim fī baʿḍ
tarājimihi min baʿḍ al-riwāyāt mithla tarjamat al-Bukhārī ʿalā hādhā al-ḥadīth, wa-naṣṣuhu: bāb
226 | Khaoula Trad

agrees that Muslim did not divide his book in this way, and that the division was
undertaken by those who came after him.82 Accordingly, al-Māzarī arranged his
commentary into forty-one chapters, two subchapters entitled “bāb al-qasāma”
and “bāb al-shiʿr”, and one independent part called “al-luqaṭa”. Later on, in
Ikmāl al-Muʿlim, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ eliminated eight chapters83 from the previous
commentary, added twenty new ones,84 and divided each chapter into subchap-
ters.
Al-Nawawī essentially followed Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s divisions, excluding five kutub85
and reintegrating “kitāb qatl al-ḥayyāt wa-ghayrihā”, from al-Māzarī’s commen-
tary. The example in Table 2 shows the development from al-Māzarī’s arrange-
ment to the work carried out by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and its reception by al-Nawawī.

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al-taṭayyub baʿd al-ghusl min al-janāba). See Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Ikmāl al-Muʿlim (1998), 2: 160. In addi-
tion, the eminent traditionist of Córdoba and teacher of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Abū ʿAlī al-Ghassānī al-
Jayyānī, mentions in his Taqyīd al-muhmal one of the abwāb of Muslim: wa-akhraja Muslim fī
bāb tasmiyat al-Mawlūd (al-Ghassānī al-Jayyānī, Taqyīd al-muhmal [2000], 905). The fact that
the teacher and his disciple referred to the abwāb of Muslim is a strong indication that they were
both using the same copy of the Ṣaḥīḥ, which employed this structure. In the case of the Maghrib,
the most well known copy circulating there was that of Abū Muḥammad Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. al-
Ḥasan b. al-Mughīra b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qalānisī (date of death unknown). On the other hand,
the version of Ibn Sufyān (d. 308 H/920 CE) was at the same time gaining ground and had been
used by the majority of scholars. Therefore, regardless of whether Muslim arranged his book into
kutub and abwāb or not, the role of the Maghrib is crucial here, because it was there that this
concept of tabwīb first appeared, whether in al-Qalānisī’s version or in a Maghribi ḥadīth com-
mentary. For further information about al-Qalānisī’s copy see Trad (in press).
82 See Appendix.
83 “Kitāb al-taflīs”, “kitāb al-shufʿa”, “kitāb al-sariqa”, “kitāb al-qaḍāʾ wa-l-shahādāt”, “kitāb
al-aṭʿima”, “kitāb al-ṭibb”, “kitāb al-ṭāʿūn”, and “kitāb al-manāqib”.
84 “Kitāb al-ḥayḍ”, “kitāb al-masājid wa-mawāḍiʿ al-ṣalāt”, “kitāb ṣalāt al-musāfirīn”, “kitāb
al-jumʿa”, “kitāb ṣalāt al-ʿīdayn”, “kitāb ṣalāt al-istisqāʾ”, “kitāb al-kusūf”, “kitāb al-iʿtikāf”,
“kitāb al-liʿān”, “kitāb al-hibāt”, “kitāb al-waṣiyya”, “kitāb al-ḥudūd”, “kitāb al-aqḍiya”, “kitāb
al-salām”, “kitāb al-alfāẓ min al-adab”, “kitāb al-faḍāʾil”, “kitāb faḍāʾil al-ṣaḥāba”, “kitāb al-
ʿilm”, “kitāb al-tawba”, and “kitāb al-janna wa-ṣifat naʿīmihā wa-ahlihā”.
85 “Kitāb al-ṣiyām”, “kitāb al-riḍāʾ”, “kitāb al-ʿitq”, “kitāb al-musāqāt”, and “kitāb al-nadhr”.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 227

Tab. 2: The arrangement of “kitāb al-qadar” in al-Māzarī, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and al-Nawawī’s commen-
taries on the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim

“Kitāb al-qadar” in al-Muʿlim “Kitāb al-qadar” in Ikmāl al- “Kitāb al-qadar” in al-Minhāj
by al-Māzarī Muʿlim by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ by al-Nawawī

Taḥrīr al-Māzarī li-qawlihi: Bāb kayfiyyat khalq al-ādamī fī Bāb kayfiyyat khalq al-ādamī fī
mā min nafs manfūsa illā wa- baṭn ummihi wa-kitābat rizqihi baṭn ummihi wa-kitābat rizqihi
qad kataba Allāh makānahā wa-ajalihi wa-ʿamalihi wa- wa-ajalihi wa-ʿamalihi wa-
fī al-janna wa-l-nār… shaqāwatihi wa-saʿādatihi shaqāwatihi wa-saʿādatihi
Ḥadīth iḥtijāj Ādam wa-Mūsā Bāb ḥijāj Ādam wa-Mūsā Bāb ḥijāj Ādam wa-Mūsā
ʿalayhimā al-salām wa-izālat ʿalayhimā al-salām ʿalayhimā al-salām
mā yarid fī hādhā al-maqām
Ḥadīth “latarkabanna
sunana man qablakum”
Qawluhu: inna qulūba banī Bāb taṣrīf Allāh taʿālā al-qulūb Bāb taṣrīf Allāh taʿālā al-qulūb
Ādam bayn iṣbaʿayn min kayfa shāʾa kayfa shāʾa
aṣābiʿ Allāh
Bāb kullu shayʾ bi-qadar Bāb kullu shayʾ bi-qadar
Bāb quddira ʿalā Ibn Ādam Bāb quddira ʿalā Ibn Ādam
ḥaḍḍuhu min al-zinā wa-ghay- ḥaḍḍuhu min al-zinā wa-ghay-
ruhu ruhu
Ḥadīth “mā min mawlūd illā Bāb maʿnā kull mawlūd yūladu Bāb maʿnā kull mawlūd yūladu
yūladu ʿalā al-fiṭra fa- ʿalā al-fiṭra wa-ḥukm mawt ʿalā al-fiṭra wa-ḥukm mawt
abawāhu yuhawwidānihi wa- aṭfāl al-kuffār wa-aṭfāl al-mus- aṭfāl al-kuffār wa-aṭfāl al-mus-
yunaṣṣirānihi wa-yumaj- limīn limīn
jisānihi”
Ikhtilāf al-nās fī al-mu-
tashābah
Bāb bayān anna al-ājāl wa-l- Bāb bayān anna al-ājāl wa-l-
arzāq wa-ghayruhā lā tazīd wa- arzāq wa-ghayruhā lā tazīd
lā tanquṣu ʿammā sabaqa bihi wa-lā tanquṣu ʿammā sabaqa
al-qadar bihi al-qadar
Bāb fī al-amr bi-l-quwwa wa- Bāb fī al-amr bi-l-quwwa wa-
tark al-ʿajz wa-l-istiʿāna bi-Llāh tark al-ʿajz wa-l-istiʿāna bi-Llāh
wa-tafwīḍ al-maqādīr li-Llāh wa-tafwīḍ al-maqādīr li-Llāh

Given this example, the assertion that it was al-Nawawī who arranged the Ṣaḥīḥ
should be called into question,86 because this was a fortiori a task that had already

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86 Admittedly, it could still have been argued until 1988 or 1998, the dates when al-Muʿlim and
then Ikmāl al-Muʿlim were published, thereby making it possible to refute this attribution.
228 | Khaoula Trad

been carried out by previous Maghribi traditionists, the results of which were
afterwards adopted in the Mashriq.
Turning now to the level of content, here the impact of Maghribi commen-
taries on Mashriqi works is immediately perceptible. The analysis I have carried
out of al-Nawawī’s commentary has shown that the roots of his sharḥ are to be
found in the Ikmāl al-Muʿlim. This can be clearly ascertained in al-Nawawī’s own
words in the “kitāb al-īmān”, where he discusses the ḥadīth “man māta wa-huwa
yaʿlamu anna lā ilāha illā Allāh dakhala al-janna”. Al-Nawawī asserts that Qāḍī
ʿIyāḍ’s painstaking explanation of this ḥadīth was highly valuable (jamaʿa fīhi
nafāʾis) and that he will be quoting from and abridging Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s words (fa-
anā anqulu kalāmahu mukhtaṣaran), followed by his own additions.87
Maghribi commentaries’ impact on the East was not limited to works
addressing Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ; it also extended to the shurūḥ of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī’s al-Mufhim inspired many scholars dealing with al-
Bukhārī’s work. This was especially true with Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 H/
1449 CE) in his Fatḥ al-bārī, Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī (d. 855 H/1451 CE) in ʿUmdat al-
qāriʾ, and Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qasṭalānī (d. 923 H/1517 CE) in Irshād al-sārī. Al-
Mufhim was of great help in explaining the meanings of ambiguous terms in the
titles of the chapters and subchapters. Thus, in Fatḥ al-bārī, in “kitāb al-ḥajj”,
“bāb faḍl al-ḥajj al-mabrūr”, Ibn Ḥajar quotes al-Qurṭubī’s commentary.88 It was
also a reference concerning the explanation of the ambiguous and less readily
understood terms (sharḥ gharīb al-ḥadīth),89 the verification and rectification of
the main text of the report (ḍabṭ al-matn),90 the declension of some terms (iʿrāb
al-alfāẓ),91 the assemblage of traditions (al-jamʿ bayn al-aḥādīth),92 etc. The
Mufhim also served as a source for correcting issues related to the Mālikī school
of law and certain Mālikī rituals, such as raising the hands during prayer.93
Within this context, I will provide an example showing how an idea that ap-
peared first in the Maghrib started to circulate outside this region and was later
introduced implicitly in the Mashriqi commentaries.94 In “kitāb al-ḥayḍ” and
“kitāb al-qadar”, in Ikmāl al-Muʿlim, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, when dealing with the morpho-
genesis of the embryo, maintains that it is formed thanks to the “water” of the

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87 Al-Nawawī, al-Minhāj (2000), 105.
88 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (1960), 3: 382.
89 Al-ʿAynī, ʿUmdat al-qāriʾ (n.d.), 6: 269.
90 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (1960), 4: 316.
91 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (1960), 5: 366.
92 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (1960), 4: 134.
93 Al-Qasṭalānī, Irshād al-sārī (1905), 2: 73.
94 I wish to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Thomas Eich bringing this example to my attention.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 229

woman and also the “water” of the man. In order to clarify his opinion, he com-
pares male sperm to rennet and its ability to curdle milk.95 The commentary is as
follows:

And in it, there is an indication that the child is made of both waters, and this is an answer
to those who thought that it is only of the water of the woman, and that the water of the
man only has the function of curdling, as with rennet and milk.96

Later, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ states:

It contains a rejection to the anatomists (ahl al-tashrīḥ), doctors (wa-[ahl] al-ṭibb) and phi-
losophers/naturalists (wa-l-ṭabāʾiʿiyyīn) and those who believe in what they say, that is,
that the child comes instead from the menstrual blood, and that the semen has nothing to
do with its creation, but merely coagulates it (ʿaqdihi), as with rennet and milk, which the
book of God and the authentic aḥādīth contradict.97

One century later, the same comparison appears in the commentary of Abū al-
ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī, in “kitāb al-ṭahāra”:

And these aḥādīth indicate (...) that the child is made of the water of man and woman, un-
like those who thought that the child was made of the woman’s water and that the water of
the man was the cause of the fermentation like rennet for the milk. And God knows best.98

Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī reproduces the exact same idea with minor differences in
word choice:

Many of the anatomists (ahl al-tashrīḥ) claim that the sperm (manīʾ) of the man has no in-
fluence on the child (walad), leaving no trace but his coagulation (ʿaqd). It arises from the
menstrual blood. The aḥādīth of the chapter nullify this, and what was first mentioned cor-
responds more closely with the ḥadīth. And God knows best.99

||
95 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ was not the first to make this comparison; it has its roots in the Hellenistic period,
descending from Aristotle, Galen and Hippocrates. It also appears in the Hebrew Bible: “Did you
not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese” (Job 10.10). Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ was, however, the
first commentator to incorporate this idea into a ḥadīth commentary. Knowing that Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ
travelled many times to al-Andalus, a question that could be raised is whether he heard this
information from one of the eminent Andalusi Jewish scholars. For further information about the
history of embryology, see Needham 1959.
96 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Ikmāl al-Muʿlim (1998), 2: 151.
97 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Ikmāl al-Muʿlim (1998), 8: 125.
98 Al-Qurṭubī, al-Mufhim (1996), 1: 572.
99 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī (1960), 11: 480.
230 | Khaoula Trad

It resurfaces in Sharḥ al-arbaʿīn al-nawawiyya by ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Manāwī (d.

1031 H/1621 CE) under the following form:

And many of the anatomists (ahl al-tashrīḥ) claim that the sperm (manīʾ) of the man has no
influence on the child except in his coagulation (ʿaqd), and that instead it arises from the
menstrual blood. And the aḥādīth of the chapter nullify this.100

There are two key facts at play here. First, we know that after receiving a sound,
well-rounded education, al-Qurṭubī set out on his riḥla from al-Andalus to the
East and that he settled in Egypt,101 where he lived until his death in 656 H/
1258 CE. Second, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī and al-Manāwī were themselves from
Egypt. Therefore, I suggest the following interpretation: al-Qurṭubī constituted
the link between the Maghrib and the Mashriq, transmitting the knowledge he
acquired in Córdoba and al-Mahdiyya to his disciples during his lessons (ḥalaqāt
tadrīs).102 If this is the case, we can see how the riḥla could in some instances be
bidirectional, helping the travelling scholar to widen his knowledge, while at the
same time spreading knowledge stemming from his own intellectual and
regional/local background.

4 Conclusion
In this article I have summarized in diachronic order the chief stages in the
introduction of the ḥadīth collections to the Maghrib, and have then discussed
how this region shaped the genre of ḥadīth commentary by concentrating on Mus-
lim’s Ṣaḥīḥ and its commentaries, due to its fame and superiority in the Islamic
west. It was here that commentary writing reached its apogee, providing solid
foundations on which later works from across the Islamic world would build.
Nevertheless, Mashriqi scholars mainly focused on Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, claiming that “if
it were not for [Qāḍī] ʿIyāḍ, the Maghrib would not have been known” (law lā
ʿIyāḍ, la-mā ʿurifa al-Maghrib),103 thereby overshadowing other eminent Maghribi
scholars like al-Ghāzī b. Qays, Baqī b. Makhlad, Qāsim b. Aṣbagh, Abū Jaʿfar b.
Naṣr al-Dāwūdī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ghassānī al-Jayyānī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣadafī (d. 514 H/
1126 CE), al-Māzarī, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qābisī, and Abū al-Ghayth al-Qashshāsh (d.

||
100 Berlin, National Library MS 461–1500, fol. 66r.
101 In Alexandria.
102 Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (1972), 1: 131.
103 Ibn Tāwīt 1982, 59.
 The Impact of Maghribi Ḥadīth Commentaries on the Mashriq | 231

1014 H/1622 CE), whose library boasted more than one thousand copies of the
Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī.

Appendix
Al-Suyūṭī, Qūt al-mughtadhī (2013), 1: 33
‫ ﺣﺘﻰ ﻭﻻ ﺍﻷﺑﻮﺍﺏ‬،‫ ﻭﻟﻢ ﻳﺨﻠﻂ ﻣﻌﻬﺎ ﺷﻴﺌﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺃﻗﻮﺍﻝ ﺍﻟﺼﺤﺎﺑﺔ ﻭﻣﻦ ﺑﻌﺪﻫﻢ‬،‫ ﺃﺧﺒﺮﻧﺎ‬:‫ ﻭﻗﺎﻝ ﺍﺧﺮ‬،‫ ﺣﺪّﺛﻨﺎ‬:‫)ﻭﺇﺫﺍ( ﻗﺎﻝ ﺭﺍﻭ‬
‫ ﻭﻣﺎ ﻳﻮﺟﺪ‬،ُ‫ ﻓﻠﻴﺲ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪﻣﺔ ّﺇﻻ ﺍﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ ﺍﻟﺴّﺮﺩ‬.ُ‫ﻏﻴﺮﻩ‬
ُ ‫ﺻﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺃﻥ ﻻ ﻳﺪﺧﻞ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ‬
ً ‫ ﻛﻞ ﺫﻟﻚ ﺣﺮ‬،‫ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺮﺍﺟﻢ‬
ً
‫( – ﻭﻣﻨﻬﺎ‬21/1) ‫ﻓﻲ ﻧﺴﺨﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺑﻮﺍﺏ ُﻣﺘﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﻓﻠﻴﺲ ﻣﻦ ﺻﻨﻊ ﺍﻟﻤﺆﻟﻒ ﻭﺇﻧﻤﺎ ﺻﻨﻌﻪ ﺟﻤﺎﻋﺔ ﺑﻌﺪﻩ – ﻛﻤﺎ ﻗﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﻨﻮﻭﻱ‬
.‫ﺍﻟﺠﻴّﺪ ﻭﻏﻴﺮﻩ‬
‫( ﻭﻟﻬﺬﺍ ﺗﺠﺪ ﺍﻟﻨﺴﺦ ﺍﻟﻘﺪﻳﻤﺔ‬2/4‫ ﻭﻛﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﺍﺏ ﺗﺮﻙ ﺫﻟﻚ )ﻕ‬،‫ ﻭﻛﺄﻧﻬﻢ ﺃﺭﺍﺩﻭﺍ ﺑﻪ ﺍﻟﺘﻘﺮﻳﺐ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﻦ ﻳﻜﺸﻒ ﻣﻨﻪ‬:‫ﻗﻠﺖ‬
.ً‫ ﻧﺴﺨﺔ ﺑﺨﻂ ﺍﻟﺤﺎﻓﻆ ﺃﺑﻲ ﺇﺳﺤﺎﻕ ﺍﻟﺼﺮﻳﻔﻴﻨﻲ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﻻ ﺃﺑﻮﺍﺏ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﺃﺻﻼ‬،‫ﻟﻴﺲ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﺃﺑﻮﺍﺏ ﺍﻟﺒﺘﺔ‬

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Zohra Azgal
Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in
the Islamic East: The Case of Abū al-Qāsim
al-Shāṭibī (538–590 H/1143–1194 CE)

In the 6th/12th century, the discipline of Qurʾānic sciences and Qurʾānic textual
variants or readings (qirāʾāt) attracted a large number of Andalusi scholars
(qurrāʾ) who taught in prestigious educational institutions (madrasas) in both
Damascus and Cairo. Medieval biographical dictionaries devoted to Andalusi
scholars clearly show the predominance of the discipline of Qurʾānic readings
both in their training and in their teaching activities, while Eastern scholars seem
to have devoted more attention to ḥadīth transmission.1
The oldest mention of the teaching of Qurʾānic readings in al-Andalus dates
back to the 4th/10th century, with the presence of Abū al-Ḥasān al-Anṭākī (d.
377 H/987 CE) in Córdoba from 352 H/963 CE onwards, invited by the Umayyad
caliph al-Ḥakam II al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh to train the inhabitants of al-Andalus in
the science of the qirāʾāt. Ibn al-Faraḍī (d. 403 H/1013 CE) tells us that he was the
best in this field and that no one equaled him in his time. Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī (d.
444 H/1053 CE) learned Qurʾānic readings from one of his students, ʿUbayd Allāh
b. Salama.2 Despite this relatively late occurrence in the Andalusi religious con-
text, the study of Qurʾānic readings grew exponentially between the 4th/10th
century and the 6th/12th century, the latter century having the largest number of
specialists in this domain, as testified by Ibn al-Abbār (d. 658 H/1260 CE) in his
bio-bibliographical dictionary (Fig. 1).3 Thus, in just over a century, owing to a
substantial number of Andalusi scholars receiving their training not only in al-

||
1 Zanón 1998, 556 (data taken from al-Dhahabī’s Maʿrifa) and 560 (from al-Dhahabī’s Tadhkira).
2 Ibn al-Faraḍī, Taʾrīkh (2008), 1: 411.
3 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1995). In his statistical study of the Andalusi ʿulamāʾ based on Ibn
al-Abbār’s dictionary, Urvoy 1998 concludes that the 6th/12th century saw the greatest number
of qirāʾāt scholars, at the expense of the number of jurists. See Urvoy 1978. Jesús Zanón, in turn,
has noted an increasing preference during this period for Qurʾānic studies; indeed, 25% of the
works written under the Almoravids are dedicated to this genre, which includes qirāʾāt. He also
notes a decline of interest in the study of fiqh in the same period. See Zanón 1998.
||
Note: This paper was presented at the international conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”,
which took place on 20–21 December 2018. English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Zohra Azgal, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-009
238 | Zohra Azgal

Andalus but also in the East, the local ʿulamāʾ were able to produce a synthesis
of knowledge related to the sacred text, the best example being that of Abū ʿAmr
al-Dānī, although he was not alone.4 The presence of specialists in Qurʾānic read-
ings coming from al-Andalus and the Maghrib who settled in the East, at a time
when their Eastern co-religionists mainly concentrated on ḥadīth disciplines, cer-
tainly had a great influence on the transmission of this local production of
knowledge to the rest of the Islamic world.

Fig. 1: The specialists in the Qurʾān and its readings, according to Ibn al-Abbār (number/date of
death H) (source: Azgal)

One particular specialist stands out: Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (d. 590 H/1194 CE),
from Shāṭiba (Játiva) near Valencia. Having settled in Cairo, he had a significant
impact on the science of qirāʾāt and their transmission. His didactic poem com-
bining the seven variant readings of the Qurʾān – Ḥirz al-amānī wa-wajh al-tahānī
fī al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, better known as al-Shāṭibiyya or al-Lāmiyya – has been used

||
4 On al-Dānī and qirāʾāt in al-Andalus, see Aʿrāb 1990; Rodríguez Mañas 1990; Puente 2011;
Vizcaíno/Fakhri al-Wasif 2012; Padillo Saoud 2017; Penelas, “al-Dānī”, EI3.
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 239

as a reference manual for teaching variant Qurʾānic readings through to the pre-
sent. Our study of this author and his work will begin with the emigration of An-
dalusi qurrāʾ towards the East in the 6th/12th century.

1 Riḥla as a way of transmitting knowledge

The study of how the intellectual production of the Muslim West impacted the
Muslim East must necessarily deal with the scholarly practice of travelling in
search of knowledge, commonly known as the riḥla. While there are numerous
studies on this practice,5 little attention has been paid to the category of the
qurrāʾ, the scholars who specialized in variant Qurʾānic readings, and who
played a decisive role in the transmission and canonization of their discipline.
Contrary to the jurists, for whom different positions and offices were available
and who played an important social function, the qurrāʾ had a lower profile in
society.
As with other specialist fields, from the 4th/10th century to the 5th/11th cen-
tury a great many students who would eventually become qurrāʾ embarked on
educational journeys to the East. Foremost among them were Makkī b. Abī Ṭālib
al-Qaysī (d. 437 H/1045 CE), Abū al-ʿAbbās b. ʿAmmār al-Mahdawī (d. 438 H/
1046 CE), and the aforementioned Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī. Many of them, after study-
ing in the East, returned to al-Andalus, where they were able to transmit what
they had learned.6
The main destinations for these Maghribi travellers were Alexandria and
Cairo, given their strategic geographical locations on the pilgrimage route to
Mecca, as well as the presence of scholars specialized in the science of qirāʾāt.
The importance of Egypt in the spread of Qurʾānic readings in the Maghrib began
early on. The reading of Nāfiʿ (d. 169 H/785 CE), from Medina, was initially
adopted after the Islamic conquest of al-Andalus by the Andalusi Abū
Muḥammad al-Ghāzī b. Qays (d. 199 H/814 CE).7 The same reading, through the
riwāya of Egyptian scholar Warsh, was introduced in al-Andalus during the rule
of the emir al-Ḥakam b. Hishām (r. 180–206 H/796–822 CE) by Abū ʿAbd Allāh

||
5 On the riḥla in general see Touati 2000. On the riḥla of the Andalusis and Maghribis see Pouzet
1975; Arié 1986; Ávila 2002; Dejugnat 2010.
6 Al-Dānī, Makkī b. Abī Ṭālib and al-Mahdawī trained with a number of highly respected
scholars in Kairouan and Egypt.
7 Al-Zubaydī, Ṭabaqāt al-naḥwiyyīn (1984), 254; and Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 3.
240 | Zohra Azgal

Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurṭubī, who had studied with Warsh in person.8
The Nāfiʿ-Warsh reading has prevailed in the Maghrib until today, especially after
having been supported by the influential Cordoban scholar Muḥammad b.
Waḍḍāḥ (d. 287 H/900 CE).9
From the 6th/12th century onwards, Egypt became the residence of an exten-
sive Andalusi community of migrants who settled there to teach. In this century,
a major turning point should be noted. In previous centuries the Andalusis who
travelled to the East in search of knowledge typically met renowned qurrāʾ in
every region they visited during their riḥla. Now, however, they began to almost
exclusively join the circles of Western scholars who had already settled in the
East. Thus, on his arrival in Alexandria, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Zawzanālī (d. 536 H/
1141 CE) studied the Qurʾānic variant readings with the Sicilian Abū al-Qāsim Ibn
al-Faḥḥām (d. 516 H/1122 CE),10 and Ibn al-Fanakī (d. 597 H/1201 CE) joined the
circle of the Cordoban Yaḥyā b. Saʿdūn (d. 567 H/1171 CE) on reaching Mosul.11
This raises the question of the existence of networks of Maghribi qurrāʾ in the
Mashriq, a phenomenon that has been proven in the case of Ṣūfīs from al-Anda-
lus who settled in the East.12
These ‘travelling qurrāʾ’ not only acquired knowledge, but also took the op-
portunity to transmit the readings and works they had studied in al-Andalus. In
this light, the riḥla takes on a new dimension, as it was in fact a journey that in-
volved an actual exchange of knowledge. Thus, ʿAlī b. Khalaf (d. 550 H/1155 CE)
from Valencia took advantage of his pilgrimage to Mecca to transmit there al-

||
8 PUA, id. 9744.
9 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 3: 241. The sources often attribute to Muḥammad b.
Waḍḍāḥ (d. 287 H/900 CE) the introduction of the variant reading of Warsh in al-Andalus, ac-
cording to a quotation from al-Dānī in Ghāyat al-nihāya: “since his time the Andalusis adopted
the reading of Warsh and abandoned al-Ghāzī’s variant”, and current researchers have followed
this; see Puente 2011 and Ḥmittū 2003. However, al-Zubaydī and Ibn al-Faraḍī attribute its intro-
duction to a certain Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh, who was the direct disciple of
Warsh and the preceptor of the children of the emir al-Ḥakam b. Hishām (al-Zubaydī, Ṭabaqāt
al-naḥwiyyīn [1984], 270; Ibn al-Faraḍī, Taʾrīkh [2008], 2: 11). Therefore, al-Andalus became
familiar with the Warsh reading of the Qurʾān even before the time of Muḥammad b. Waḍḍāḥ al-
Qurṭubī.
10 Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Marrākushī, al-Dhayl (2012), 1: 740. See PUA, id. 2038.
11 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1995), 1: 81. See PUA, id. 1385 (Ibn al-Fanakī) and id. 11535 (Ibn
Saʿdūn).
12 Motia Zouihal has defended this argument in his PhD thesis, Le pouvoir et les soufis en Syrie
et en Égypte sous Nūr al-Dīn, Saladin et les premiers Ayyoubides de 549/1154 à 596/1200 (Paris,
2017).
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 241

Taysīr, by Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī.13 The Cordoban Abū al-Ḥasan b. Ḥanīn (d. 569 H/
1173 CE), known for his many journeys to the East and the many shuyūkh from
whom he learned Qurʾānic readings, stayed nine months in Jerusalem teaching
the Qurʾān and its readings before returning to the West.14 These and other exam-
ples prove that the distribution of knowledge ran in both directions, and denote
the maturity that the science of qirāʾāt had reached al-Andalus, such that the
transmission of knowledge no longer flowed exclusively from East to West.
The reputation of Andalusi qurrāʾ became such that, in order to attract them
to stay, they were offered positions as muqriʾ (teacher of the Qurʾān and its read-
ings) in large mosques or religious institutions. They were even offered to lead
the tarāwīḥ prayers during the holy month of Ramaḍān. This is how the Cordoban
Ibn Saʿdūn (d. 567 H/1171 CE) received the title of shaykh al-qurrāʾ15 in Mosul, the
Sicilian Abū al-Qāsim Ibn al-Faḥḥām (d. 516 H/1122 CE) was nominated shaykh
al-qurrāʾ of Alexandria, and Ibn al-Fanakī (d. 597 H/1200 CE) led the tarāwīḥ
Ramaḍān prayers at the Great Mosque of Mecca, as recorded by Ibn Jubayr (d.
614 H/1217 CE),16 and, later on, at the Kallāsa mosque in Damascus as well. Ac-
cording to Ibn al-Abbār, the people of Damascus came out in large numbers to
listen to his recitation.17
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin) even chose an Andalusi from Málaga, Abū al-Ḥasan b.
Jamīl al-Maʿāfirī (d. 605 H/1208 CE),18 as the first imām to lead the prayer at the
Great Mosque of the Dome of the Rock after the re-conquest of Jerusalem. Ṣalāḥ
al-Dīn’s secretary, ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣbahānī, commented:

The sultan chose for the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock an imām who had the best recita-
tion among all reciters, the most beautiful and melodious voice; he was the most renowned
for his religiosity and the most knowledgeable in the seven – even the ten – readings of
Qurʾān...19

||
13 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 479. See PUA, id. 6455.
14 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1995), 3: 210. See PUA, id. 6306.
15 This is the highest title for a Qurʾān reader, as it indicates that he is the reader of reference in
a city or region.
16 The famous traveller Ibn Jubayr writes about him: “Five imāms took turns performing these
tarāwīḥ before the Maqām: ... The third was our companion Abū Jaʿfar b. ʿAlī al-Fanakī al-
Qurṭubī, whose Qurʾān recitation rendered even the inanimate objects so humble as to feel pity”
(Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla [1995], 173, translation mine).
17 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1995), 1: 81.
18 See PUA, id. 6675.
19 Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Marrākushī, al-Dhayl (2012), 3: 265–266.
242 | Zohra Azgal

In the 6th/12th century, the science of qirāʾāt was at its peak in al-Andalus, while
it seemed to have been neglected in the East in favor of the transmission of the
sunna. The qurrāʾ who travelled or emigrated from the Maghrib found in the East
an environment that was particularly suitable for teaching, with the establish-
ment and flourishing of the madrasa system, a teaching institution that had
emerged in Khorasan,20 whereas similar institutions only emerged in the western
Islamic world as late as the 7th/13th century or the 8th/14th century.21 Educa-
tional classes in al-Andalus took place mostly in mosques. Thus, Aḥmad b.
Muḥammad al-Maqqarī (d. 1041 H/1631 CE) quotes Ibn Saʿīd al-Andalusī (d.
675 H/1276 CE) as saying, “The population of al-Andalus did not have any ma-
drasa to study at, but they received all kinds of education in the mosque, pro-
vided by a salaried teacher”.22 Teaching within mosques maintained a strong link
with the socio-political context, whereas madrasas, many of which were private
institutions, benefitted from greater freedom. This certainly encouraged many
qurrāʾ to accept the positions that they were being offered in the East.
It is in this context that qirāʾāt specialist Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (d. 590 H/
1194 CE) left al-Andalus in 572 H/1176 CE under the guise of performing the ḥajj,
in order to settle permanently in Egypt.

2 Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī

2.1 In al-Andalus
Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh al-Shāṭibī23 was born in 538 H/1144 CE in Játiva, in al-
Andalus. He began to specialize in the field of Qurʾānic readings in his hometown
under the guidance of ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-Nafzī. According to an ijāza

||
20 Sourdel 1977, 165–184, and Makdisi 1981.
21 The first madrasas appeared in the Islamic West in 650 H/1252 CE under the Ḥafṣid dynasty
in Ifrīqiya, in 684 H/1285 CE in Fez under the Marīnids, and only in 750 H/1349 CE in Granada
under the Naṣrids.
22 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 1: 220.
23 He is known in the sources under two kunyas: Abū Muḥammad and Abū al-Qāsim. See al-
Qasṭallānī, al-Fatḥ (2000); Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-udabāʾ (1993), 2: 2216–2217; al-Dhahabī,
Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ (1995), 1110–1115; Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 20–22; al-Suyūṭī,
Ḥusn al-muḥāḍara (1967), 1: 496–497; Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1995), 1: 73–74. See also Marín
2004.
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 243

kept in a manuscript in Medina,24 we know that he completed his education with

al-Nafzī in Rabīʿ II 555/April 1160. He then moved to Valencia, which had become
the most important teaching center for Qurʾān readings in the Andalusi Levant
(Sharq al-Andalus). This was especially true after the renowned follower of al-
Dānī, Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān b. Najāḥ (d. 496 H/1103 CE), settled there, establish-
ing a center of learning within the Great Mosque of Valencia. There al-Shāṭibī
completed his study of the seven readings of the Qurʾān, and studied ḥadīth sci-
ences and Arabic language under Ibn Hudhayl (d. 564 H/1168 CE), Abū Dāwūd’s
son-in-law and student. He then returned to Játiva, where he started teaching and
transmitting the qirāʾāt, and was offered the responsibility of preaching (khiṭāba)
despite his young age. The offer came, however, after Valencia had fallen under
Almohad control in 567 H/1172 CE, following the death of Muḥammad b.
Mardanīsh, the Emir of the Levant. Under the pretext of performing the pilgrim-
age to Mecca, he refused the position and left al-Andalus in order to avoid offi-
cially pledging his allegiance to the Almohads. We are informed of this thanks to
Abū Shāma al-Maqdisī (d. 665 H/1268 CE), who recorded this explanation as to
why al-Shāṭibī undertook his journey and settled in the East. The rest of the
sources simply mention a riḥla to perform the ḥajj at face value. Abū Shāma re-
ceived this information from his teacher ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (d. 643 H/
1245 CE), who was also a student of al-Shāṭibī:

He was appointed to preach at the Great Mosque, but he refused on the pretext of the pil-
grimage to Mecca because the preacher would not be free to preach as he wished. On the
contrary, he would be ordered to preach on topics, according to him, contrary to God’s re-
quirements.25

2.2 In Egypt
Al-Shāṭibī arrived in Egypt in 572 H/1176 CE under circumstances about which we
have little information. The Fāṭimids had already been driven out of power and
the region had submitted once again to the ʿAbbāsids under the governance of
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn.26

||
24 Ms 46/qirāʾāt housed at King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Public Library in Medina (Saudi Arabia), ʿĀrif Ḥik-
mat collection.
25 Abū Shāma, al-Dhayl (2002), 6–7.
26 The Friday khuṭba that had been said in the name of the Fāṭimid caliph al-ʿĀḍid, was, starting
in the year 567 H/1172 CE, proclaimed in the name of the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Mustaḍīʾ bi-Amr
Allāh.
244 | Zohra Azgal

Al-Shāṭibī first attended the classes of the renowned traditionist al-Ḥāfiẓ al-
Silafī (d. 576 H/1180 CE) in Alexandria before going to Cairo, attracted by the pros-
perity and dynamism of the intellectual and religious life of the city. In Egypt
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn built up a large network of madrasas on which he would perma-
nently rely in order to eliminate any trace of Shīʿism and to strengthen Sunnī Is-
lam. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn even offered Maghribi students the possibility of studying
within the Mālikī school in madrasas and zāwiyas.27 Al-Shāṭibī first taught at the
ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ mosque in Fustat, before being spotted by Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s celebrated
vizier al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil,28 who gave him the responsibility of teaching in Cairo at
the Fāḍiliyya madrasa when it opened its doors in 580 H/1184 CE.29 He also allo-
cated him a private apartment within the school, as well as a house outside for
his family.
It appears that at this point al-Shāṭibī’s success had at last been secured. He
devoted his time exclusively to teaching and transmitting Qurʾānic readings
through his didactic poem Ḥirz al-amānī, which brought him great fame. Egypt’s
central position between the Islamic East and West enabled al-Shāṭibī to welcome
and train students from different regions, from North Africa, Egypt, or even Syria
and Iraq (Fig. 2). In the ṭabaqāt books, I have identified thirty-one of al-Shāṭibī’s
students, many of whom went on to earn important positions in their
hometowns,30 including shaykh al-qurrāʾ, which was considered the highest title
that a specialist on Qurʾānic readings could claim. Of his students, this distinc-
tion was awarded to Muḥammad b. Yūsuf in Baghdad, ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī
in Damascus, Ibn Shujāʿ (d. 661 H/1262 CE) in Egypt31 and Abū al-ʿAbbās al-ʿAzafī
in Ceuta (d. 633 H/1236 CE).32 Some other students attained strategic positions for
the diffusion of variants, like ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Balansī (d. 634 H/1236 CE),33 reader

||
27 The first Egyptian madrasa, al-Nāṣiriyya, was opened in Cairo in 566 H/1170 CE by Ṣalāḥ al-
Dīn. The construction of the Qamḥiyya madrasa dedicated to Mālikī scholars opened the same
year, followed by twenty other madrasas founded under the rule of the Ayyūbids in Egypt. See
al-Maqrīzī, al-Khiṭaṭ (2002), 4: 454–455.
28 Abū ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. ʿAlī al-Baysānī, better known as al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil (d. 596 H/
1200 CE), was Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s vizier and the director of his chancery. He seems to have played a
very important role in the reception and integration of the Andalusi migrants in Egypt.
29 He devoted a large central room for iqrāʾ, i.e. the transmission of the Qurʾān and qirāʾāt. For
a description the Fāḍiliyya madrasa, see Eche 1967, 249–255; al-Maqrīzī, al-Khiṭaṭ (2002), 4: 462–
463.
30 The main sources for these findings are al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ (1995) and Ibn al-
Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006).
31 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 1: 482.
32 See PUA, id. 1645.
33 See PUA, id. 6334.
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 245

and imām of the Great Mosque of Valencia, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-
Saraqusṭī (d. 598 H/1201 CE), judge of Fez,34 Ibn al-Khashshāb, reader and imām
of al-Jāmiʿ al-ʿatīq in Cairo,35 and ʿĪsā b. Makkī (d. 649 H/1251 CE), imām of al-Jāmiʿ
al-Ḥakamī, also in Cairo (Table 1).36

Fig. 2: Origins of al-Shāṭibī’s students

Tab. 1: Posts held by some of al-Shāṭibī’s students

Shaykh al-qurrāʾ Imām and khaṭīb of al-Jāmiʿ Qāḍī

al-kabīr

Muḥammad b. Yūsuf ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Balansī Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān

(Baghdad) (Valencia) al-Saraqusṭī (Fez)
ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī Ibn al-Khashshāb
(Damascus) (al-Jāmiʿ al-ʿatīq, Cairo)
Ibn Shujāʿ (Egypt) ʿĪsā b. Makkī
(al-Jāmiʿ al-Ḥakamī, Cairo)

||
34 See PUA, id. 9328.
35 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 256.
36 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 1: 541–542.
246 | Zohra Azgal

Shaykh al-qurrāʾ Imām and khaṭīb of al-Jāmiʿ Qāḍī

al-kabīr

Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Azafī

(Ceuta)

All these elements, added to the upward social mobility that al-Shāṭibī experi-
enced in Cairo, most certainly contributed to his success and to the spread of his
work on a large scale. We should nevertheless explore more deeply the socio-cul-
tural and political context in which he evolved, by looking more specifically at
how holiness was attached to al-Shāṭibī and his poem. The historiographical
sources, including the biographical work that al-Qasṭallānī (d. 923 H/1517 CE) de-
voted to al-Shāṭibī in the 9th/15th century, describe him as a walī, a saint without
sin endowed with many divine gifts (karāmāt) that led to miraculous deeds.37 Be-
fore al-Qasṭallānī, Abū Shāma, the historian from 7th/13th-century Damascus,
had already composed various verses comparing al-Shāṭibī and his students to
the Prophet and his companions.38 Al-Shāṭibī was ultimately buried in the turba
that al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil had originally built for himself at Cairo’s al-Qarāfa al-Ṣughrā
cemetery. As attested by Ibn al-Jazarī (d. 833 H/1429 CE), a visitation ritual was
established among believers, and more specifically among Qurʾānic reading spe-
cialists, more than two centuries after al-Shāṭibī’s death.39 In 1802, Emir Yūsuf
Katkhudāh added an epitaph during the construction of a small adjacent
mosque, which includes the traditional recommendation for visitors to pray for
the Sultan, the Pasha and the Emir. The last line is devoted to the saint (walī) al-
Shāṭibī: “Come in and visit this saint. Whoever is afflicted by an evil shall come
out healed” (Fig. 3).

||
37 Al-Qasṭallānī, al-Fatḥ (2000), 51–57.
38 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 20–22; Abū Shāma, al-Dhayl (2002), 6–7.
39 Ibn al-Jazarī records having visited the tomb several times with his students and recited there
the poem Ḥirz al-amānī. See Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 20–22.
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 247

Fig. 3: The epitaph affixed in 1802 by Emir Yūsuf Katkhudāh at the entrance to al-Shāṭibī’s
tomb in Cairo

The healing powers attributed to al-Shāṭibī’s tomb were also assigned to his fa-
mous poem, and we might infer that the many stories surrounding its writing
were at the origin of these beliefs. In one account, al-Shāṭibī first completed the
seven circumambulations around the Kaʿba with the manuscript in his hands be-
fore presenting it to his students, making it blessed and sacred.40 Other sources
report that al-Shāṭibī threw his poem into the sea, praying God to save it from the
waters only if it could bring good to the Muslim community. The sea then rejected
the manuscript, which his students received as a divine gift. His students were
also reported to have pronounced words such as “whoever learns al-Shāṭibiyya
will enter Paradise” and even “whoever has al-Shāṭibiyya in his abode will enter
paradise”.41 The first of these two sayings is also attributed to the prophet
Muḥammad himself, according to a tradition whereby al-Shāṭibī saw him in a
dream after he had finished writing the poem. He stood up, greeted him and of-
fered him the manuscript of the Ḥirz. The Prophet took it from him and declared,
“It is blessed. He who memorizes it will enter paradise!” This tradition can also

||
40 There is reason to doubt that al-Shāṭibī ever performed the ḥajj in the first place. Indeed, no
reliable source mentions it explicitly except al-Qasṭallānī in al-Fatḥ al-mawāhibī.
41 For all these traditions and stories see al-Qasṭallānī, al-Fatḥ (2000), 51–57; Ibn al-Jazarī,
Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 20–22.
248 | Zohra Azgal

be read in the margin of folio 21r of the manuscript “Arabic supplement 143” of
Yale University Library’s Beinecke Collection (Fig. 4). Luxurious copies that were
probably not used for learning but rather kept at home for their baraka confirm
this prophylactic role assigned to them and the text they contained. A deeper
study of the manuscript production of this text would help us to better under-
stand the uses and functions of these didactic poems and the role they played in
transmitting Qurʾānic variants.

Fig. 4: The inscription “He who memorizes al-Shāṭibiyya enters paradise”, Beinecke Rare Book
and Manuscript Library, Yale University, MS Arabic suppl. 143, fol. 21r
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 249

3 Al-Shāṭibiyya: a ‘bestselling’ teaching

handbook for Qurʾānic readings
Beyond the attribution of holiness to the author and his poem, the way the work
itself was composed is another reason behind its success. As with other biog-
raphers, Ibn Khallikān, in the notice he devotes to al-Shāṭibī, first defines him as
the author of Ḥirz al-amānī, later better known as al-Shāṭibiyya. It is this didactic
poem that eventually became a ‘bestseller’ among qirāʾāt teaching handbooks,
so much so that it actually worked to strengthen the legitimacy of the seven read-
ings of the Qurʾān in the versions chosen by al-Shāṭibī. The Iraqi Ibn Mujāhid (d.
324 H/935 CE) had represented a turning point in the discipline by being the first
to compile seven readings of the Qurʾān,42 but his attempt partly failed as much
larger works by other scholars continued to circulate and be taught until the ad-
vent of al-Shāṭibiyya. We might mention by way of example al-Kāmil fī al-qirāʾāt,
a work in which its author, Abū al-Qāsim al-Hudhalī (d. 465 H/1072 CE), compiled
all the reading variants he encountered during his journey from North Africa
through the East to Transoxiana. He reached a total of 50 readings based on 1,459
versions (ṭarīq and rāwī) collected from nearly 365 shuyūkh.43 The qirāʾāt books
that had initially helped to compile the variants received from different qurrāʾ
masters progressively acquired the role of restricting the number of authorized
variants. It was actually al-Shāṭibiyya that would impose the seven readings of
the Qurʾān in the variants selected by al-Shāṭibī himself. His didactic poem
achieved great success, serving as the essential manual for teaching qirāʾāt to
this day, thereby eliminating the variants contained in other treatises that Mus-
lim tradition today considers as non-canonical, including some of those origi-
nally reported by Ibn Mujāhid.

||
42 Muslim scholars refer to Ibn Mujāhid as musabbiʿ al-sabʿ (the ‘Septuplist’ as translated by
Shady Nasser 2013). He selected seven eponymous readers from five different cities and he com-
piled their readings in his book Kitāb al-Sabʿa fī al-qirāʾāt. His selection became a standard since
he launched a great tradition of seven-reading compilations which gradually led to the disap-
pearance of the many other variant readings that were then in circulation. On the role of Ibn
Mujāhid in the transmission of the Qurʾānic readings, see Melchert 2000 and Nasser 2013, 35–
78. I do not agree with these scholars that the canonization of the seven readings is to be at-
tributed only to Ibn Mujāhid, given that his book is not considered authoritative to transmit the
seven readings, and what is more, some textual variants compiled in his book are considered
today shādhdh or irregular and non-canonical.
43 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (2006), 2: 345. Abū al-Qāsim al-Hudhalī’s al-Kāmil fī al-qirāʾāt
is considered to be one of the most extensive books on qirāʾāt.
250 | Zohra Azgal

As a 1,173-verse didactic poem intended for memorization, it placed oral tra-

dition back at the core of the transmission of the Qurʾānic readings, while para-
doxically constituting the source of a very significant written production extend-
ing across the entire geography of the Muslim world, such that there is hardly a
major library today whose manuscript collection does not hold several copies
(Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Manuscripts of al-Shāṭibiyya according to the HATA database44

Despite its central place in the transmission of Qurʾānic variants, al-Shāṭibiyya

has yet to be properly studied in depth. According to German Orientalist T.
Nöldeke, it is “the most famous qirāʾāt book, as well as the one most widely
learned by heart throughout the ages across the Muslim world”. Still, he was nev-

||
44 HATA (Historia de los Autores y Transmisores Andalusíes) is a database of works written and
transmitted in al-Andalus from the 8th century CE to the 15th century CE that is coordinated by
Maribel Fierro (ILC-CCHS, CSIC).
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 251

ertheless very critical towards this poem, which he also characterized as “an in-
sane work written in a barbaric, artificial and incomprehensible language that
confirms the darkness of qirāʾāt science”,45 and did not feel that it deserved fur-
ther study. And already in the 7th/13th century, Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī (d. 626 H/
1229 CE) argued that “his [al-Shāṭibī’s] poems are complicated, written in an en-
igmatic style that is nearly incomprehensible”.46 These two testimonies reveal
many scholars’ contempt for this book throughout the ages, despite its para-
mount importance for a complete understanding of the history of the Qurʾān’s
transmission and reading variants.
One exception to this rule is Angelika Neuwirth, who highlighted the poem’s
ingenious methodology.47 Its methodology is indeed ingenious, involving mental
tree structures with an important mnemonic role that merit further study in order
to better understand how they function. In fact, to my knowledge there have been
few if any serious studies of the development of memory ability in the Arab world,
while the subject has long been researched in the case of medieval Latin and
Greek texts.48
The subject of mnemonic devices can be illustrated by al-Shāṭibī’s reliance
on rumūz, letter-symbols integrated into the text that refer to certain readers or
groups of readers. Their use made it possible to considerably shorten the aca-
demic content of the book. By contrast, a poem from the previous century in the
same discipline, al-Dānī’s Munabbiha, contains nearly 2,600 verses. However, al-
Shāṭibī was not the first to use the rumūz technique in a manual of Qurʾānic read-
ings. Indeed, Ibn Khālawayh (d. 370 H/980-1 CE) had used it two centuries before
in Iraq, as testified by his book al-Badīʿ, of which a codex unicus is to be found at
the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.49
As far as we know, al-Shāṭibī was, however, the first one to use the abjad
system for this purpose.50 This is a technique that is usually used in divinatory
sciences and astrology, where each letter corresponds to a numerical value. Al-
Shāṭibī’s use of this technique is much more developed than the one used by Ibn
Khālawayh, who employed letters as abbreviations, taking the first letter of the

||
45 Nöldeke 1860, 338.
46 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-udabāʾ (1993), 2: 2216.
47 Neuwirth, “al-Shāṭibī”, EI2; Neuwirth 1986. See also Ḥmittū 2005; Sobieroj 2016, 96–97.
48 Yates 1984; Carruthers 1998; Carruthers 2008; Rossi 2006.
49 Chester Beatty MS 3051 can be consulted online at https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/ob-
ject/Ar_3051/14/. See Arberry 1955, 21.
50 As al-Shāṭibī was from al-Andalus, he naturally used the Maghribi system of abjad, which is
noticeably different from that of the Mashriq.
252 | Zohra Azgal

reader’s name in order to report the reading variant.51 Arabic manuscript 6921 of
the Bibliothèque nationale de France presents on the second leaf a table of con-
cordances of the rumūz of the Shāṭibiyya, containing 35 symbols, whereas the sys-
tem of Ibn Khālawayh has only seven.52 Al-Shāṭibī assigned a letter-symbol (ramz
fardī) for each of the seven readings (qirāʾa), so that the alif corresponded to the
Medina reading reported by Nāfiʿ, then another letter-symbol for each version of
that reading (al-riwāya), for example the jīm for the Egyptian version of the Me-
dina reading reported by Warsh. He also assigned to groups of readers a letter or
a group of letters (ramz jamāʿī); the readings of Hejaz were thus represented by
ḥirmī (for ḥaram al-makkī wa-l-madanī)53 and those of Iraq by the letter ghayn.54
Let’s take an example drawn directly from the poem al-Shāṭibiyya in order to
understand better the use of these rumūz. I propose to examine the hundredth
verse of the poem, using the Yale University Library’s manuscript (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: The hundredth verse of al-Shāṭibiyya, about the basmala. Beinecke Rare Book and Man-
uscript Library, Yale University, MS Arabic suppl. 143, fol. 29v

The verse reads, “The basmala [the opening formula of the sūras in the Qurʾān] is
a sunna [tradition] reported by men of science”. While the surface meaning of the

||
51 On the use of abjad as letter-symbols (ramz), see Weil/Collin, “Abdjad”, EI2; Rosenthal 1947,
35–36.
52 MS BnF arabe 6921 can be consulted online at gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10030201s.
53 Ḥirmī is the ramz of the Ḥijāzī readers (the readers of the ḥaramayn), which corresponds to
the reading of the Medinese Nāfiʿ (d. 169 H/785 CE) and that of the Meccan Ibn Kathīr (d. 120 H/
738 CE).
54 The letter ghayn corresponds to the Iraqi readers, who are the Baṣran Abū ʿAmr b. al-ʿAlāʾ (d.
154 H/770 CE) and ʿĀṣim b. Abī al-Najjūd (d. 128 H/745 CE), and the Kūfan ʿAlī al-Kisāʾī (d.
189 H/804 CE) and Ḥamza al-Zayyāt (d. 156 H/773 CE).
 Andalusi Scholars on Qurʾānic Readings in the Islamic East | 253

verse is quite straightforward, the rumūz, highlighted in red by the copyist, open
up a second meaning linked to the science of qirāʾāt, which, unpacked, would be
as follows: “The basmala was transmitted by Qālūn (bāʾ), al-Kisāʾī (rāʾ), ʿĀṣim
(nūn) and Ibn Kathīr (dāl) with a chain of transmitters going back to the Prophet”
(Fig. 7). The whole poem is built on these two levels of reading, which requires
specialized training in order to understand the underlying meaning of the qaṣīda.
While this specificity made it possible to shorten the scientific content of the
work considerably, and also made it easier to commit to memory, it was at the
same time the origin of a very profuse literature of commentaries (shurūḥ), num-
bering as many as 118 according to the sources.55 By the same token, these com-
mentaries undoubtedly contributed greatly to the dissemination of the
Shāṭibiyya,56 to such an extent that after al-Shāṭibī, the literature on Qurʾānic var-
iants would largely center on commentaries to Ḥirz al-amānī, thus leaving little
room for original compositions.

4 Conclusion
Moving forward, a systematic study of the didactic poem al-Shāṭibiyya, and a
comparison with contemporary Eastern works, would help to shed light on its
major role in the transmission of this branch of knowledge and in the standardi-
zation of Qurʾānic readings. Likewise, the study of the large production of hand-
written copies of this manual would clarify its uses and functions, and help im-
prove our knowledge how the Qurʾān and its qirāʾāt were taught in the Middle
Ages, as well as how the Andalusi qirāʾāt school eventually prevailed throughout
the Muslim world.

Bibliography
Manuscripts
Dublin, Chester Beatty MS 3051 (Ibn Khālawayh’s al-Badīʿ). Digitized version
https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/object/Ar_3051/14/.
Medina, King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Public Library, ʿĀrif Ḥikmat collection MS 46/qirāʾāt.

||
55 Ḥmittū 2005.
56 The most important ones used in this study are Abū Shāma al-Maqdisī’s Ibrāz al-maʿānī min
Ḥirz al-amānī (1891), and al-Sakhāwī’s Fatḥ al-waṣīd fī sharḥ al-qaṣīd (2005).
254 | Zohra Azgal

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France MS arabe 6921. Digitized version https://gal-

lica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10030201s.
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Iria Santás de Arcos
On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s
al-Mughrib in the Islamic East

The purpose of the present study is twofold: on the one hand, to re-evaluate the
figure of poet, historian, writer and geographer Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī (d. 685 H/
1286 CE) based on the historical context and personal circumstances that un-
doubtedly influenced his intellectual production and the dissemination of his
work, especially in the Islamic East. On the other hand, its purpose is to point out
that the quality and value of his oeuvre is the result of his intense, lifelong efforts
to achieve the most complete intellectual training possible, which led him to
search out teachers and books ceaselessly across the territories that he visited,
right up to the end of his life.1 This strong literary background was also his way
of life and sustenance, and an important motivation to carry out his travels in
search of patronage. His departure from al-Andalus alongside his father was mo-
tivated mainly by the political situation following the death of military leader Ibn
Hūd of Murcia (d. 635 H/1238 CE). Ibn Saʿīd and his father Mūsā, who had been
supporters of Ibn Hūd, found themselves at that moment in a complicated per-
sonal and economic situation, and were forced to find new ways of life in exile.
As we shall see, their ‘cover letter’ and livelihood was their work al-Mughrib fī
ḥulā al-Maghrib, which was especially true in the case of Ibn Saʿīd following the
death of his father in Alexandria in 640 H/1243 CE.

||
1 This study is complemented by that of Víctor de Castro, also in this volume, which focuses on
the geographical concepts employed by Ibn Saʿīd in his works and the controversy they gener-
ated regarding his understanding of the Maghrib.
||
Note: This paper was presented at the international conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”,
which took place on 20–21 December 2018, and has been carried out within the research pro-
ject Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East
(AMOI), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FFI2016-78878-R) and co-directed by
Maribel Fierro (ILC-CCHS, CSIC) and Mayte Penelas (EEA, CSIC). I wish to thank Luis Molina and
Maribel Fierro for their comments. English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Iria Santás de Arcos, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-010
258 | Iria Santás de Arcos

1 Ibn Saʿīd’s biography

His full name was Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Mūsā b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b.
Saʿīd.2 Although he is known by the nisba al-Maghribī, properly speaking he was
an Andalusi, born in Granada on 30 Ramaḍān 610 (12 February 1214), as he him-
self indicates when discussing this city in al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib.3 He came
from an illustrious family of noble Arab lineage, the Banū Saʿīd al-ʿAmmārī,
whose origins date back to the Prophet Muḥammad’s famous Companion
ʿAmmār b. Yāsir, who supported ʿAlī, cousin and son-in-law of Muḥammad, in
his confrontation against Muʿāwiya, founder of the Umayyad dynasty.4 Ibn Saʿīd
wrote a work dedicated to the ʿAlid lineage entitled Kunūz al-maṭālib fī āl Abī
Ṭālib (The trove of information about Abū Ṭālib’s family), which has been inter-
preted as evidence of his support for the Shīʿī cause. The modern scholar Jasim
Alubudi, for example, believes that in his works Ibn Saʿīd actively admits he is a
Shīʿī, which he argues would explain the harsh criticism of his works by authors
such as Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī (d. 749 H/1349 CE), as Víctor de Castro explores
in his contribution to this volume.5
Ibn Saʿīd’s ancestors, who were of Yemeni origin, emigrated to al-Andalus
following the demise of the eastern Umayyad dynasty. The founder of the lineage
in al-Andalus was ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Saʿīd b. ʿAmmār, military chief of the Yemeni
troops in Damascus, who settled in Qalʿat Yaḥṣub (Alcalá la Real) as its governor.6
This place eventually became known as Qalʿat Banī Saʿīd,7 and, centuries later
during the Almohad period, the Banū Saʿīd answered to the Muʾminid caliphs.

||
2 For more information about his complete biography see Cano Ávila/Tawfik 2007; Monferrer
2012; Alansari 1992; Arié 1988; Granja 1981, 88–89; Potiron 1965; Potiron 1966; Hoenerbach 1989;
Hoenerbach 1991.
3 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 103.
4 Reckendorf, “ʿAmmār b. Yāsir”, EI2.
5 Jasim Alubudi does not give any specific testimony drawn from the works of Ibn Saʿīd where
the author recognizes his affiliation to this doctrine. Rather, he bases his arguments on the praise
that Ibn Saʿīd bestows on the Fāṭimid rulers of Egypt in the Mughrib, and on his description of
Ṭabaristān and how Shīʿism is followed by the people of that country, as cited in the work al-
Radd by Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī (d. 749 H/1349 CE). See al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009), 141; see also
the introduction by Jasim Alubudi to his edition and translation of al-ʿUmarī, al-Radd (2009),
27–28. Regarding Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī, as Víctor de Castro shows in his study in this volume,
he in fact valued not only Ibn Saʿīd’s works, which were an important source for him, but also
his overall literary and intellectual contributions. He only attacked Ibn Saʿīd over his decision to
include Egypt as part of the Maghrib.
6 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 161; Potiron 1965, 79–82.
7 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 161.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 259

Ibn Saʿīd lived out his youth in the city of Seville, the political and intellectual
capital of the Almohad caliphate, where he was trained in language, poetry and
other branches of knowledge under the most renowned teachers active in the
city, including the grammarian and Seville native Abū ʿAlī al-Shalawbīnī,8 and
the writer Abū Bakr b. Hishām.9 Likewise, among his fellow students were figures
such as the poet Abū Isḥāq Ibn Sahl al-Isrāʾīlī10 and Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Bayyāsī,11
among others. However, the most important influence on his education undoubt-
edly came from his father, Mūsā Ibn Saʿīd,12 who served as a role model both in-
tellectually and in life.
Thanks to his father’s interest in books and position as governor of Algeciras
– a post later occupied by Ibn Saʿīd under the sovereignty of Ibn Hūd of Murcia
in the year 631 H/1233-4 CE13 – he had the opportunity to frequent gatherings with
the most important writers and poets of the city. He made several trips within al-
Andalus, mainly to the southwest of the peninsula, which would provide him
with many contacts and an excellent knowledge of the cities of al-Andalus and
their intellectual context, as reflected in the Mughrib.14

2 A forced exile?
After the death of Ibn Hūd in 635 H/1238 CE and the rise of the Naṣrid sultan
Muḥammad I, the situation became increasingly trying for Ibn Saʿīd and his fa-
ther.15 They ultimately opted to leave al-Andalus in 636 H/1238-9 CE when Ibn

||
8 Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 152; Haremska 2012.
9 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Muqtaṭaf (1984), 217; Carmona, 2004.
10 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Muqtaṭaf (1984), 218; Ibn Saʿīd, Rāyāt al-mubarrazīn (1978), 22, 148–149; López
y López, 2007.
11 PUA (Prosopography of the ʿulamāʾ of al-Andalus), id. 11913; Aguirre, 2012.
12 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 170–171.
13 The end of Almohad rule in al-Andalus ushered in the “Third Period of Taifas”. The most
prominent of those who revolted against the Almohads was Ibn Hūd al-Mutawakkil (d. 635 H/
1238 CE), an alleged descendant of the Banū Hūd of Zaragoza. He began his revolt in the Valley
of Ricote (Murcia) and managed to take control of the majority of al-Andalus, recognizing the
ʿAbbāsid Caliphate and bearing the honorary titles (alqāb) of Amīr al-Andalus and Amīr al-mus-
limīn. For a general perspective on this period see Vidal Castro 2000; Vidal Castro 2012; Carmona
González 1994; Molina López 1979.
14 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 172–173.
15 As already noted, Mūsā Ibn Saʿīd had been governor of Algeciras under Ibn Hūd, and Ibn
Saʿīd replaced him during a brief period of time, in the year 631 H/1233-4 CE. See al-Maqqarī,
Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 270–271; Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 2.
260 | Iria Santás de Arcos

Saʿīd was 24 years old, stating their intention to go on pilgrimage to Mecca – a

common practice among Andalusis in times of political upheaval in the face of
uncertainty as to how their new rulers would treat them.16
In the case of Ibn Saʿīd and his father Mūsā, their support for Ibn Hūd situ-
ated them as enemies of the new Naṣrid ruler. They left for the East with few eco-
nomic resources, but with their intellectual background as their bargaining chip
for survival. Ibn Saʿīd spent the rest of his life travelling in different regions of the
Islamic world, frequenting – as he had in al-Andalus – scholars from each city
and visiting the most prestigious libraries, in search of patronage from different
governors and notables in Egypt and Syria, under both Ayyūbid (566–648 H/
1171–1250 CE) and Mamlūk (648–922 H/1250–1517) rule.17
Neither Ibn Saʿīd nor his father would ever return to their homeland: Mūsā
Ibn Saʿīd died in Alexandria in 640 H/1243 CE and Ibn Saʿīd in Tunis in 685 H/
1286 CE. It was in Egypt where the author, following the family tradition, finished
shaping the monumental literary encyclopedia that is the Mughrib.

3 Al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib

Ibn Saʿīd was one of the most prolific Andalusi authors, writing many works on a
wide range of subjects such as poetry, music, travel, biography, genealogy, geog-
raphy, and history, including a work about his own lineage, the Banū Saʿīd, en-
titled al-Ṭāliʿ al-saʿīd fī taʾrīkh Banī Saʿīd (Good fortune in the history of the Banū
Saʿīd). Unfortunately, many of his writings have been lost, and some are only
partially preserved, which prevents us from arriving at an overall picture of his
literary production.18

||
16 Other Andalusis before Ibn Saʿīd and his father, in similar situations, had already followed
this course of action: they claimed that they intended to perform the pilgrimage when in reality
they were fleeing from a difficult political situation in which their properties had been confis-
cated and they feared for their lives. The closest and most famous case is that of Abū Bakr b. al-
ʿArabī and his father, who left al-Andalus when the Almoravids took over. Abū Bakr b. al-ʿArabī
did not return until he had obtained letters from al-Ghazālī and the ʿAbbāsid caliph that helped
him win over the new rulers. See Cano Ávila/Sanjuán/Tawfik 2009; Marín 1995, 126–127.
17 Ibn Saʿīd, who had left al-Andalus because of an unstable political situation, found himself
in similar circumstances a few years later in Cairo. He witnessed the turbulent times as power
changed hands from the Ayyūbid dynasty to the Mamlūks. This may have been the motivating
factor in his move first from Cairo to Damascus, and then from Damascus to Baghdad. Finally,
the Mongol threat may have led him to return to Tunis in the year 652 H/1254 CE.
18 Vidal Castro 2002; Arié 1988; Viguera Molins 2006; Potiron 1966.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 261

In the case of al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib (The extraordinary jewels of the

West), a historical-literary-geographical anthology aimed at compiling a selec-
tion of the literary production of Maghribi authors, Ibn Saʿīd was in fact not the
sole author, but rather built on the work of a series of previous authors who had
worked on the volume before him. Since all that remains of the introduction are
a few fragments, we cannot know exactly what criteria were used in selecting the
materials and authors.19 Nonetheless, much of the value of this work lies in the
precision with which these sources are cited, as well as the relevance of the ma-
terials collected, some of which originally belonged to works now lost. In addi-
tion, Ibn Saʿīd and his co-authors collected a large amount of oral material, much
of it belonging to local folklore, which is an aspect of the project that until now
has been afforded little consideration.20

3.1 Al-Mughrib’s composition: A family matter21

The composition of al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib is in fact the result of the work
of six different writers over a period of 115 years.22 The starting point was in the
early 6th/12th century, specifically a work written in 530 H/1135 CE (now lost) by
the poet al-Ḥijārī,23 entitled al-Mushib fī faḍāʾil/gharāʾib al-Maghrib (Proverb of
the merits of the West)24 and dedicated to his patron, ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd, great-
grandfather of Ibn Saʿīd, during his stay in Alcalá la Real.
After the efforts of al-Ḥijārī, ʿAbd al-Malik decided to continue the work, add-
ing to it more men of letters that he considered should be included. After him, his

||
19 The introduction to the Mughrib has not been preserved in the Cairo codex unicus. Some frag-
ments, however, are quoted by al-Maqqarī. See al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 329–330.
20 See for instance the fable of the father, the donkey and the son. This fable of Eastern origin,
which became widespread in medieval Europe from the 13th century to the 16th century, was
first recorded in Arabic by Ibn Saʿīd during his stay in Cairo. See Molina/Castro 2019.
21 Viguera 2006.
22 Ibn Saʿīd himself states this at the end of each chapter of the only preserved copy of this
work, for instance, at the end of the fourth chapter: al-rābiʿ min Kitāb al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Ma-
ghrib alladhī ṣannafahu bi-l-muwarāthati fī miʾati wa-khamsa ʿashrata sanatan sittatun wa-hum
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥijārī wa-ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd wa-Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Malik wa-Muḥammad
b. ʿAbd al-Malik wa-Mūsā b. Muḥammad wa-ʿAlī b. Mūsā. See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 11,
58–59.
23 Lirola Delgado 2012.
24 This work, together with the Mughrib, was one of the main sources used by al-Maqqarī (d.
1041 H/1632 CE) for the geographical and poetic portion on al-Andalus in his celebrated Nafḥ al-
ṭīb. See al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 1: 686–693.
262 | Iria Santás de Arcos

sons Aḥmad and Muḥammad continued to enrich the work with their own con-
tributions, but it was the son of Muḥammad, Mūsā Ibn Saʿīd, who became the
most devoted to the family opus, working tirelessly on it, first alone and then with
his son Ibn Saʿīd, until the last day of his life.25
As Luis Molina and Víctor de Castro state in a recent article,26 Mūsā was not
merely a link in this chain of family members who, after al-Ḥijārī, involved them-
selves in the composition of this work brought to fruition by Ibn Saʿīd. Instead,
he should be considered the true author of the work (or at least the writer who
contributed the most to it), which his son would take up and complete following
his death with a first version finished in 641 H/1243 CE. Ibn Saʿīd had been col-
laborating with his father for some time on the Mughrib, and Mūsā in all likeli-
hood had already made it available to readers before Ibn Saʿīd finished it. The
drafting of the Mughrib, therefore, as Luis Molina and Víctor de Castro maintain,
was well advanced by the time of Mūsā’s death.
Without changing the basic structure of the work, Ibn Saʿīd – the last au-
thor – added the information he collected in the course of his travels, mainly re-
garding his experiences in Egypt and his fruitful visits to many important librar-
ies in Baghdad and Aleppo. Once Ibn Saʿīd took over the Mughrib, he produced
several versions, some shorter and some longer, as he incorporated materials ex-
tracted from sources both written and oral that he encountered during his travels.
The first version of the work is believed to have been composed shortly after the
death of his father Mūsā, around the year 641 H/1243 CE. The second version, ac-
cording to Ibn Saʿīd, was written in the year 645 H/1247-8 CE, and the third, ac-
cording to the Mughrib manuscript, was finished in the year 647 H/1249 CE, dur-
ing the years he resided in Aleppo.
Once Ibn Saʿīd and Mūsā arrived in the East, they seem to have realized that
the same formula used in the Mughrib could be expanded to include the Mashriq,
which would also increase their opportunities for finding patronage. Thus, a
work entitled al-Mushriq fī ḥulā al-Mashriq (The shining jewels of the East) arose
as a continuation of the Mushriq, this time covering the authors of the East, an
idea that occurred to Mūsā some time prior to his death on 8 Shawwāl 640 H/31
March 1243 CE.27 Ibn Saʿīd explains in the introduction to the Mushriq28 that:

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25 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 170; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 334.
26 See Molina/Castro 2019.
27 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 171.
28 This introduction is cited by the editor of the Mughrib in the part corresponding to al-Fusṭāṭ.
See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 18–19.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 263

It occurred to him (Mūsā) the idea of writing a book similar to the Mughrib but devoted to
the East. He pursued this goal for a long period of time, consulting many books, as he en-
joyed access to the libraries of the great kings and notables of whom he was a companion,
frequenting and meeting people interested in these matters, having dedicated his long life
to this task and to observing books, until his life came to an end (...).29

To carry out this task, Ibn Saʿīd followed in the footsteps of his father: he con-
sulted many books in the libraries of kings and illustrious people, frequented ex-
perts in the field, gathered a wealth of information about each region, and col-
lected poems. Thus, Ibn Saʿīd was the one who in 647 H/1249 CE culminated
(mukammil) the work begun by his father.30 However, in the case of the Mushriq,
his contribution was greater than in the Mughrib, given the vast material he col-
lected on his travels to the East, mainly in cities like Cairo, Baghdad, Aleppo and
Damascus.
In a passage quoted by Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī, Ibn Saʿīd voices his pride in
the work he carried out on both the Mughrib and the Mushriq, saying:

Because it was an inheritance, it has reaped the fruits of all the books, and in the course of
its long gestation it has been purified into the cream of time. No period was beyond the
reach of its hands and no country failed to be trodden by its feet. In sum, it became a book
of rest, though writing it had subjected ears, eyes, hands and mind to fatigue (...).31

3.2 Al-Mughrib’s structure and methodology

In a general sense, the Mughrib and the Mushriq both rest on territorial divisions
of the regions covered, and share a common structure: both compile biographies
ordered geographically and classified by “kingdoms” (mamālik)32 that were, at

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29 thāra bi-khāṭirihi (Mūsā) an yuqābila al-Mughrib bi-kitāb yumāthiluhu ʿan al-Mashriq wa-
istaʿāna ʿalā hādhā al-gharaḍ bi-l-mudda wa-kathrat al-kutub wa-l-taḥakkum fī khazāʾin man
ṣaḥibahu min ʿuẓamāʾ al-mulūk fa-man dūnahum wa-kathrat al-mukhālaṭa wa-l-mumāzaja li-ahl
hādhā al-shaʾn wa-ṭawwala al-ʿumr al-mufarragh li-hādhā al-gharad wa-fawāʾid al-asfār ilā an
qaṭaʿahu intihāʾ al-ʿumr... (Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib [2003], 18).
30 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 172.
31 janat lahu bi-l-muwāratha thamarāt al-kutub wa maḥaḍat fīhi bi-l-muṭāwala zubd al-ḥuqb, fa-
lam taqṣur yaduhu ʿan ʿaṣr min al-aʿṣār wa lā qaṣṣarat khuṭāhu ʿan quṭr min al-aqṭār, fa jāʾa kitāb
rāḥatin qad taʿibat fīhi al-asmāʾ wa-l-abṣār wa-l-aydī wa-l-afkār (al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār
[2010], 13: 189–194). I would like to thank Luis Molina for his suggestions and corrections in the
translation of this text.
32 The territorial division that Ibn Saʿīd proposes for al-Andalus seems to be based on a past
geographical division, when the political entity of al-Andalus occupied the majority of the Ibe-
rian Peninsula, and for some time (5th/11th century) was divided into different kingdoms (the
264 | Iria Santás de Arcos

the same time, subdivided into provinces (kuwar) and cities (mudun). For each of
them, the Mughrib offers a list of personalities subdivided into social categories:
emirs, viziers, scholars, poets and other less prominent figures.
The length of each one varies, based on the literary production of each re-
gion – and perhaps on the degree to which works from each region were available
to Ibn Saʿīd. As far as we know,33 the Mughrib contained at least fifteen books: the
first six about Egypt; books seven, eight and nine about North Africa; and the
remaining six about al-Andalus.
It is important to clarify a few points in relation to the Mushib, the work upon
which the Mughrib is built, even though it has not been preserved. If we look at
instances where it was drawn upon by later authors, and the short references
about its content and structure, it seems that the Mushib only contained six vol-
umes (mujalladāt), all dedicated to al-Andalus. Thus, Ibn Saʿīd only makes refer-
ence to the Mushib in the part of the Mughrib that deals with al-Andalus, and does
not mention al-Ḥijārī in the preserved volumes dedicated to Egypt. Al-Maqqarī,
too, who made ample use of the Mushib in his Nafḥ al-ṭīb, only used or cited al-
Mushib and al-Ḥijārī when describing the Iberian Peninsula (al-Andalus) and its
scholars and writers. We can therefore assume that it was Ibn Saʿīd and Mūsā’s
idea to include Egypt as part of the Maghrib, after travelling to the East and set-
tling in Egypt. It is not possible to establish exactly when they first included Egypt
in the Mughrib, just as we cannot attribute this geographical conception exclu-
sively to Ibn Saʿīd, as it may have been his father’s. While it seems logical to as-
sume that they included Egypt as part of the Maghrib together after settling in
Egypt, perhaps it was Ibn Saʿīd who thought of it himself after the death of Mūsā
in 640 H/1243 CE, when he settled in Cairo and brought to completion the first
version of the Mughrib.
We cannot be sure if the Mushib was a source for the Mughrib’s infor-
mation – now lost – on North Africa and Ifrīqiya, as it is not mentioned by later
authors in relation to these regions. Until new evidence comes to light, and taking
into account the title of the work (al-Mushib fī faḍāʾil al-Maghrib), it is logical to
think that the Mushib contained information at least on North Africa. It is possi-
ble, too, that al-Ḥijārī did not complete it and was only able to compose the part

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Taifas). This division no longer existed in the author’s time, since al-Andalus had been reduced
to the small kingdom of Granada ruled by the Naṣrid sultans. In relation to Ibn Saʿīd’s geography
see Vernet 1953; Vernet 1958; Meouak 1996; Viguera 1999; Rei 2003; Mazzoli-Guintard 2009; Maz-
zoli-Guintard/Viguera Molins 2017.
33 For the manuscript record see section 5.2.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 265

on al-Andalus, which is the one for which we do find quotations in works by sub-
sequent authors.34 A similar question can be raised in relation to the order of each
geographical area in the Mughrib. As we know it today, the work begins with
Egypt, continues with Ifrīqiya and North Africa, and ends with al-Andalus. Was
this the original order of the Mushib, the foundation of the Mughrib? Or was this,
at least, al-Ḥijārī’s intention? As mentioned, given that the quotations preserved
from the Mushib deal only with al-Andalus, the final structure of the Mughrib
seems to have been devised by Mūsā and Ibn Saʿīd once they started their journey
to the East through North Africa and Ifrīqiya, finally settling in Egypt.
One of the developments that Ibn Saʿīd introduced into his work was the tri-
partite division of each territory. This division is especially significant in the part
on al-Andalus,35 divided into three clear regions: eastern, central and western,
with a chapter devoted to each one, subdivided, as we have said, into “kingdoms”
and cities. The part concerning Egypt36 – which still requires further study – also
has a tripartite structure, but with some differences: it is divided into an upper, a
middle and a lower region, each one with its respective “kingdoms” (mamālik),
each of which is in turn divided into eastern and western provinces or kuwar. In
contrast to the section on al-Andalus, it is difficult to perform an in-depth analy-
sis of the section on Egypt because not enough chapters have come down to us.
It is worth noting that, as Ibn Saʿīd himself points out, he penned specific chap-
ters in this section enumerating various dynasties such as the Ṭūlūnids, the
Ikhshīdids, and the Ayyūbid sultans, as quasi-independent history chapters.37

3.3 Sources of al-Mughrib

As already mentioned, in the Mughrib Ibn Saʿīd is very careful about citing the
sources he and the other members of his family have used in researching the

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34 See Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1973–78), 3: 432–435; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 330, 337,
and 4: 123–124, 314–315.
35 Some chapters of the Andalusi section (specifically the chapters on Córdoba, Toledo, Málaga,
Elvira, and Almería) have been translated into Spanish by Hanaa Mohamed-Hammadi Mejdoubi.
See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2014–18).
36 The Egyptian portion of the Mughrib is entitled “al-Iklīl fī ḥulā wādī al-Nīl”.
37 The titles of the respective chapters are: “Kitāb al-durra al-maknūn fī ḥulā dawlat Banī
Ṭūlūn”, “Kitāb al-ʿuyūn al-daʿj fī ḥulā dawlat Banī Ṭaghj”, and “Kitāb al-rawḍ al-mahḍūb fī ḥulā
dawlat Banī Ayyūb”. He also wrote a specific chapter dedicated to the ʿAbbādī dynasty of Seville
that has not been preserved and that was included in the Mughrib, in the part on al-Andalus. See
Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 29–30.
266 | Iria Santás de Arcos

Mughrib, and records how this information was obtained and how reliable it is.
Common phrases used when citing sources are, “And from the book of X”, “and
X said”, “and it was said that”, “I read in X”, “I found this in the book of X”, or “I
borrowed this from X”.
We can classify the main sources of the Mughrib into three groups:
1. Written sources,38 which are quite numerous and constitute the backbone of
the work. They were gathered during the travels of the Banū Saʿīd.
2. Oral sources. The Banū Saʿīd frequented many scholars and men of letters in
their corresponding periods (throughout more than a century), with whom
they exchanged their works and collected from them not only fragments of
prose and poetry but also popular proverbs, sayings or fables.
3. Direct observations, collected mainly by Mūsā and Ibn Saʿīd. Thus, for exam-
ple, in the part of the Mughrib dedicated to Cairo, Ibn Saʿīd says that apart
from recording fragments of al-Bayhaqī, al-Qurṭī and other authors, he has
added everything he has seen with his own eyes about the city of Cairo, be-
cause he has lived in it for many years.39

If we classify the sources according to geographical criteria we can divide them

into: Andalusi sources (for instance, Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi, Ibn al-Faraḍī, and Ibn
Bassām), Eastern sources (like al-Thaʿālibī and Ibn Ḥawqal), and North African
sources (such as al-Raqīq and Ibn Ghālib). No monographic study has yet been
carried out on this subject.

4 Al-Mughrib in the East: Ibn Saʿīd and his travels

Whereas Mūsā Ibn Saʿīd can be credited with writing the largest share of the
Mughrib, his son Ibn Saʿīd is the principal figure responsible for disseminating it.
As is well known, Andalusis and Maghribis regularly travelled to the East for
study, trade and other reasons.40 As we have seen, following the death of Ibn
Hūd,41 Ibn Saʿīd and his father, feeling helpless in the face of a difficult situa-
tion,42 decided to leave al-Andalus in the year 636 H/1238-9 CE under the guise of
performing the ḥajj. They travelled by land across the territories of the Maghrib,

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38 In relation to his written sources see Meouak 1993.
39 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Nujūm (1970), 22.
40 For a general perspective, see Arié 1995; Marín 1995; Ávila 2002; Marín 2005.
41 See above, footnote 13.
42 Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 60–61.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 267

visiting Fez, Tunis and other important towns and cities. In Tunis they met Abū
al-ʿAbbās al-Tīfāshī, with whom they established a close friendship and who
would subsequently help Ibn Saʿīd gain access to the court of the sultan of
Ifrīqiya, Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā (r. 626–646 H/1229–1249 CE). During this period,
in both al-Andalus and North Africa, they met important figures such as Ibn al-
Abbār (d. 661 H/1260 CE), Abū al-Walīd al-Shaqundī (d. 630 H/1232 CE),43 Abū al-
Ḥasan Sahl Ibn Mālik (d. 639 H/1241-2 CE) and Ibn al-ʿAskar (d. 636 H/1239 CE).
From Tunis they went on to Egypt, arriving in Alexandria in 639 H/1241 CE. While
Mūsā stayed on there, Ibn Saʿīd continued to Cairo, before returning to Alexan-
dria to be with his father, who died a year later on 8 Shawwāl 640 H/31 March
1243 CE.
After the death of his father, Ibn Saʿīd again settled for several years in the
Ayyūbid Cairo of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb (r. 637–647 H/1240–
1249 CE). His return to the city was a great literary event: a banquet was offered
in his honor, with important personages in attendance, including the governor of
Cairo (and later of Damascus) Jamāl al-Dīn al-Amīr Mūsā Ibn Yaghmūr (599–
663 H/1203–1265 CE), who became his patron and to whom he dedicated a sum-
mary of (or rather an excerpt from) the Mughrib, entitled Rāyāt al-mubarrazīn wa-
ghāyāt al-mumayyazīn (The flags of the champions and the goals of the outstand-
ing ones),44 while finishing the Mughrib.
Ibn Saʿīd completed a first version of the Mughrib in 641 H/1243 CE,45 which
was very well received in Cairo. Among its enthusiastic readers was the Ayyūbid
Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ (601–647 H/1205–1249 CE),46 who granted its
author access to the royal libraries.
In addition to his constant visits to libraries in search of knowledge and ma-
terials for his works, Ibn Saʿīd was also an expert in the manuscript markets of
his time. This is recorded in the Mughrib, where he tells, for example, that “the
dīwān of Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Kizānī was well known among the people, and was
often sold in the souks of Cairo and al-Fusṭāṭ”.47 Ibn Saʿīd was not satisfied with
simply recording what he heard, insisting that his informants share with him any
further materials and anecdotes to help round out his books.

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43 Ibn Saʿīd composed an appendix to his famous risāla in praise of al-Andalus. See al-
Shaqundī, Risāla (1976).
44 See the study, edition and Spanish translation of this work by García Gómez 1978.
45 See Molina/Castro 2019.
46 See Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 6–7.
47 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 261.
268 | Iria Santás de Arcos

Ibn Saʿīd also makes note of the places where he tracked down rare manu-
scripts,48 as well as the generous people who lent him their books (and the stingy
ones who did not). The binomial generosity/greed is a constant in Ibn Saʿīd’s
works, to such an extent that we can use it to classify the many scholars that show
up in his writings. For instance, during his stay in Cairo he met Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī
b. Marwān al-Zanātī,49 Najm al-Rayḥānī and Ibn Ḥabāqa al-Khazrajī, all of whom
he showered in praise for their generosity in giving him access to their libraries
and providing him with information about the Egyptian literary scene.50
An important issue for Maghribi travellers and pilgrims was the dangerous
and rude reception that they sometimes received when arriving in Alexandria and
other Egyptian ports.51 For this reason, Ibn Saʿīd highlighted the role of Maghribis
who had settled in the East52 and helped their Western countrymen on their way
to Mecca via Egypt.53
An important moment in Ibn Saʿīd’s life that contributed to the dissemination
of his work was when, in the year 644 H/1246 CE, he met Ibn al-ʿAdīm, writer and
vizier of the Ayyūbid sultan of Aleppo, al-Nāṣir al-Malik (625–658 H/1228–
1260 CE), who had come to Cairo on one of his embassies. Ibn Saʿīd left Cairo to
accompany his friend Ibn al-ʿAdīm to Aleppo, to the court al-Nāsir al-Malik, who
gave him a lavish reception. He remained there for three years (644–647 H/1246–
1249 CE), during which time the sultan granted him access not only to his royal
libraries but also to those of Mosul and Baghdad, in exchange for a copy of the
Mughrib.54

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48 Al-Maqqarī reports that Ibn Saʿīd found in the ʿĀdiliyya madrasa of Damascus – the library
of the Ayyūbid sultan al-ʿĀdil I (d. 615 H/1218 CE) – a copy of the History of Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571 H/
1176 CE) that was completed and summarized by Abū Shāma (d. 665 H/1268 CE), from whom he
heard about this work when he was living in Damascus. See al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2:
299.
49 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 301–302.
50 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 267, 322.
51 Marín 2004, 217–220.
52 Pouzet 1975.
53 One example is Quṭb al-Dīn Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. al-
Ḥasan al-Qasṭalānī. See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 269.
54 This information is recorded not only by al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 272–273, but before
him by Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Aʿmāl al-aʿlām (2003), 270. Both authors report that the sultan was pleased
with a poem that Ibn Saʿīd recited as soon as he arrived, and invited him to sit with him. The
sultan asked him about his country (the Maghrib) and the reason and purpose of his travels. Ibn
Saʿīd replied that he had gathered in two books, one dedicated to the East entitled al-Mushriq fī
ḥulā al-Mashriq and another to the West, al-Mughrib fī ḥulā al-Maghrib, the excellences of these
territories and their literati. The sultan offered him access to his libraries and brought for him
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 269

In 647 H/1249 CE, perhaps owing to the unstable situation in the East as a
whole, but in particular in Cairo, following the death of Ayyūbid sultan al-Malik
al-Ṣāliḥ and the Mamlūks’ imminent ascent to power, Ibn Saʿīd – as he had done
before in al-Andalus – decided to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and then headed
to Damascus, where he explored the libraries of the city and its surroundings. In
648 H/1250 CE he went to Homs, Mosul and Baghdad,55 where he visited, as rec-
orded by al-Maqqarī,56 a total of 36 libraries, where he copied the most important
manuscripts he encountered. As just a few years later the city was sacked by the
Mongols, many quotations from these works have come down to us only through
Ibn Saʿīd’s writings.57
Later he moved to Basra, passing through Armenia (Arrajān), and returned
to Mecca. In 652 H/1254 CE he set sail for Tunis, where he entered into the service
of the Ḥafṣid emir Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mustanṣir (r. 646–677 H/1249–1279 CE). He
stayed there for a few years before returning to the East in 666 H/1267 CE, this
time to visit Iran, passing through Baghdad on the way, and returning to Tunis
for good in 674 H/1276 CE, where he continued to serve al-Mustanṣir until his own
death in 685 H/1286 CE.58
Ibn Saʿīd travels were undoubtedly the main vehicle for the transmission of
his work,59 and he continually expanded his network of contacts with each new
city he visited. Such contacts served both as sources to include in his work as well
as transmitters to disseminate it. As the author himself informs us, he sometimes
travelled in a group, in the company of other scholars such as Ibn Jannān al-
Shāṭibī.60 The fact that they travelled together further facilitated dissemination,
as they exchanged their respective works with one another.
In his biographical notes, Ibn Saʿīd relates the encounters with those he met,
and the constant exchange of verses, prose and licenses between them.61 Given
the number of his trips in the East and North Africa, he had ample opportunity to

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works from Baghdad and Mosul, in exchange for a copy of the Mughrib. Al-Maqqarī also records
that Ibn Saʿīd composed for this sultan another work entitled Mulūk al-shiʿr. See al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ
al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 295.
55 In relation to his stay in Baghdad see Alubudi 2004.
56 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 273, 370; Ibn Saʿīd, al-Muqtaṭaf (1984), 41.
57 See Amitai 1987.
58 This travelling from one place to another without definitively establishing himself in the East
seems to indicate that Ibn Saʿīd did not feel comfortable under Mamlūk rule, unlike many other
Andalusi scholars.
59 Marín 1995, 129–130.
60 Pouzet 1975, 174.
61 For a list of these encounters in Egypt see Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 35.
270 | Iria Santás de Arcos

make his work known, at least in oral form. This happened not only in the East,
but also earlier, when he was still living in his homeland. If we consider that even
before leaving behind al-Andalus, Mūsā, in collaboration with his son, had al-
ready completed a sizeable portion of the work, they must have spread infor-
mation about its contents among the poets and scholars they interacted with in
Algeciras.62
In spite of this, only one incomplete manuscript has been preserved, in the
case of both the Mughrib and the Mushriq.63 However, we know that there were a
number of copies that circulated in the East and the West during Ibn Saʿīd’s life-
time and after his death, a subject we will continue to explore in the following
section.

5 Contemporary and later diffusion of al-Mughrib

During Ibn Saʿīd’s time his work was disseminated by his teachers or fellow stu-
dents such as Ibn Mufarrij al-Umawī,64 Aḥmad Ibn Ṭalḥa and Ibn Sahl al-Isrāʾīlī.
His relationship with them involved teaching, gatherings, exchanging composi-
tions, and reciting their poetry to one another. We know, however, almost noth-
ing about Ibn Saʿīd’s disciples.65 Only one of his works66 points out the existence
of a disciple named Hudhayl al-Ishbīlī, who could also have helped spread the
author’s work.
Three scholars, besides Ibn Saʿīd himself, played a prominent role in the dif-
fusion of the Mughrib:
1. Muḥammad b. Hamūshk al-Tinmalī, to whom Ibn Saʿīd dedicated exten-
sive biographies in his own writings.67 He was born in Ceuta and received his ed-
ucation in this city and Algeciras; he then settled with his family in Tunis, where
he lived the rest of his life. Ibn Saʿīd and Ibn Hamūshk knew each other very well
and shared common ancestors.68 Ibn Hamūshk was a teacher of Ibn Rushayd (d.

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62 See al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 328.
63 The only manuscript preserved of the Mushriq is the one located in Cairo, in the History sec-
tion of the Taymūr Library, MS 2532.
64 Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 181.
65 None of the authors that have included a biography of Ibn Saʿīd in their works record any
information about this issue. See a list of these authors in the table below.
66 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Ghusūn (1977), 69–71.
67 Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 11, 98–108.
68 Potiron 1965, 82–83, 85–87.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 271

721 H/1321 CE)69 and, as the latter indicates in his Riḥla, Ibn Saʿīd transmitted and
licensed to Ibn Hamūshk the great majority of his works, and it was through him
that Ibn Rushayd became aware of them.70 Ibn Hamūshk had a scribe who made
a copy of each of Ibn Saʿīd’s works, including, of course, the Mughrib. He thereby
gathered a larger collection of Ibn Saʿīd’s works than had ever been made before.
He did not lend them out, but readily had copies made for anyone who came to
see them.71
2. Sharaf al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Yūsuf al-Tīfāshī,72 who was from
Tīfāsh in Ifrīqiya, and travelled to Cairo, where he lived for many years on his
search for knowledge73 and patronage. He contributed to the eastward transmis-
sion and spread of the works of Ibn Saʿīd,74 of whom he was master-disciple. Al-
Tīfāshī was an admirer of the beauty and value of the Mughrib, praising it in sev-
eral of his own verses.75 An important document preserved by al-Maqqarī is the
ijāza76 that al-Tīfāshī – and one of his disciples – received from Ibn Saʿīd to trans-
mit his work:

And I found in the handwriting of ʿAlī b. Mūsā b. Saʿīd – God the Highest have mercy on
him – at the end of a volume of the Kitāb al-Mughrib the following: “And I granted the li-
cense to the shaykh, to the high qāḍī Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad b. al-Shaykh al-Qāḍī Abū Yaʿqūb
al-Tīfāshī to transmit this work of mine, al-Mughrib fī maḥāsin al-Maghrib, and to transmit

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69 Ibn Rushayd, born in Ceuta, was an important jurist (faqīh), preacher, traditionist, prose
writer, ḥāfiẓ, and the author of an important travelogue or riḥla. According to Ibn Rushayd, Ibn
Hamūshk was born in Ceuta and was a prominent scholar who maintained correspondence with
jurists, chiefs (ruʾasāʾ) and emirs. See Ḥaddādī 2003, 337–338; Lirola Delgado 2006.
70 Escorial, MS 1737, folio 101, in the 6th part not edited.
71 Ḥaddādī 2003, 337–338.
72 Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tīfāshī came from Tīfāsh, a city located in Ifrīqiya. He travelled to Egypt to
learn and teach, and returned to his hometown where he headed the judiciary. Later, he returned
to the East but lost his possessions and his books at sea so he sought refuge with Muḥammad b.
Nadī al-Jazarī – an important character on which we will return later – with whom Ibn Saʿīd also
lived for a time and for whom he copied the Mughrib and the Mushriq. Al-Tīfāshī composed sev-
eral works for this governor, including the 24-volume work Faṣl al-khiṭāb. He died in the year
651 H/1253 CE. He was also the author of the work Azhār al-afkār that served Ibn Saʿīd as a source
of information. See Ruska/Kahl, “al-Tīfāshī”, EI2.
73 In Cairo, al-Tīfāshī was disciple of ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī (d. 629 H/1231 CE), a famous
scholar trained in many subjects, including ḥadīth, grammar and calligraphy, but mainly known
for his medical knowledge. In relation to his life and search for knowledge and patronage, see
Toorawa 2004.
74 See Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 163–164; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 324–325; al-
Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1983), 8: 188–190.
75 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 40.
76 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 48.
272 | Iria Santás de Arcos

it to anyone he wishes, trusting in his judgment and wisdom. And I also granted the license
(ijāza) to his noble disciple (fatā) Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr b.
Khaṭlakh al-Fārisī al-Urmawī to transmit it from me and to anyone he wishes. Written by its
author, ʿAlī b. Mūsā b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd on the date on which the copy
of this volume was completed”.77

It is difficult to establish with precision when and how Ibn Saʿīd granted this li-
cense or ijāza to al-Tīfāshī and his disciple because we have little information
about al-Tīfāshī’s life in Cairo. As Ibn Saʿīd stated in his work Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ al-
muʿallā,78 in the biography of Abū al-Ḥajjāj b. ʿUtba al-Ishbīlī, al-Tīfāshī informed
him about the stay of this scholar in Cairo (akhbaranī ṣāḥibuhu bi-Miṣr Abū al-
Faḍl al-Tīfāshī). We can therefore assume that Ibn Saʿīd met al-Tīfāshī in person
when he settled in Cairo after the death of his father and before travelling to
Aleppo with Ibn al-ʿAdīm, between the years 640 H/1243 CE and 644 H/1246 CE.
Another question is when Ibn Saʿīd recorded this license in the Mughrib. Accord-
ing to the editors of the Mughrib, it is not found in the codex unicus preserved in
Cairo, so it must have been part of the broader manuscript that al-Maqqarī han-
dled and that could be the last version of the Mughrib, or one of the last ones,
written by Ibn Saʿīd after the year 647 H/1249 CE, the date of the Cairo manuscript.
3. Kamāl al-Dīn Ibn Abī Jarāda Ibn al-ʿAdīm,79 born in 588 H/1192 CE, was an
outstanding man of letters who served as vizier to the Ayyūbid governor of
Aleppo, al-Nāṣir al-Malik. He dedicated his life to writing and reading, producing
copies of many works, in addition to composing one work of his own, Taʾrīkh
Ḥalab (History of Aleppo). He also owned a sizeable library that Ibn Saʿīd men-
tions several times having used, along with the books he consulted in it. Ibn al-
ʿAdīm met Ibn Saʿīd on one of his embassies to Egypt, specifically in the year
637 H/1239 CE, as Ibn Saʿīd describes in his work al-Muqtaṭaf,80 and, as men-
tioned above, they later travelled together to Aleppo.
Ibn Saʿīd, in his biography of Ibn al-ʿAdīm,81 describes this important en-
counter, and adds the following:

It was said that in Aleppo they called him raʾīs al-aṣḥāb.82 When I arrived with him in this
city he lodged me in a house that had a garden with running water, and he told me, “You

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77 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 332.
78 Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 163–164.
79 Lewis, “Ibn al-ʿAdīm”, EI2; Canard 1973.
80 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Muqtaṭaf (1984), 298.
81 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Muqtaṭaf (1984), 199–200.
82 This term seems to refer to a person with a position of prestige and economic means who was
continually surrounded by people with the same intellectual concerns and motivations – hence
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 273

are an Andalusi. I have heard that in your houses there is no lack of such things”. He pre-
pared plenty of food and entertainment for me each day. He also told me, “This will mean
that you do not need to ask for anything or have to serve the sultan until he himself comes
to you; trust in my commitment to you. I have described you to him as a noble and honora-
ble man”. I clung to this and he behaved above and beyond my expectations.

Ibn al-ʿAdīm died in the year 660 H/1262 CE. Upon his death, al-Maqqarī quoted
from Ibn Saʿīd:

Among the works of Nūr al-Dīn Ibn Saʿīd there is ʿUddat al-mustanjiz wa-ʿuqlat al-mustawfiz.
In it he mentions that he travelled from Tunis to the East on his second trip in the year 666
[H/1267 CE] (...) and mentions in [this work] that when he entered Alexandria he did not
find anyone to inform him about al-Malik al-Nāṣir. He was informed of his situation and of
what had happened to him with the Tartars, who killed him after having granted him the
amān (...) and during this event al-Badr Ibn al-ʿAdīm was also killed.83

We also know that Ibn Saʿīd had relations with some of Ibn al-ʿAdīm’s relatives,
including his nephew al-Iftikhār b. al-ʿAdīm,84 and with his grandfather, Abū al-
Majd Muḥammad Ibn al-Wazīr, to whom he wrote a letter when he was in Tunis
serving the Ḥafṣid sultan, during his first trip to the East.85
One important encounter for the spread of Ibn Saʿīd’s work was when al-
Tīfāshī and Ibn al-ʿAdīm met face to face in Cairo.86 The former recited to the latter
several poems by Ibn Saʿīd, and stated that he had taken them from the Mughrib.
We do not know when this meeting took place, but it must have been before Ibn
Saʿīd copied the Mughrib for Ibn al-ʿAdīm in Aleppo.
In addition to Ibn Saʿīd’s three contemporaries mentioned above, who were
decisive in the spread not only of the Mughrib but also of other works by Ibn Saʿīd,
Mamlūk authors also became interested, finding it to be a very valuable source,
especially for information on al-Andalus and North Africa. For instance, Abū al-
Fidāʾ invokes the Mughrib to recriminate Ibn Khallikān for a mistake he made
when dealing with a scholar from Salobreña, ʿUmar b. Muḥammad al-
Shalawbīnī, a mistake that could have been avoided had he consulted the
Mughrib.87 Among the Mamlūk authors familiar with Ibn Saʿīd’s works, al-Ṣafadī

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the term aṣḥāb (friends) – of whom he was the visible head (raʾīs) and surely the one who orga-
nized the majālis (encounters) where they would meet.
83 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 368.
84 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 369.
85 Ibn Saʿīd, Ikhtiṣār al-qidḥ (1980), 6.
86 Recorded by al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 325.
87 See Abū al-Fidāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar (1907), 3: 177; Abū al-Fidāʾ, Taqwīm al-buldān (1848–83), 2:
254.
274 | Iria Santás de Arcos

(d. 763 H/1362 CE) possessed copies that were all in Ibn Saʿīd’s own hand. In the
biography dedicated to Ibn Saʿīd in his work al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt,88 al-Ṣafadī
states that his copies include al-Mughrib, al-Mushriq, Kitāb al-Gharāmiyyāt, Ḥulā
al-rasāʾil, Kunūz al-maṭālib fī āl Abī Ṭālib, and al-Murqiṣ wa-l-muṭrib.
The following table includes some of the authors – mainly Mamlūk but also
Maghribi and Ottoman – who made use of Ibn Saʿīdʾs works either directly or in-
directly. They engaged especially with the Mughrib and the Mushriq, but also with
other works that have not been preserved, like ʿUddat al-mustanjiz and Ḥulā al-
rasāʾil. Thus, we can see that his works were disseminated not only during his
lifetime, but after his death as well.

Tab. 1: Authors who made use of Ibn Saʿīd’s works

Authors Works

Ibn al-ʿAdīm (d. 660 H/1262 CE) Taʾrīkh Ḥalab

Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (d. 701 H/1302 CE) al-Dhayl wa-l-takmila
Ibn Rushayd (d. 721 H/1321 CE) Milʾ al-ʿayba
Abū al-Fidāʾ (d. 731 H/1331 CE) Taqwīm al-buldān
al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar
Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī (d. 749 H/1349 CE) Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār
al-Ṣafadī (d. 763 H/1362 CE) al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt
Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī (d. 764 H/1363 CE) Fawāt al-wafayāt
Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (d. 769 H/1368 CE Riḥla
or 778 H/1377 CE)
Ibn al-Khaṭīb (d. 776 H/1374 CE) Kitāb Aʿmāl al-aʿlām
al-Iḥāṭa fī akhbār Gharnāṭa89
Ibn Farḥūn (d. 799 H/1397 CE) al-Dībāj al-mudhhab
Aḥmad al-Rabaʿī (d. 9th/15th century) Masraḥ al-afkār fī nasamāt al-azhār

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88 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1983), 22: 253.
89 Ibn al-Khaṭīb made extensive use of the works of Ibn Saʿīd, to the point that some of them
served as direct inspiration for his own writings. In the Iḥāṭa he dedicates a biography to Ibn
Saʿīd in which he says, “he was a prodigy travelling through the countries, interviewing promi-
nent men to enjoy their libraries, recording the valuable data of the East as well as the West”.
See Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1973–78), 4: 152–158.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 275

Authors Works
90
Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808 H/1406 CE) Kitāb al-ʿIbar (including the Muqaddima)
Ibn Duqmāq (d. 809 H/1407 CE) al-Intiṣār li-wāsiṭat ʿaqd al-amṣār
al-Qalqashandī (d. 820 H/1418 CE) Ṣubḥ al-aʿshā
al-Maqrīzī (d. 845 H/1442 CE) Kitāb al-Khiṭaṭ
Ighāthat al-umma
Ibn Taghrībirdī (d. 874 H/1470 CE) al-Manhal al-ṣāfī
al-Sakhāwī (d. 901 H/1496 CE) al-Iʿlān bi-l-tawbīkh
al-Suyūṭī (d. 910 H/1505 CE) Bughyat al-wuʿāt
Ḥusn al-muḥāḍara
Ibn al-Qāḍī (d. 1024 H/1616 CE) Durrat al-ḥijāl
al-Maqqarī (d. 1041 H/1632 CE) Nafḥ al-ṭīb
Azhār al-riyāḍ
Ḥājjī Khalīfa (d. 1067 H/1657 CE) Kashf al-ẓunūn

It is worth nothing that of these works, Masraḥ al-afkār by 9th/15th-century Tu-

nisian author Aḥmad al-Rabaʿī has been fundamental for the preservation of ma-
terials compiled in two of Ibn Saʿīd’s works, ʿUddat al-mustanjiz and Ḥulā al-
rasāʾil, since these were subsequently lost.91

5.1 Ibn Saʿīd’s copies for his patrons

Ibn Saʿīd made, over the course of his lifetime, various copies of his works that
he presented to sultans, governors and other important figures of the day. Ḥājjī
Khalīfa, in his book Kashf al-ẓunūn,92 states that the Mughrib was composed (al-
lafahu) for Muḥyī al-Dīn b. Nadī al-Jazarī (d. 651 H/1253 CE), who ruled in al-Jazīra
(Northern Iraq),93 first as independent governor after the death of his father
Shams al-Dīn, and then under the supervision of Ayyūbid Sultan al-Kāmil b. al-
ʿĀdil (r. 614–636 H/1218–1238 CE) and his successors. Muḥyī al-Dīn b. Nadī al-
Jazarī surrounded himself with scholars who wrote works for him, among them

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90 The information that Ibn Khaldūn includes in his Muqaddima about muwashshaḥāt and azjāl
is extracted for the most part from the Mughrib, possibly one of the best Arab-Islamic sources for
this type of poetry. See Lévi-Provençal 1954.
91 Al-Rabaʿī, Masraḥ al-afkār (1992).
92 Ḥājjī Khalīfa, Kashf al-ẓunūn (1941), 2: 1747.
93 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 54. On al-Jazarī, see al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1983), 1: 143–144.
276 | Iria Santás de Arcos

Ibn Saʿīd.94 Ḥājjī Khalīfa seems to have taken this information from al-Ṣafadī’s
biography of Ibn Saʿīd in his work al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt, as well his biography of
Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Jazarī, where he states,95 “Ibn Saʿīd wrote (ṣannafa) for him a
copy of the Mughrib and the Mushriq and he also composed poems in his honor”.
Taken on its own, the report by al-Ṣafadī, later recorded by Ḥājjī Khalīfa, may
seem to imply that the Mughrib was exclusively the work of Ibn Saʿīd, who wrote
it (ṣannafa / allafa) for al-Jazarī. Since we know this is not the case, this report
should be interpreted as referring to the fact that Ibn Saʿīd made a copy (nuskha)
of the Mughrib and the Mushriq for his patron, which must have led al-Jazarī to
believe – or to boast – that Ibn Saʿīd had actually composed them for him. The
Mughrib is, of course, the result of the work of several members of Ibn Saʿīd’s
family, Ibn Saʿīd being the final author (mukammil) in this long line.
Another copy is mentioned by al-Maqqarī in the biography dedicated to Ibn
Saʿīd in Nafḥ al-ṭīb,96 where he reports that Ibn Saʿīd “wrote” a copy of the
Mughrib for the sultan of Aleppo, al-Malik al-Nāṣir, when they met, as we have
already mentioned, in the company of Ibn al-ʿAdīm.

5.2 The Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya manuscript

Despite the fact that the Mughrib was well known, its modern editors believe that
there were probably few copies in circulation. The dissemination of the Mughrib
– as well as other works by Ibn Saʿīd, such as the Mushriq – seems in fact to have
occurred basically in a fragmentary way by means of oral transmission or through
the use of quotations from the few original copies made by Ibn Saʿīd – such as
those made for Ibn al-ʿAdīm and Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Jazarī – and those made by oth-
ers such as Ibn Hamūshk and perhaps by al-Tīfāshī.97 Al-ʿUmarī and al-Maqqarī
– and perhaps Abū al-Fidāʾ as well – seem to have had access to a complete copy

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94 We do not know exactly when Ibn Saʿīd met Ibn Nadī al-Jazarī. It could have happened when
Ibn Saʿīd travelled to Baghdad, Homs and Mosul, in the year 648 H/1250 CE, from the court of
the Ayyūbid sultan al-Nāṣir al-Malik.
95 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1983), 1: 143–144.
96 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 272–273. See also Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Aʿmāl al-aʿlām (2003), 270.
97 As with the oral license granted to Ibn al-ʿAdīm, we know that in Cairo Ibn Saʿīd granted al-
Tīfāshī a license or ijāza to transmit the Mughrib; however, at present we cannot be certain
whether al-Tīfāshī had a copy of this work.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 277

of the Mughrib, as they quote many materials taken from this work that do not
appear in the only extant copy, preserved at Cairo’s Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya.98
This copy is of great value since it appears to have been made by the author
himself, and may possibly be the first copy he made while in Aleppo. This is what
the editors of the text have proposed given the deletions, blank spaces, and nu-
merous corrections found in the text. Ibn Saʿīd states at the end of every extant
volume that the copy was made for Ibn al-ʿAdīm, specifically for his noble library,
during the years that the author spent in Aleppo (644–647 H/1246–1249 CE). Later
– we do not know when — this copy reached al-Ṣafadī’s hands, since his signa-
ture appears in the manuscript to indicate that he owned it,99 as well as the sig-
natures and brief notes of others who used this copy after him:100
1. Praying to God for its owner, it was used by Ibrāhīm b. Duqmāq [d. 809 H/
1407 CE], may God forgive him and have mercy on him, Amen.
2. And it was read by Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Awḥadī in the year 802 (H/
1399 CE).
3. And, praying to God for its owner, it was used by Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Maqrīzī in
the year 803 (H/1400 CE).
4. [And it was read by] Khalīl b. ʿUmar al-Muḥtāj al-Ashʿarī.
5. [And] Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Qaṣṣāṣ al-Miṣrī al-Bakrī al-Wafāʾī in
the year 974 (H/1566 CE).
6. [And] al-Sharīf Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Ḥanafī al-Ḥamawī in the year 1087
(H/1676 CE).
7. [And] Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Amīr in the year 1191 (H/1777 CE).
8. And this volume was seen and read from beginning to end by the faqīh Ḥasan
b. Muḥammad al-ʿAṭṭār (...) who believes this is a work unlike any other ever
written. I managed to see it in the al-Muʾayyad library in the year 1243 (H/
1827 CE), and I pray God will allow me to see the rest of this work by his grace
and generosity.

The undated signature of al-Suyūṭī also appears in the margins of one of the
pages, and al-Maqrīzī, who consulted this work in Cairo, left in the margin of the

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98 The copy of the Mughrib used by al-Maqqarī and al-ʿUmarī, as mentioned before, must have
been the last one made by Ibn Saʿīd. Perhaps it is a copy of the Cairo manuscript, but in any case,
it was one of the last copies written by Ibn Saʿīd. See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 48–49.
99 The cover of volume four states, “Read and borrowed from its owner by Khalīl b. Aybak b.
ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣafadī, may God forgive him”. See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 54.
100 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 59–60.
278 | Iria Santás de Arcos

biography devoted to Ibn Sūrīn a long note where he adds further information
about this author and his writings.101
All these signatures confirm that by the end of the 8th/14th century, specifi-
cally before 809 H/1407 CE, the date of Ibn Duqmāq’s death, the Dār al-kutub al-
miṣriyya manuscript was already in Cairo, although it is possible that al-Ṣafadī
himself had already brought it there at an earlier date while serving in the Egyp-
tian capital. Al-ʿAṭṭār’s signature confirms that at least part of the manuscript had
already been lost at the al-Muʾayyad mosque before 1243 H/1827 CE, the year he
consulted it. Another important moment recorded in the manuscript itself, in the
9th/15th century, was when it was deposited as a pious donation (waqf) by the
Mamlūk sultan al-Malik al-Muʾayyad Abū al-Nāṣir (r. 814–823 H/1412–1421 CE) in
the library of the Muʾayyadiyya mosque.102 It is Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (d. 901
H/1496 CE), in his work al-Iʿlān bi-l-tawbīkh li-man dhamma ahl al-taʾrīkh, who
records this information.103
The manuscript consists of 1300 pages, classified into four volumes that have
not been preserved in their original order. The successive editors of the Mughrib
have managed to restore order to the preserved volumes, especially Shawqī Ḍayf,
the editor of the Andalusi portion. The first, second and third of the six chapters
dedicated to Egypt have been lost; chapters seven, eight and nine devoted to
Ifrīqiya and North Africa have been lost; and of the six chapters dedicated to al-
Andalus (that is, from chapter ten to fifteen) the tenth is lost – although a large
portion has been preserved thanks to al-Maqqarī’s Nafḥ al-ṭīb – and chapters
eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen are preserved, except for a few
pages relating to Seville and the ʿAbbādī dynasty.

6 Concluding remarks
Ibn Saʿīd experienced mixed feelings upon his arrival in Egypt. On the one hand,
he was fascinated by the majestic palaces, buildings and gardens of Cairo and
Fusṭāṭ, but on the other, he was distressed by the Egyptian capital’s bustling
crowds.104 Ibn Saʿīd puts forth the pros and cons of a city as exciting and thrilling
as Cairo was at that time. His criticism, however, has garnered more attention
than his praise, so that medieval and modern authors alike have characterized

||
101 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Nujūm (1970), 249, n. 2.
102 This mosque was built between 1405 and 1410 CE. See Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (2003), 60.
103 Al-Sakhāwī, al-Iʿlān (1986), 269.
104 Blachère 1975; Bejarano 1995; Marín, 2004.
 On the Success of Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī’s al-Mughrib in the Islamic East | 279

him as a pro-Maghribi writer critical of Egypt and its people – even though he
chose to include Egypt as part of the Maghrib, as analyzed by Víctor de Castro in
this volume.
Likewise, when speaking of al-Andalus, Ibn Saʿīd does not always indulge in
praise; he can be severe even in discussing the inhabitants of his native Alcalá la
Real (Qalʿat Banī Saʿīd or Qalʿat Yaḥṣūb). For instance, when speaking of the peo-
ple of Locubín (al-ʿUqbīn),105 one of the fortresses of the district of Alcalá la Real,
he says, “The people of Locubín are characterized by their ignorance, dominated
by nomadism (badāwa), and are far removed from the manners of civilization
(ādāb al-ḥaḍāra)”.106
Ibn Saʿīd thus paints a complex picture of the lands that appear in his
Mughrib. The work was also the product of a complex history that involved the
integration of different layers of materials, first in al-Andalus through a long pe-
riod when it seems to have been limited to the Maghrib proper (i.e. not including
Egypt), and later when Ibn Saʿīd, having settled in the East, decided to add Egyp-
tian materials, and to create a parallel anthology of Mashriqi materials in a sepa-
rate work, the Mushriq. Ibn Saʿīd himself produced different versions of the
Mughrib and the Mushriq during his stay in Aleppo, and these copies are the ones
that seem to have made his work known in the East and most especially in Egypt,
as they were the ones consulted and quoted by Egyptian scholars. Of fundamen-
tal importance in this process was the presence of one of these copies in the
9th/15th century in the library of the Muʾayyadiyya mosque as a pious donation
(waqf) instituted by the Mamlūk sultan. This moment marks the passage of Ibn
Saʿīd’s literary anthology from a restricted court and scholarly setting to one in
which scholars in general could have access to it, thus making the production of
new copies less of a necessity. Various other copies are known to have existed
– among them those made by Ibn Hamūshk and perhaps by al-Tīfāshī – although
it is not clear if they included both the Mughrib and the Mushriq or only the for-
mer. Also, we have no information about their later history, as no Maghribi man-
uscript has been preserved. Did the Mushriq circulate in the Maghrib? Did Anda-
lusi authors, such as Ibn al-Khaṭīb, who never went to Egypt, have access to the
final copies of the Mughrib and the Mushriq made by Ibn Saʿīd himself, or was he
quoting from earlier copies, or even indirectly? Unfortunately, at the present
stage of our research, these questions must remain unanswered.

||
105 In relation to this castle see Castillo 1974; Castillo 2009.
106 Ibn Saʿīd, al-Mughrib (1953), 2: 186.
280 | Iria Santás de Arcos

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Teresa Garulo
A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa:
ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī

1 The Beginnings
One of the most important contributors to the formal evolution of the mu-
washshaḥ genre was the poet and anthologist ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ.1 Probably
born in Córdoba, he died in Málaga some time after Ṣafar 421 H/February 1030 CE,
according to Ibn Ḥazm, although other dates have also been proposed.2 Most of
his poems were dedicated to the Ḥammūdid rulers of Málaga, but previously he
had eulogized the ʿĀmirids of Córdoba. Some of his classical poems are preserved
in Andalusi anthologies and biographical dictionaries, e.g. Ibn Bassām’s
Dhakhīra, Ibn al-Kattānī’s Tashbīhāt,3 Abū al-Walīd al-Ḥimyarī’s Rabīʿ,4 Ibn
ʿAskar/Ibn Khamīs’s Aʿlām Mālaqa, etc. Frequently his poems, or his personality,
are found intermingled with those of another Andalusi poet, Muḥammad b.

||
1 See Granja, “Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ”, EI2; Vizcaíno Plaza 2006.
2 Al-Ḥumaydī, Jadhwat al-muqtabis (1429/2008), 424–426 (biog. 663). Al-Ḥumaydī seems per-
plexed when confronted with the date 419 H/1028 CE provided by Ibn Shuhayd, as he believes
his teacher Ibn Ḥazm to be more reliable; but this last date is accepted in other biographies: Ibn
Bashkuwāl, al-Ṣila (1410/1989), 655 (biog. 973), quoting Ibn Ḥayyān; Ibn ʿAskar/Ibn Khamīs,
Aʿlām Mālaqa (1420/2000), 281–285 (biog. 111); but, more frequently, the biographers give both
dates: Ibn Bassām, al-Dhakhīra (1978), 1: 468–480; al-Ḍabbī, Bughyat al-multamis (1410/1989),
517–518 (biog. 1126); al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-islām (1413/1993), 28: 461 (biog. 361), and 29: 58–59
(biog. 23); Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973), 2: 149–153 (biog. 209); al-Ṣafadī, al-
Wāfī (1420/2000), 16: 355–359 (biog. 5911).
3 Ibn al-Kattānī, al-Tashbīhāt (1966), index. Ibn al-Kattānī collected 22 poems or poetic frag-
ments by ʿUbāda. They have been translated into Spanish, along with those preserved in Ibn
Bassām’s Dhakhīra (also 21 poems), by W. Hoenerbach (1986).
4 Al-Ḥimyarī, al-Rabīʿ (1410/1989).
||
Note: This paper was presented at the international conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”,
which took place on 20–21 December 2018, and has been carried out within the research pro-
ject Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East
(AMOI) (FFI2016-78878-R), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universi-
ties, and co-directed by Maribel Fierro (ILC, CSIC) and Mayte Penelas (EEA, CSIC). English revi-
sion by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Teresa Garulo, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-011
286 | Teresa Garulo

ʿUbāda, known as Ibn al-Qazzāz,5 who lived in Almería at the court of al-Muʿtaṣim
b. Ṣumādiḥ (r. 443–484 H/1051–1091 CE).6 Both were famous for their mu-
washshaḥāt, which has often led to confusion.
Ibn Bassām, in his brief report on the history of the muwashshaḥ genre, in-
cluded at the beginning of ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s biography, emphasizes
ʿUbāda’s role as the last link in its evolution, a process which took place during
the second half of the 4th/10th century.7 The muwashshaḥ poetic genre was very
successful in Ibn Bassām’s times, and probably had been for many decades al-
ready. It was invented by Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd or, according to Ibn Saʿīd in his
Muqtaṭaf, by Muqaddam b. Muʿāfā,8 both of whom were poets during the reign of
the emir ʿAbd Allāh (r. 275–300 H/888–912 CE). The genre had a very distin-
guished follower, Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi (d. 328 H/940 CE), the author of the outstand-
ing encyclopaedia of Arabic and Islamic knowledge entitled al-ʿIqd al-farīd. The
only clue as to the formal characteristics of these first muwashshaḥāt is Ibn
Bassām’s mention as to the use of a short song or statement (lafẓ) in the vernacu-
lar language (colloquial Arabic or Romance) as the prosodic foundation of the
entire poem. Ibn Bassām, after Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd, called it the markaz
(“centre”, pl. marākiz), and referred to the other parts of the poem as the ghuṣn
(“branch”, pl. aghṣān). The first important innovation was introduced by Yūsuf
b. Hārūn al-Ramādī (d. 403 H/1013 CE), who extended the use of internal rhymes
into these marākiz. And, finally, ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ was the first poet to
insert internal rhymes into the aghṣān.
None of the muwashshaḥāt composed by the genre’s creator Muḥammad b.
Maḥmūd (or Muqaddam b. Muʿāfā) have been preserved, and the same is true for
his immediate followers Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi and, later, al-Ramādī. Moreover, al-

||
5 On this issue, see Stern 1950, who tries to disentangle the confusions in the Arabic sources,
and draws up an inventory of Ibn al-Qazzāz’s classical poems and muwashshaḥāt. To the five
strophic poems collected by Stern from Dār al-ṭirāz by Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk (1949) can be added
those included in Ibn al-Bishrī (1992) (nos. 22, 109, 158, 214, 215, 275, 276, 309, 325, 327, 340, 341;
nos. 23, 138 and 263 are also found in Dār al-ṭirāz).
6 Ibn Bassām, al-Dhakhīra (1978), 1: 801–805, collected six classical poetical fragments by him.
7 Ibn Bassām, al-Dhakhīra (1978), 1: 469–470. A very thorough analysis of Ibn Bassām’s report
can be found in Monroe 1985–86, 121–147.
8 Ibn Saʿīd al-Andalusī, al-Muqtaṭaf (1983), 255; in the last chapter of this book (khamīla 12th),
255–266, Ibn Saʿīd outlines a history of the strophic poetry of al-Andalus for his Eastern audience
(he wrote his book in Aleppo, between 640 H/1243 CE and 645 H/1247 CE). As is well known, Ibn
Khaldūn (732–808 H/1332–1406 CE) quoted it freely in his Muqaddima (al-Ahwānī 1948, 19–33);
see also, Garulo 2008, 361–369; Garulo 2006.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 287

though Ibn Bassām says that in his time there were poets who composed mu-
washshaḥāt following al-Ramādī’s innovative rhyme scheme (he mentions the
names of three poets, one of whom does not appear in other Arabic sources,
Mukarram b. Saʿīd, and two others who are not identifiable, namely the sons of
Abū al-Ḥasan), their poems were never collected. As such, their actual structure
is a matter for conjecture. Perhaps, as suggested by Miqdād Raḥīm,9 al-Ramādī’s
was the least sophisticated known muwashshaḥāt rhyme scheme: (m m) a a a m
m, b b b m m,10 and so on up to five stanzas. However, why does Ibn Bassām men-
tion these unknown poets, when some of his contemporaries, such as Ibn al-
Labbāna,11 al-Jazzār,12 Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾsuh,13 Ibn Lubbūn,14 etc., were already using
this pattern?
ʿUbāda’s muwashshaḥāt and their new style were an immediate success, and
with them all the previous rhyme schemes seem to have been forgotten. The new
rhyme schemes are probably those present in all collections of strophic poetry or
in the dīwāns of the poets who composed them: (m n) a a a m n, b b b m n, etc., (m
m) a a a m m, b b b m m, etc., or (mn mn) ab ab ab mn mn, etc., (mn on) ab ab ab
mn on – the latter being the most frequent pattern in Ibn Bishrī’s (8th/14th cen-
tury) ʿUddat al-jalīs – or all the possible combinations in the aghṣān or in the
marākiz that the virtuosity of the muwashshaḥ authors afforded them. But Ibn
Bassām never collected any of ʿUbāda’s strophic poems, because, as he explains,
this kind of poetry lies beyond the scope of his anthology. In fact, the same was
true of all Andalusi anthologists, none of whom would include muwashshaḥāt in
their works until the 8th/14th century, with the anthologies of Ibn al-Khaṭīb (d.

||
9 Raḥīm 1407/1987, 46–48.
10 In this paper, in order to describe the rhyme schemes I will use the letters of the alphabet up
to the letter l for the rhymes of the ghuṣn, pl. aghṣān (Ibn Bassām) or bayt, pl. abyāt (Ibn Sanāʾ
al-Mulk), the section of the stanza whose rhymes change with each new stanza (Spanish, mu-
danza); and from letter m onwards for the rhymes of the markaz (Ibn Bassām) or qufl, pl. aqfāl
(Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk), the last section of every stanza, whose rhymes are common to all the stanzas
(Spanish vuelta); the name of the last markaz or qufl is kharja. This common rhyme can appear
at the very beginning of the poem, in which case it is called maṭlaʿ (prelude), and a muwashshaḥa
with it is called tāmma, that is to say ‘complete’. About two thirds of the extant muwwashshaḥāt
have a prelude, and are indeed muwashshaḥāt tāmma. In quoting a muwashshaḥa, or describing
its rhyme schemes, I will use italics for the common rhymes.
11 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Jaysh al-tawshīḥ (1997), 71–72, no. 5; 76–77, no. 8.
12 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Jaysh al-tawshīḥ (1997), 180–181, no. 2; 188–189, no. 7.
13 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Jaysh al-tawshīḥ (1997), 92–94, no. 7 (but the rhyme scheme is a a a m n, like
Jaysh al-tawshīḥ [1997], 182–183, no. 3, by al-Jazzār).
14 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Jaysh al-tawshīḥ (1997), 197–199, no. 2 and no. 3; 207–209, no. 10.
288 | Teresa Garulo

776 H/1375 CE) and Ibn Bushrā/Bishrī.15 By then, and already from the second half
of the 7th/13th century onward, Andalusi authors, who surpassed their Eastern
colleagues in this poetic genre, were fully aware of the interest it aroused, of its
success in Syria and Egypt, of the amount of imitations of the strophic poems,
and of the Eastern treatises16 composed in order to master their technical difficul-
ties and to teach them to people whose ears were not familiar with their rhythms.
And so, when writing in the East, they began to include some muwashshaḥāt,17 or
at least to provide their readers with an overview of the genre’s history.18

2 ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ in the East

Fortunately, thanks to the interest in Andalusi strophic poetry in Mamlūk Egypt
and Syria, two muwashshaḥāt attributed to ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ have been
preserved. Both poems were selected by the Syrian historian Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī
(d. 764 H/1363 CE) in his biographical dictionary Fawāt al-wafayāt,19 and by his
contemporary al-Ṣafadī (d. 764 H/1363 CE) in his al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt.20
The first one is Man walī, alluded to in the title of this paper, and to which I
shall return later. The second one begins Ḥubbu l-mahā ʿibādah21 (To love an an-
telope is worship). This poem exhibits something of the sophistication that seems
to be at the root of the success of ʿUbāda’s innovations. It is a muwashshaḥa
tāmma, that is, with a prelude (maṭlaʿ), and five stanzas. However, while the lines
of the aghṣān have the more habitual pattern ab ab ab, etc., the common rhymes

||
15 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Jaysh al-tawshīḥ (1997); Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992).
16 On the muwashshaḥa, see Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk, Dār al-ṭirāz (1949); García Gómez 1962. On the
zajal, strophic poems in the Andalusi vernacular, see Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī, al-ʿĀṭil (1981).
17 Ibn Diḥya (d. 633 H/1235 CE), writing in Egypt in the first third of the 7th/13th century, only
includes two muwashshaḥāt, both by Ibn Zuhr al-Ḥafīd (d. 595 H/1198 CE). See Ibn Diḥya, al-
Muṭrib (1993), 203–206. In the second half of that century, Ibn Saʿīd collected in his Mughrib a
considerable number of strophic poems (muwashshaḥāt as well as azjāl) in nineteen of the
twenty sections of his work, entitled ahdāb, “fringes”, all dedicated to hazl, ‘humor’ and ‘humor-
ous poems’. See Garulo 2009a, 311–330.
18 Ibn Saʿīd in the 12th chapter (khamīla) of al-Muqtaṭaf, mentioned above.
19 Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973), 2: 149–153 (biog. 209).
20 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 16: 355–359 (biog. 5911).
21 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 16: 358–359; Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973),
2: 152–153; Ghāzī 1979, 1: 8–10.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 289

(marākiz) have a very unusual rhyme scheme, mno po.22 Also the parts of the
aghṣān are more regular than those of the common rhymes: all of them have
seven syllables, and perhaps they can be metrically analyzed as a shortened form
of the rajaz meter (x — ∪ — ∪ — —), as suggested by Ghāzī.23 The metrics in the
section of the common rhymes is again more sophisticated, because they have 7,
9, 5, 9, 5 syllables, respectively, in a way not so easily adjusted to that meter,24
although there is an underlying heptasyllabic rhythm (9 + 5 = 14 = 7 + 7).

0
ḥubbi l-mahā ʿibādah
min kulli bassāmi l-sirāri
qamarun yaṭluʿ
min ḥusni ʾāfāqi l-kamāli
ḥusnu-hu l-ʾabdaʿ

1
li-Llāhi dhātu ḥusni
malīḥatu l-muḥayyā
la-hā qawāmu ghuṣni
wa-shinfu-hā l-thurayyā
wa-l-thaghru ḥabbu muzni
ruḍābu-hu l-ḥumayyā
min rashfi-hi saʿādah
ka-ʾanna-hu ṣirfu l-ʿuqāri
jawharun ruṣṣiʿ
yasqī-ka min ḥulwi l-zalālī
ṭayyiba l-mashraʿ

2
rashīqatu l-maʿāṭif
ka-l-ghusni fī l-qawāmi
shuhdiyyatu l-marāshifi
ka-l-durri fī niẓāmi
diʿṣiyyatu l-rawādifi

||
22 A “freak”, in the words of Stern 1974, 25. There is no muwashshaḥa with this rhyme scheme
in Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992); for instance, in this anthology, which records 354 mu-
washshaḥāt, there are only seven with five parts in the common rhymes (markaz/qufl), and all of
them are unique in their combinations.
23 See also Stern 1974, 32, who thinks that it may be “the catalectic basīṭ”, but that in the com-
mon rhymes matters are less clear.
24 The nine-syllable segments can be scanned as: x — ∪ — — — ∪ — —; and the five-syllable
segments are: x ∪ — — — (x stands for a syllable that can be short or long); but they do not fit
any Arabic meter.
290 | Teresa Garulo

al-khaṣru dhū nhiḍāmi

jawwalatu l-qilādah
maḥlūlatun ʿaqdu l-ʾizāri
ḥusnu-hā ʾabdaʿ
min ḥusni dhayyāka l-ghazāli
ʾakḥalu l-madmaʿ

3
layliyyatu l-dhawāʾib
wa-wajhu-hā nahāru
maṣqūlatu l-tarāʾib
wa-rashfu-hā ʿuqāru
ʾaṣdāghu-hā ʿaqārib
wa-l-khaddu jullanāru
nadaytu wā-fuʾādah
min ghādatin dhati qtidāri
laḥẓu-hā ʾaqṭaʿ
min ḥaddi maṣqūlin l-niṣāli
fī l-fatā l-ʾashjaʿ

4
safarjalu l-nuhūdi
fī marmari l-ṣudūri
yuzhā ʿalā l-ʿuqūdi
min labbati l-nuḥūri
bi-muqlatin wa-jīdi
min ghadatin safūri
ḥubbī la-hā ʿibādah
ʾaʿūdhu min dhāka l-fakhāri
bi-rashan yartaʿ
fī rawḍi ʾazhāri l-jamāli
kullamā ʾaynaʿ

5
ʿafīfatu l-dhuyūli
naqiyyatu l-thiyābi
sallābatu l-ʿuqūli
ʾaraqqu min sharābi
ʾaḍḥā la-hā nuḥūlī
fī l-ḥubbi min ʿadhābī
fī l-nawmi lī sharādah
wa-ḥukmu-hā ḥukmu qtidāri
kullamā ʾamnaʿ
min-hā fa-ʾin ṭayfu l-khayāl
zāra-nī ʾahjaʿ
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 291

(0
To love an antelope is worship.
Out of a smiling face
a moon rises
above horizons of perfection:
his amazing beauty.

1
How beautiful she is!
She has a pretty face,
her body is straight as a bough,
her earrings are the Pleiades,
her teeth, drops of rain,
and her saliva, an intoxicating drink
that produces happiness when drunk,
like a pure sparkling wine,
ornate pearls
that give you fresh and sweet water
from a good spring.

2
Her figure is slender
like a bough,
her mouth is like honey
with pearls neatly arranged,
her hips are a dune,
her waist so thin;
when she wears a necklace
over her open neckline
her beauty exceeds
the beauty of the gazelles
and their black eyes.

3
Her locks are the night,
and her face, the day,
her bosom is bright,
her saliva is wine,
her earlocks are scorpions,
her cheeks, pomegranate blossoms.
I cried: Oh my heart,
beware of a wondrous girl
whose glances are
for the courageous hero
sharper than the edge of a shining sword.
292 | Teresa Garulo

4
Her breasts, like quinces
on the marble of her bosom,
ignore the necklaces
that decorate her throat,
and vaunt the eyes and the neck
of an unveiled young girl.
My love for her is worship,
I seek the protection of this glory
in an antelope who grazes
in the garden of the blossoms of beauty
when they grow ripe.

5
Pure and clean
in her appearance and clothes,
more pleasant than wine,
she is an enslaver of minds.
The torment of her love
has emaciated me,
sleep has deserted me,
she commands, as do the powerful,
whenever I try to defend myself
from her; but if her image should come to me
at night I will be at peace).

Far more popular than this poem, however, is the first muwashshaḥa collected in
the biographical dictionaries of Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī and al-Ṣafadī, which begins
with the phrase Man walī.25 Al-Ṣafadī, in particular, seems fascinated by this
poem, and returns to it two more times. He not only includes it in the biography
of ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ, but also in that of Muḥammad b. ʿUbāda Ibn al-
Qazzāz,26 out of the frequent confusion between these two poets to which we have
already alluded. It again reappears in al-Ṣafadī’s Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ,27 as the
model of two of his muʿāraḍāt (emulations, or contrafacta28) of famous mu-
washshaḥāt from al-Andalus and elsewhere, and, a century later, Ibn Taghrībirdī

||
25 Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973), 2: 152–153; al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 16:
358–359; Ghāzī 1979, 1: 5–7.
26 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 3: 156 (biog. 1168).
27 Al-Ṣafadī, Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ (1966), 113–115 (no. 32).
28 I use this technical term usually associated with music in order to bring to mind the close
relationship between the muwashshaḥāt and music, as can be seen in the report in Ibn Sanāʾ al-
Mulk’s Dār al-ṭirāz, his treatise on the genre, and today in the Andalusi musical traditions of
Morocco and Syria. See also Monroe 1987, and Liu/Monroe 1989.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 293

(d. 874 H/1470 CE) includes it in al-Manhal al-ṣāfī.29 But its success does not end
here: there are emulations of ʿUbādaʾs poem from the 6th/12th century – Ibn
Sanāʾ al-Mulk (d. 608 H/1211 CE)30 – to the 20th century – ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd al-
Ḥalīm (1945–2014)31 – and there is even an emulation in Yemeni poetry by
Muḥammad b. Sharaf (938–1010 H/1532–1601 CE).32
Why, and how, were these poems by ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ known in Syria
and Egypt, when there is no trace of them in Andalusi or Maghribi sources? When
did they migrate to the East? Who transmitted them? It does not seem possible to
answer these questions, just as it is impossible to ascertain when the mu-
washshaḥ genre arrived in Egypt and Syria,33 because it was probably transmitted
orally, in the same way that the Andalusi poems included in Yatīmat al-dahr by
al-Thaʿālibī (d. 429 H/1038 CE) arrived in the East – a transmission not without
weaknesses, as was later criticized by Ibn Bassām or Ibn al-Abbār –34 therefore
leaving no trace in the written sources. It can be assumed that the poems by
ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ travelled to Egypt at an early date, before they were for-
gotten in al-Andalus after the muwashshaḥāt’s period of greatest success, starting
in the second half of the 5th/11th century and reaching its height during the
6th/12th century. It is indeed tempting to speculate as to the role of scholars like
al-Ḥumaydī (d. 488 H/1095 CE), who left al-Andalus in 448 H/1048 CE35 and was
an appreciated teacher and transmitter of Andalusi science and literature to his
Eastern students. Though he could not have met ʿUbāda, he was a disciple of Ibn
Ḥazm, who praises ʿUbāda’s book on the poets of al-Andalus in his Risāla fī faḍl
al-Andalus.36

||
29 Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1993), 7: 50–52 (biog. 1302).
30 Al-Ibshīhī, al-Mustaṭraf (1371/1952), 2: 237–238; Stern 1974, 94; Raḥīm 1407/1987, 161; more
references in Dufourq 2011, 214–215.
31 See below, 5.7.
32 Ibn Sharaf al-Dīn, Dīwān (1978?), 150–152; see also Semah 1988, 231–232; and Dufour 2011,
214–215.
33 See a summary in Raḥīm 1407/1978, 132–142.
34 Rowson/Bonebakker 1980, 11.
35 Roselló Bordoy 2002.
36 Pellat 1954, 53–102. For other transmitters of Ibn Ḥazm’s teachings, see Adang 2013, 513–537.
294 | Teresa Garulo

3 First examples of Andalusi strophic poetry in

Egypt
In any case, at the beginning of the 6th/12th century, the muwashshaḥ was being
cultivated in Egypt and seems to have been well appreciated by the public. Ibn
Ẓāfir al-Ḥaddād (d. 525 H/1131 CE),37 an Egyptian Fāṭimid poet from Alexandria,
composed at least two muwashshaḥāt that seem to be the earliest surviving ex-
amples of the genre in the East. Another poet from Alexandria, ʿAlī b. ʿIyād al-
Iskandarī (d. 526 H/1131-2 CE),38 is the author of a poem introduced by al-ʿImād
al-Iṣfahānī with these words: “qaraʾtu la-hu [ʿAlī b. ʿIyād al-Iskandarī] fī majmūʿ
fī madḥ Muḥammad b. Abī Usāma kalima dhāt awzān muwashashaḥa” (‘In a col-
lection of paneryrical poems in honor of Muḥammad b. Abī Usāma I read a poem
[kalima] by him with the rhythms (awzān) of a muwashshaḥa’). I do not know how
to interpret what exactly al-ʿImād means by this comment. Perhaps he is only try-
ing to say that its metrics were peculiar, and that its peculiarities could be at-
tributed to some degree to the influence of the muwashshaḥ genre. Here is the
poem:

1
yā man ʾalūdhu bi-ẓilli-hi
fī kulli khaṭbin muʿḍili
lā ziltu min ʾaṣḥābi-hi
mutamassikan bi-yadi l-salāmah
ʾāminan min kulli bāsi
fī l-ḥawādithi wa-l-ṣurūfi

||
37 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 16: 298–302 (biog. 5801): the muwashshaḥa beginning
“thaghrun lāḥ / yastaʾsiru l-ʾarwāḥ” (a mouth appears and captivates the souls) in 301–302 (prel-
ude, 5 stanzas, aa aa aa aa mm mm; the rhythm is 4–6, in all the rhyming segments); the second
one beginning “yā lāḥin fī sumrin ka-l-sumri / mahlan fa-ʾinna ṣabrī ka-l-ṣibri” (oh, you who
rebuke me for my love of brown-skinned youths that are like spears, / bear with me, my endur-
ance is like bitter aloe) (prelude, 4 stanzas, aa aa aa mm; a rhythm 7–3 in the aghṣān, and 9–10
in the aqfāl), in Dīwān Ẓāfir al-Ḥaddād, https://www.aldiwan.net/cat-poet-dhafer-al-haddad
and https://www.aldiwan.net/poem14700.html (last accessed Apr. 1, 2019); both in ʿAṭā
1422/2001. The date of this poet’s death is variously reported: 525 H/130 CE (al-Ṣafadī), or 529 H/
1134-5 CE (Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān [1970], 2: 540–543), or 563 H/1167-8 CE (Ibn
Taghrībirdī, al-Nujūm [1383/1963], 5: 376–378). See Nassar, “Ẓāfir al-Ḥaddād”, EI2.
38 Al-ʿImād al-Iṣfahānī, Kharīdat al-qaṣr (1986), 2: 43–44; al-Suyūṭī, Ḥusn al-muḥāḍara
(1387/1967), 1: 562 (no. 18); Raḥīm 1407/1987, 139.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 295

2
wa-ʾaʿūdhu min-hu li-faḍli-hi
fī kulli ʾamrin mushkili
mā lāḥa fajru ṣawābi-hi
ka-l-shamsi min khalfi l-ghamāmah
lā tamīlu ʾilā shimāsi
dūna mawḍiʿi-hā l-sharīfi

3
wa-ʾaʿuddu-hu lī maʿqilā
ʾaḍḥā ʿalay-hi muʿawwalī
ʿinda l-muthūli bi-bābi-hi
lammā ʾamintu mina l-nadāmah
fī l-samāʿ wa-fī l-qiyāsi
al-maḥḍi wa-l-naẓari l-sharīfi

4
wa-ʾajullu-hu ʿan mithili-hi
mithla l-ḥusāmi l-fayṣalī
māḍin bi-ḥaddi dhubābi-hi
fī kulli jumjumatin wa-hāmah
thābitun ṣaʿbu l-mirāsi
ʿalā mubāsharati l-ḥutūfi

(1
Oh prince, whose protection
I seek in all difficult circumstances;
like his followers,
I always look for the hand of welfare,
feeling safe from all the injuries
of adversities and misfortunes.

2
In all difficulties, I take refuge
in his favor to protect me
as long as the light of his righteousness shines,
just as the sun behind the clouds
does not approve of unruliness
that compromises its high position.

3
I think he is to me a refuge
on which I rely
when we gather in front of his doors,
because I am free of regrets
awaiting his words, his genuine
deductions and his noble discernment.
296 | Teresa Garulo

4
I consider that he has no equals,
as he is like the sharp sword,
ready to kill,
that cuts
skulls and heads,
steady, unruly).

As can be seen, the poem al-ʿImād presents is not a muwashshaḥa at all. Indeed,
although it is a strophic poem, its four stanzas invariably have the same rhymes
(A B C D E F), but there is nothing like a refrain (markaz, qufl) whose rhymes are
repeated in all of the stanzas, nor a set of rhymes (ghuṣn, bayt) that change in
every one of them. As for the meter, allegedly akin to that of the tawshīḥ, it can
be scanned as hemistichs of a dimeter kāmil, but the rhyming segments E and F
always lack the first syllable of the first foot (— ∪ — instead of — — ∪ —, or ∪ —
∪ — instead of ∪ ∪ — ∪ —).
ʿAlī b. ʿIyād al-Iskandarī probably composed this poem in 525 H/1131 CE, to
be recited in the same public reception in which a group of poets offered their
accolades to the Banū Abī Usāma family. Among the poets assembled for this oc-
casion was the Egyptian Mūsā b. ʿAlī al-Iskandarānī, who recited a strophic
poem, preserved, perhaps incompletely, in Kharīdat al-qaṣr.39

0
ʾinna-nī badā lī fī l-hawā badā lī
mudh jafat wiṣālī ṭalʿatu l-hilāli

1
ʾasʾarta bi-qalbi fī-hi ḥalla qalbī
ṣāḥa badru ḥubbī fī wiṣāli ḥibbī
qad salabti lubbī fa-ʾanā ʾulabbī
rabbatu l-ḥijāli lam tadaʿ ḥijā lī

2
ʾasarat janānī rabbatū l-ḥanāni
khaddu-hā dahā-nī fa-hwa ka-l-dihāni
ʿādhilay daʿā-nī jīdu-hā daʿā-nī
fa-ʾabāda ḥālī ʿāṭilan wa-ḥālī

3
lam yuḥiṭ bi-ʿādī mā janā biʿādī
hā ʾanā ʾunādī naḥra kulli nādī

||
39 Al-ʿImād al-Iṣfahānī, Kharīdat al-qaṣr (1986), 2: 113; Raḥīm 1407/1987, 139.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 297

man mujīru ṣādi muʾminin bi-ṣādi

sulla bi-l-niṣāli li-l-hawāni ṣāli

(0
He appeared before me
in my love he appeared;
since his face like a moon
rejected our union.

1
You have left almost nothing
where my heart was.
The full moon of my love cried
imploring my beloved for union:
You stole my soul,
and so I obey you.
My lady had left
nothing of my mind.

2
A gentle lady
has stolen my soul,
her cheeks like a rose
strike me as a misfortune.
Oh my rebukers, leave me alone,
her neck attracted me
and ruined my present,
leaving me destitute and lonesome.

3
My enemy knows not
how much I suffer because of her absence.
Now I shout
with all my strength:
Who will protect a thirsty man
who believes in40...
the sword is unsheathed against him
and suffers to be disgraced).

The poem presented by al-ʿImād al-Iṣfahānī has just three stanzas and a prelude,
and, because the common rhymes are half the prelude, it is not a muwashshaḥa
but a zajal, with the rhyme scheme mm mm (maṭlaʿ), aa aa aa mm, bb bb bb mm,
cc cc cc mm. All the rhyming segments have six syllables, which can be scanned

||
40 The meaning of this and some other lines is rather obscure.
298 | Teresa Garulo

as: x ∪ — ∪ — —. This combination of short and long syllables appears in some

Andalusi muwashshaḥāt,41 but it also appears in a non-strophic poem by the great
mystic Ibn ʿArabī (560–638 H/1165–1240 CE).42 Perhaps the most remarkable fea-
ture of this poem is its pervasive use of jinās, or tajnīs, a rhetorical figure that can
be described as “a pair of utterances (mostly, but not necessarily single words),
within a line or colon, which are semantically different but phonetically, either
completely or partially, identical”.43 It is a very frequent figure in Eastern mu-
washshaḥāt, even when its authors imitate Andalusi ones, which are more natu-
ral and unaffected.

4 A successful muwashshaḥa
Let us turn now to ʿUbāda’s muwashshaḥa, Man walī. It is a muwashshaḥa tāmma,
that is to say complete with a prelude and five stanzas. It is a love poem addressed
to one ʿAlī, whose name is mentioned in the kharja. The rhyme scheme is: mm
mm ab ab ab mm mm, cd cd cd mm mm, etc. All the stanzas have a combination
of verses of three and eleven syllables. Those with three syllables have a prosody
like one possible foot in Arabic metrics (x ∪ —; called fāʿilun in the treatises on
metrics), but without full status as a meter. By contrast, those with eleven sylla-
bles can be scanned as the Arabic sarīʿ meter (x x ∪ — ⃒ x x ∪ — ⃒ x ∪ —), ren-
dering it easily imitated, as opposed to the other muwashshaḥa by ʿUbāda, whose
prosodic complexity, at least in the aqfāl, seems to have prevented emulations or
contrafacta. This is the text:

0
Man walī
fī ʾummatin ʾamran wa-lam yaʿdili
yuʿzalī
ʾillā liḥāẓu l-rashaʾi l-ʾakḥali

1
jurta fī
ḥukmi-ka fī qatliya yā musrifu
fa-nṣifi

||
41 For instance, Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992), no. 72, no. 73, no. 104 (by Ibn Zuhr), etc., in
the segments of six syllables.
42 Gelder 2012, 133.
43 Heinrichs, “Tadjnīs”, EI2.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 299

fa-wājibun ʾan yunṣifa l-munṣifu

wa-rʾafi
fa-ʾinna hādhā l-shawqa lā yarʾafu
ʿallili
qalbī bi-dhāka l-bāridi l-salsali
yanjali
mā bi-fuʾādī min jawan mushʿali

2
ʾinnamā
tabruzu kay tūqida nāra l-fitan
ṣanamā
muṣawwaran min kulli shayʾin ḥasan
ʾin ramā
lam yukhṭi min dūni l-qulūbi l-junan
kayfa lī
takhalluṣun min sahmi-ka l-mursali
fa-ṣili
wa-stabqi-nī ḥayyan wa-lā taqtuli

3
yā sanā
l-shamsi wa-yā ʾabhā mina l-kawkabi44
yā munā
l-nafsi wa-yā suʾlī wa-yā maṭlabī
hā ʾanā
ḥalla bi-ʾaʿdāʾi-ka mā ḥalla bī
ʿudhdhalī
min ʾalami l-hijrāni fī maʿzili
wa-l-khalī
fī l-ḥubbi lā yasʾalu ʿamman bulī

4
ʾanta qad
ṣayyarta bi-l-ḥusni mina l-rushdi ghay
lam ʾajid

||
44 Although all the medieval anthologists agree on this reading, here, as in the following
eleven-syllable verse, Ghāzī writes ʾal-shamsi and ʾal-nafsi (with a hamza on the alif of the arti-
cle), in order to highlight the pause at the end of the verse, but in doing so there is one extra
syllable for the Arabic meter, so he had removed wa-yā in this line (to remove only wa- would
give a succession of three long syllables inconsistent with the meter, although in Ghāzī’s reading
a syllable is missing), and one wa- in the second line before yā suʾlī. However Arabic metrics do
not object to a caesura in the middle of a word – we will see it in a muwashshaḥa by al-Ṣafadī –,
or between the article al- and the name it is appended to.
300 | Teresa Garulo

fī ṭarafay ḥubbi-ka dhanban ʿalay

fa-ttaʾid
wa-ʾin tashaʾ qatliya shayʾan fa-shay
ʾajmili
wa-wāli-nī min-ka yada l-mufḍili
fa-hya lī
min ḥasanāti l-zamani l-muqbili

5
mā ghtadhā
ṭarfiya ʾillā bi-sanā nāẓiray-k
wa-kadhā
fī l-ḥubbi mā bī laysa yakhfā ʿalay-k
wa-li-dhā
ʾunshidu wa-l-qalbu rahīnun laday-k
yā ʿAlī
sallaṭta jafnay-ka ʿalā maqtalī
fa-bqi lī
qalbī wa-jud bi-l-faḍli yā mawʾilī.

(0
He who governs
over a nation and is not just
will be deposed
unless the despot is the black eyes of a gazelle.

1
You were unfair
when your harsh sentence put me to death;
be equitable,
that is the duty of a just ruler;
show mercy on me,
because my desire has no compassion;
give me to drink
the sweet and fresh water of your mouth,
and the burning grief of my soul
will go away.

2
You only appear
to kindle the fire of seduction
like an idol,
painted with everything in place,
who, when he throws his arrows,
always hits the shield that protects the hearts.
How can I be
impervious to the darts that you send?
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 301

Love me
and keep me alive, kill me not.

3
Oh light of the sun,
more brilliant than the stars,
oh desire of my soul,
oh my wish, and all that I request,
here I am
– may your enemies suffer all that I suffer!
My rebukers
know nothing of the agony of separation,
and the carefree,
in love, do not ask after the afflicted.

4
With your beauty
you induced me to err after doing right,
I do not find
in my love for you any guilt.
Hurry not,
and, if you wish to kill me slowly,
be nice,
and give me your favor;
it will be to me
one of the blessings of the time to come.

5
My eyes feed
on the light of yours,
and so
you know very well the love that I feel;
this is why
I sing, and give to you my heart on a pledge:
Oh ʿAlī,
you gave your eyes power over my life,
spare my heart
and be generous, oh my refuge).
302 | Teresa Garulo

5 A first set of emulations

5.1 Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk
The first poet to emulate this poem was the Egyptian Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk (d. 608 H/
1211 CE), the author of the first treatise on the muwashshaḥ genre.45 His mu-
washshaḥa was collected by al-Ibshīhī (790–after 850 H/1388–after 1446 CE), in
his al-Mustaṭraf fī kull fann al-mustaẓraf,46 one of the most famous anthologies of
Arabic literature. It is also included in ʿUqūd al-laʾāl,47 an anthology of mu-
washshaḥāt composed by al-Nawājī (788–858 H/1386–1454 CE), a contemporary
of al-Ibshīhī, but al-Nawājī atributes it to Muẓaffar al-ʿAylānī (544–623 H/1149–
1226 CE), a blind Egyptian poet contemporary to Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk.48 This mu-
washshaḥa is a bacchic poem with a bucolic depiction of nature; in the sixth and
last stanza the poem is reminiscent of the original muwashshaḥa, and employs
Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s prelude as the kharja of his own poem.

0
kallilī
yā suḥbu tījāna l-rubā bi-l-ḥulī
wa-jʿalī
siwāra-ki l-munʿaṭifa l-jadwali

1
yā samā
fī-ki wa-fī l-arḍi nujūmun wa-mā

||
45 Stern 1974, 94; Raḥīm 1407/1987, 161; more references in Dufourq 2011, 214–215.
46 Al-Ibshīhī, al-Mustaṭraf (1371/1952), 2: 207–208. I will follow this version. Some of its stanzas
are still sung in Syria and Egypt: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLUzIRLmlX0 (last ac-
cessed Jan. 25, 2019); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGj-_2Xdd5E (here the singer is
Ṣabāḥ Fakhrī, b. Aleppo 1933) (last accessed Jan. 25, 2019).
47 Al-Nawājī, ʿUqūd al-laʾāl (1420/1999), 164–167. For other references, see ʿAṭā 1422/2001, 173–
174. The version provided by al-Nawājī has eight stanzas; that included in Ibn ʿUmar’s (1210–
1273 H/1795–1857 CE) Safīnat al-mulk (1271/1854-5), fol. 44, without attribution, has seven, but
some of these new stanzas seem to have been added more recently. There is an edition of Ibn
ʿUmar’s Safīnat al-mulk wa-nafīsat al-fulk published by Maṭbaʿat al-Jāmiʿa in 1891, but I have
only had access to the manuscript preserved at King Saud University MS 929 adab, which was
copied in 1271 H/1854-5 CE. I could not verify the other sources of ʿAṭā.
48 Yāqūt, Muʿjam al-udabāʾ (1993), 2700–2701 (biog. 1149); Ibn Khallikān Wafayāt al-aʿyān
(1970), 5: 213–217 (biog. 724); al-Ṭayyib b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad Bā Makhrama al-Hijrānī al-
Ḥaḍramī al-Shāfiʿī (870–947 H/1465–1540 CE), Qilādat al-naḥr (1428/2008), 5: 109–111 (biog.
2869).
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 303

kullamā
ʾakhfayti najman ʾaẓharat ʾanjumā
wa-hya mā
tahṭilu ʾillā bi-l-ṭilā wa-l-dumā
fa-hṭilī
ʿalā quṭūfi l-karmi kay tamtalī
wa-nqulī
li-l-danni ṭaʿma l-shuhdi wa-l-fawfali49

2
tattaqid
ka-l-kawkabi l-durriyyi li-l-murtaṣid
yaʿtaqid
fī-hā l-majūsiyyu bi-mā yaʿtaqid
fa-ttaʾid
yā sāqiya l-rāḥi bi-hā wa-ʿtamid
wa-mla lī
ḥattā tarā-nī ʿan-ka fī maʿzili
qalla lī
fa-l-rāḥu ka-l-ʿishqi n50 yazid yaqtuli

3
lā ʾulīm
fī shurbi ṣahbāʾa wa-fī ʿishqi rīm
fa-l-naʿīm
ʿayshun jadīdun wa-mudāmun qadīm
lā ʾahīm
ʾillā bi-hādhayni fa-qum yā nadīm
wa-jlu lī
min akʾusin ṣayyarta min fawfali
ladhdha lī
min nakhati l-ʿambari wa-l-mandali

4
khudh hinī
wa-ʿṭi-nī kāsī mithla kāsi-ka hanī
wa-sqi-nī
ʿalā ruḍābi l-faṭini l-mulsini
wa-lhi-nī
bi-baʿḍi mā ṣīgha mina l-ʾalsuni

||
49 So in al-Nawājī, ʿUqūd al-laʾāl (1420/1999), 164; and Ibn ʿUmar, Safīnat al-mulk (1271/1854-
5), fol. 44. Al-Ibshīhī, al-Mustaṭraf (1371/1952), 2: 207, has li-l-qaranfuli.
50 I think that the conditional particle ʾin must be read as in, without hamza, but with waṣla,
and so it must be linked to ʿishqi: fa-l-rāḥu ka-l-ʿishqi-n yazid yaqtuli.
304 | Teresa Garulo

law tulī
madḥu sanā-hu maʿ rashan ʾakḥali
ladhdha lī
ʿalā sanā l-ṣahbāʾi wa-l-salsali

5
ʾazharat
laylatu-nā bi-l-waṣli mudh ʾasfarat
ʾaṣdarat
bi-zawrati l-maḥbūbi ʾidh bashsharat
ʾakhkharat
fa-qultu li-l-ẓalmāʾi mudh qaṣṣarat
ṭawwilī
yā laylata l-waṣli wa-lā tanjalī
wa-sbilī
sitra-ki fa-l-maḥbūbu fī manzilī

6
man ẓalam
fī dawlati l-ḥusni ʾidhāmā ḥakam
fa-l-ʾalam
yajūlu fī bāṭini-hi wa-l-nadam
wa-l-qalam
yaktubu fī-hi ʿan lisāni l-ʾumam
Man walī
fī dawlati l-ḥusni wa-lam yaʿdili
yuʿzali
illā liḥāzu l-rashaʾi l-akḥali.

(0
Oh clouds,
adorn with jewels the crowns of the hills,
and wear
the winding brook as a bracelet.

1
Oh sky,
you and the earth have stars and water;
whenever
you hide a star, the earth produces many others;
the earth
produces dark and white flowers like wine or fair women;
oh sky,
shower with rain the fruits of the vines, so that they ripen,
and bring
to the wine jar the flavor of honey and palm,
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 305

2
a burning wine,
to the eyes of the observer like a shining star
in which
the Zoroastrian believes.
Oh cupbearer,
come slowly with it, and rest here,
stay with me for a time
until you see me leaving you;
pour it sparingly
because wine, like love, when drunk in excess, can kill.

3
I do not blame anybody
for drinking red wine and loving a white gazelle,
for happiness
is new life and old wine –
I love only
these two pleasures; get up, my friend,
and show me
the drinking glass made of betel palm,
which I find more pleasant
than the scent of ambergris and sandalwood.

4
Hold it for me
and give, give me a glass like yours,
and let me drink
with an intelligent and eloquent man;
delight me
with something created from words,
that if they were read aloud,
praising his high rank, in the company of a black-eyed gazelle,
would delight me
more than the sparkle of red wine and of cool, sweet water.

5
The night shone
with our love, and glowed;
it disclosed
and announced the visit of my beloved,
but it was so delayed
that I said to the darkness, now so short:
Be long,
oh night of love, do not leave,
and drop
your veils, my beloved is in my home.
306 | Teresa Garulo

6
He who tyrannizes
over the land of beauty
will find sorrow
and remorse enter his core,
and pens will write
about him through the mouth of nations:
He who governs
over the land of beauty and is not just,
will be deposed
unless the despot is the black eyes of a gazelle).

5.2 Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī

The second muʿāraḍa (contrafactum) of Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa was
composed by Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī, a poet well appreciated for his mu-
washshaḥāt, which were sometimes imitated by other Eastern poets.51 Almost
nothing is known about him, except that he praised the Ayyūbid ruler al-Sulṭān
al-Manṣūr (d. 683 H/1284 CE), who governed Hama from 642 H/1244-5 CE until
his death.52 His eulogy for the Ayyūbid sultan was in fact a muwashshaḥa, begin-
ning bāsimun ʿan laʾāl / nāsimun ʿan ʿiṭri (a smile like pearls, / a breath like per-
fume), itself a contrafactum (muʿāraḍa) of a muwashshaḥa by Andalusi poet al-
Aʿmā al-Tuṭīlī (d. 525 H/1130-1).53 Later on this same poem (bāsimun ʿan laʾāl) by
Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī would be imitated in turn by Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf al-
Ṣūfī al-Khaṭīb (693–750 H/1293–1349 CE)54 and al-Ṣafadī.55
Probably, as mentioned by al-Ṣafadī and Ibn Taghrībirdī,56 the muwashshaḥa
by Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī is not a direct imitation of Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man
walī, but a muʿāraḍa of the poem by Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk just quoted, and which is,
in fact, alluded to in the prelude to al-Mawṣilī’s poem. Thus, it begins as a bacchic
poem, turns into a love poem, and then ends with a very short panegyrical envoi.

||
51 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 6: 203–204; Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1410/1990), 1: 275–
277 (only its prelude and the first three stanzas). See Raḥīm 1407/1987, 161, 200–201.
52 Ibn al-Wardī, Tārīkh (1417/1997), 2: 224; al-Yāfiʿ, Mirʾāt al-janān (1417/1997), 4: 150.
53 It is the famous muwashshaḥa begining Ḍāḥikun ʿan jumān, quoted by Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk as
an example of a muwashshaḥa tāmma (i.e. with a prelude) in his treatise Dār al-ṭirāz (1949), 32,
and 57–58 (no. 1); García Gómez 1962, 33, 65–66.
54 Ibn Shakir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973), 4: 343–349; Raḥīm 1407/1987, 210–211.
55 All three Eastern poems are quoted in al-Ṣafadī, Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ (1966), nos. 3, 4 and 5;
and in al-ʿAdhārā al-māʾisāt (1902), 115–120 (nos. 44, 45, 46).
56 Al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 6: 203; Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1410/1990), 1: 275.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 307

The need to end on this note of praise seems to be the reason for the displacement
of the reference to Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa, now quoted in the fifth
stanza.

0
jallilī
yā rāḥa kaʾsī wa-la-hā kallilī
bi-l-ḥulī
wa-sawwirī-hā wa-la-hā khalkhalī

1
min ghurar
ḥabābu-ki l-manẓūmi mithla l-durar
bi-l-khamar
ka-ʾanna-hu l-yāqūti fawqa l-jamar
wa-l-zahar
fī l-rawḍi ʾamthālu l-nujūmi l-zuhar
fa-nqulī
min danni-ki l-makhtūmi bi-l-mandali
wa-rsalī
ṭība l-shadhā maʿ nasmati l-shamʾali

2
qad qadaḥ
zinādu ʾanwāri l-ṭilā fī l-qadaḥ
wa-l-taraḥ
ʾadbar idhā ʾaqbala min-hā l-faraḥ
wa-nsharaḥ
ṣadrī bi-hā wa-l-ghammu ʿannī saraḥ
fa-jtalī
li-bnati l-karmi mina l-jadwali
salsalī
fa-qad shadā l-qumru maʿa l-bulbuli

3
dhī l-shumūs
bi-ʾaydī l-ʾaqmāri taḥkī l-shumūs
fī l-kuʾūs
bi-ṣirfi-hā yuṣrifu hammun wa-būs
li-l-nufūs
rawḥun wa-rayḥānun wa-hadyu l-ʿarūs
tanjalī
ʿalayya fī muṭrafi-hā l-ṣandali
ʾanmulī
ʾakhḍibu-hā min kāsī-hā ʾin mulī
308 | Teresa Garulo

4
bī rashā
yasmū ʿalā badri l-dujā wa-l-wishā
law yashā
yamshī ʿalā raʾsī wa-ʿaynī mashā
al-ḥashā
bi-l-nāri min jafwati-hi qad ḥashā
qad qalī
muḥibba-hu bal qalbu-hu yanqalī
yaṣṭalī
min-hu ka-nāri l-ḥarbi fī l-qasṭali

5
ʾahyafu
mina l-ṣabā fī laṭafin ʾalṭafu
mutlifu
siḥrun bi-ʿayni-hi ʾawi l-murhafu
ʾawṭafu
ruḍābu-hu l-shuhdu ʾami l-qarqafu
wa-l-khalī
ʿalayya qad jāra wa-lam yaʿdili
ʾidh walī
fī dawlati l-ḥusni wa-lam yazʿali

6
mā khabā
wajdī wa-ʾashwāqī fuʾādī ḥabā
wa-l-ẓibā
jarradna min ʾajfāni-hinna l-ẓubā
qad ṣabā
ʾilay-ka qalbī yā nasīm al-ṣabā
fa-qbalī
yā rīḥu naḥwī wa-ʿalayya qbilī
fa-qbalī
qawlī wa-ʾaknāfu l-ḥimā qibalī

(0
Oh wine,
fill my cup and adorn it
with jewels,
and with bracelets and anklets,

1
with the stars
of your bubbles arranged as pearls,
a wine
that resembles a ruby over embers,
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 309

and with flowers

in a garden like shining stars,
and transfer it
from the earthen jar sealed with sandalwood,
and send
its fragrance on the breeze of the north.

2
Like tinder,
the wine’s sparkles set the goblets on fire,
and sadness
runs away, as the wine ushers in happiness;
my heart
rejoices with it and my worries take leave.
Look
from the brook at the daughter of the vine,
pour water into it,
now that the doves’ song has joined that of the nightingales.

3
The sun of the wine
in the hands of moonlike youths resembles the sun
in the glasses,
a wine so unmixed
that it keeps away sorrows and sufferings;
the souls find in it
refreshment, aromatic plants and the serenity of a bride,
that appears
before me in her scented shawls.
The glass,
when filled up, tinges my fingertips.

4
In my heart lives a gazelle
rising through the dark above moon and shimmering sword.
If he wanted
to walk on my head and my eyes, he would do so.
My soul is full
of the fire of his roughness,
he hates
his lover, indeed, his heart is the hater,
and burns
like the fire of war on the chestnuts.

5
Slender,
gentler than the east wind in its gifts,
310 | Teresa Garulo

he kills the lovers,

– is there magic in his eyes or is it a sword?
Bushy-browed,
– is his saliva honey or wine?
Carefree,
he was unfair to me, was not just
in governing
over the land of beauty, and was not deposed.

6
My heart
does not hide my love and desire,
when young women like gazelles
have unsheathed the sword of their eyes.
My heart
longs for you, oh breeze of the zephyr,
come to me,
oh wind, come close to me,
and receive favorably
my poem, as I head for the shadow of his shelter).

5.3 Shihāb al-Dīn al-ʿAzāzī

The following imitation of Man walī is a muwashshaḥa by Shihāb al-Dīn al-ʿAzāzī
(Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿAbd al-Munʿim) (633–710 H/1235–1310 CE), a well-
known Egyptian poet, as well as a merchant in Cairo, who was successful at writ-
ing both classical and strophic poems.57 Both al-Ṣafadī and Ibn Taghrībirdī did
collect, among al-ʿAzāzī’s poems and contrafacta of Andalusi and Eastern poets,
a muwashshaḥa with the same structure as Man walī, although with different
rhymes in the common rhymed sections of the stanzas, which, as I will explain
later on, was not unusual in the art of contrafactum. They did not collect, how-
ever, al-ʿAzāzī’s contrafactum more closely following the poem by Ibn Māʾ al-
Samāʾ, which begins ʾArsilī. This muwashshaḥa seems to be preserved only in al-
Durr al-maknūn fī sabʿat funūn, by Ibn Iyās al-Ḥanafī (852–ca. 930 H/1448–
1524 CE), a source which I have been unable to access.58 Fortunately it is also

||
57 Al-Ṣafadī, Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr (1418/1998), 1: 269–275 (biog. 130); al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī (1420/2000), 7:
99–105 (biog. 734); Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1984), 1: 362–373 (biog. 196).
58 Raḥīm 1407/1987, 161, who quotes only the first two lines. There is an al-Shiʿr al-malḥūn.
Awzānu-hu wa-qawāfī-hi maʿa taḥqīq Kitāb al-Durr al-maknūn fī al-sabʿat al-funūn, by ʿAhdī Ibrā-
hīm Muḥammad al-Sīsī, Ṭanṭā: Jāmiʿat Ṭanṭā, 2000; and a later edition: al-Durr al-maknūn fī al-
sabʿat al-funūn li-Abī al-Barakāt Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Ibn Iyās (t 930 h), ed. by ʿAhdī al-Sīsī,
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 311

found in ʿAṭā’s Dīwān al-muwashshaḥāt al-mamlūkiyya,59 although the version in-

cluded there appears to be incomplete, as it has only four stanzas. In this first
contrafactum – a love poem, like that of ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ – al-ʿAzāzī did
indeed follow his model closely.

0
ʾarsilī
satra dayājī shaʿri-ki l-musbali
wa-njalī
ka-l-badri fī thawbi l-dujā l-ʾalyali

1
yā ghinā
man lā la-hu ʿan-ki bi-shayʾin ghinā
yā hanā
man nāla min waṣli-ki ṭība l-hanā
yā ʿanā
man lam yushāhid min-ki ḥusna l-ʿanā
fa-mhalī
fī qatlati l-ʿushshāqi lā taʿjalī
ʾawṣilī
fa-l-hajru bi-l-maḥbūbi lam yajmuli

2
qalbu-hu
qad zāda min farṭi l-jawā karba-hu
laylu-hu
yazdādu ʾaḍʿāfan bi-hi ḥarba-hu
ḥubbu-hu
min-hā wa-ʾin ṭāla l-madā ḥubba-hu
fa-ʿdilī
fī dawlati l-ḥusni fa-qad tuʿdalī
wa-fḍilī
ʿalā l-shajiyyi l-mughrami l-mubtalī

3
yā ʿadhūl
jahilta fī lawmi-ka mādhā taqūl
yā jahūl
al-ʿaqlu fī baʿḍi l-taṣābī yazūl
lā taḥūl

||
Risālat Duktūrāt Kulliyyat al-ādāb Jāmiʿat Ṭanṭā, 2014. But, as mentioned above, I have been
unable to access them.
59 ʿAṭā 1420/1999, 37–38.
312 | Teresa Garulo

ʿishqī wa-dhāka l-ʿadhlu min-ka yaṭūl

fa-jmulī
fī qatlati l-mughrami kay tanṭalī
wa-qlilī
min rashqi sahmin ghāba fī maqtalī

4
law tarā
damʿī ʿalā khaddī li-mā qad jarā
ʾaḥmarā
la-kunta lī min dhā l-hawā muʿdhirā
wa-l-karā
ʾamsā ʿani l-ʾajfāni mustanfarā
kayfa lī
law bittu min wajdī bi-qalbin khalī
man bulī
yaṣbir ʿalā ḥukmi l-qaḍā l-munzali

(0
Let down
the dark veil of your loose hair,
and show your face
like a moon upon the dark garment of night.

1
Oh all that is needed
for a man that cannot do without you;
oh happiness
of a lover who through your love has attained true happiness;
oh pain
of a heart that always sees you unpained;
so take your time,
do not hasten to kill your lovers;
join yourself to me,
for to take leave of the beloved is not right.

2
His heart
grieves more with so ardent a love;
his nights
through their strife multiply his sorrows
and his love
of her, if his love can last.
So be just
over the land of beauty, and perhaps be justly treated,
and grant your favor
to a sad and suffering lover.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 313

3
Oh rebuker,
when blaming me you know not what to say;
oh foolish creature,
sense abandons a man in love;
you cannot stop
my passion, and your censure is undue.
So be gracious
in killing the lover so as to deceive him,
and do not
strike my heart with a hidden arrow.

4
If you saw
my tears afterward upon my cheek
so red,
you would excuse that passion.
Sleep
is denied to my eyes.
What can I do?
If only my heart cared not for this ecstasy!
One afflicted
must be patient with fate’s sentence).

5.4 Al-Ṣafadī
The author of the next contrafactum is Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Khalīl b. Aybak al-Ṣafadī
(696–764 H/1297–1363 CE),60 a well-known man of letters, biographer, and liter-
ary critic. His Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ61 is an anthology of muwashshaḥāt, with an in-
troduction about this genre based on Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk’s Dār al-ṭirāz, in which
al-Ṣafadī includes his own contrafacta of his favourite strophic poems. Among
them, there are two muwashshaḥāt that the author describes as muʿāraḍāt of Man
walī, numbers 33 and 34.62 I will deal now with the first of them, number 33, be-
cause it is a close emulation of Man walī, while the second one (no. 34) has dif-
ferent rhymes in the aqfāl (common rhymes). It is a second possibility of emula-
tion that al-Ṣafadī expressely comments upon, and there are some other poems
of this kind that in my opinion deserve special treatment.

||
60 Rosenthal, “al-Ṣafadī”, EI2.
61 Al-Ṣafadī, Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ (1966).
62 Al-Ṣafadī, Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ (1966), 116–118 and 118–121.
314 | Teresa Garulo

Al-Ṣafadī introduces his first muwashshaḥa by saying that in composing the

poem’s rhythm (wazn) he will follow certain rhyming rules ignored in ʿUbāda Ibn
Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s poem. He acknowledges that the latter does repeat some rhymes
(wa-iʿtamadtu fī-hi luzūman lam yaltazim-hu ʿUbāda al-madhkūr fī muwashshaḥi-
hi ʿalā anna-hu huwa takarrara maʿa-hu baʿḍ al-qawāfī), but not consistently. Al-
Ṣafadī’s is not the first muwashshaḥa whose rhyme scheme is different from
ʿUbāda’s, that is to say, it is aa aa aa in the aghṣān (rhymes which change in every
stanza) as opposed to ʿUbāda’s ab ab ab. This is the rhyme scheme chosen by all
the preceding Eastern poets we are dealing with, probably after Ibn Sanāʾ al-
Mulk’s poem. Although al-Ṣafadī’s intention is to follow a sort of luzūm mā lā yal-
zam,63 an enriched rhyme based on two consonants, he is not strictly consistent
either: neither the prelude and kharja, nor the first stanza, follow these rules. As
for its genre, al-Ṣafadī’s muwashshaḥā is a love poem, in which the poet com-
plains of the usual cruelty of the beloved and his own sufferings.

0
tanbalī
ḥushāshatī wajdan fa-lā tansa lī
mā bulī
qalbī bi-hi min ṭarfi-ka l-bābilī

1
kam ʾilā
hādhā l-tajannī wa-l-jafā wa-l-qilā
wa-l-balā
fa-ʾinna damʿī qad jarā jadwalā
min-hu lā
min ghayri-hi ṣayyarta lī manhalā
fa-fṣili
hādhā l-jafā ʿan-nī bi-waṣlin jalī
yanjali
ṣadā fuʾādin bi-l-jawā mumtalī

2
salli-nī
bi-waʿdi zūrin fa-l-ḍanā salla-nī
malli-nī
bi-l-qurbi ʾinna l-suqma qad malla-nī
ḥalli-nī
bi-durri waṣlin fa-l-jafā ḥalla-nī
wa-ʿdili

||
63 Bonebakker, “Luzūm Mā Lā Yalzam”, EI2.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 315

wa-ʿan ṭarīqi l-waṣli lā taʿdali

wa-qbali
qawlī wa-naḥwī bi-l-riḍā ʾaqbili

3
al-sadam
nādama-nī baʿda l-hanā wa-l-nadam
wa-l-ʾalam
bi-sāʾiri l-ʾaʿḍāʾi min-nī ʾalam(m)
wa-l-saqam
ḥaẓẓī fa-subḥāna l-ladhī qad qasam
fa-hṭalī
yā suḥba l-ajfānī wa-lā tamṭalī
taʿṭalī
fa-ʾinna nāra l-shawqi lam tabṭuli

4
yā gazāl
hazlu-ka hādhā jadda bī fī l-huzāl
lā yazāl
ṭarfu-ka yadʿū l-qalba min-nī nizāl
fī khtizāl
wa-mālikī māla ʾilā l-ʾiʿtizāl
kam yalī
wasmiyyu damʿī fī l-dujā man walī
wa-l-walī
ʿāda mina l-ʾaʿdāʾi fī l-ʾawwali

5
ʾantumā
yā ʿādhilay wajdī l-ladhī khuntumā
qultu mā
yadkhulu fī ʾudhnī l-ladhī qultumā
sallimā
ḥalī ʾilā ʾamri l-hawā wa-slamā
fa-l-khalī
ʿammā yuqāsī l-ṣabbu fī maʿzili
wa-l-malī
bi-l-wajdi mā yuṣghī ʾilā l-ʿudhdhali

(0
My dying breath
is hastened through ecstasy; do not forget
the suffering
of my heart under your charming gaze.
316 | Teresa Garulo

1
How long can I survive
such false incriminations, roughness, hate,
and trials?
My tears flow like rivers
only because of him;
you have made a spring of me.
Free me
of this estrangement and renew our union,
and the thirst
of a heart full of passion will disappear.

2
Console me
with a false promise, that this emaciation not consume me;
Come be
by my side, now that illness has overcome me;
give me
the pearls of union, as your enstrangment has given me grief.
Be just,
and from the path of union do not just turn away;
accept
my poem and come to me with good will.

3
Sadness
is my companion after happiness, and regret
and pain
fill my body.
Sickness
is my fate – praise to the one who arranges all affairs!
Flow in torrents,
oh clouds of my eyes, do not delay,
or you will be useless,
the fire of longing is raging!

4
Oh gazelle, I take your playfulness
quite seriously, which is why I’ve grown thin.
Your eyes
always call my heart to exchange blows
alone,
while my master remains aloof.
So near
have my tears in the dark drawn me to him who governs;
this friend
who is among my enemies supreme!
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 317

5
You two
who rebuke a love you betrayed,
I said: never
will I hear what you say;
commit
my case to the hands of passion;
for one who is carefree
before the suffering of a lover, isolated
and filled
with ecstasy, will not listen to rebukers).

5.5 ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Mawṣilī

The next contrafactum is a wine poem. Its author is ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Mawṣilī (ʿAlī b.
Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Bakr) (d. Dhū al-Qaʿda 789 H/November 1387 CE),64 or, ac-
cording to ʿAṭā, Fakhr al-Dīn Abū ʿUmar ʿUthmān.65 ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Mawṣilī was a
poet based in Damascus, although he also lived in Aleppo. He is the author of a
qaṣīda badīʿiyya, emulating al-Kāfiya al-badīʿiyya by Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī (677–
749 H/1278–1348 CE)66 in praise of the Prophet, and, just like his model, he also
wrote a commentary on his own poem. The muwashshaḥa of ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Mawṣilī
emulating Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s poem seems closely related to those of Ibn Sanāʾ al-
Mulk and his followers, and, like in their poems, the prelude (maṭlaʿ) of Man walī
is now the kharja, with a small alteration.

0
ghanni lī
qad ṭāba lī shurbī ʿalā l-jadwali
wa-mli lī
mudāmatan tashgalu sirrī l-khalī

1
fī l-ṭilā
shifāʾu karbi l-mudnafi l-mubtalī
qad ḥalā

||
64 Raḥīm 1407/1987, 161–162, 216–217; Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāh al-ghumr (1389/1969), 1: 342; Ibn Ḥajar,
al-Durar (1349[/1930-1]), 3: 43; Ibn Iyās, Badāʾiʿ al-zuhūr (1404/1984), 1, part 2: 389.
65 The text of this muwashshaḥa can be found in ʿAṭā 1422/2001, 175–176, but I have been una-
ble to ascertain who this Fakhr al-Dīn is. ʿAṭā’s sources are al-Durr al-maknūn of Ibn Iyās al-
Ḥanafī (see above, footnote 58), and Sajʿ al-wurq by al-Sakhāwī (830–902 H/1427–1497 CE).
66 Heinrichs, “Ṣafī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Sarāyā al-Ḥillī”, EI2; DeYoung 2011, 75–88.
318 | Teresa Garulo

tahattukī fī l-shurbi bayna l-malā

kayfa lā
yuʿdharu man hāma bi-kaʾsin milā
tanjalī
ka-l-kāʿibi l-ḥasnāʾi taḥta l-ḥulī
taṣṭalī
min ḍawʾi-hā fī l-kaʾsi ʾidh tamtalī

2
mā l-surūr
ʾillā samāʿī li-l-ghinā wa-l-zuhūr
wa-l-khumūr
wa-rashfu kaʾsāti l-lamā wa-l-thughūr
wa-l-ghurūr
man yumsi ʿan nayli l-ʾamānī ṣabūr
fa-bdhulī
mā ʿazza fī l-rāḥi wa-lā tanjalī
tafḍulī
ʿalā l-warā māḍin wa-mustaqbali

3
lan yaḍīʿ
al-ʿumru fī l-dunyā bi-ghayri l-qaṭīʿ
fa-l-rafīʿ
ʾidhā duʿī li-l-kaʾsi labbā sarīʿ
fa-l-raqīʿ
man bāta fī mithli zamāni l-rabīʿ
mukhtalī
bi-l-ṣaḥwi min nayli l-ʾamānī khalī
mubtalī
ʿan ladhdhati l-ʾashyāʾi fī maʿzali

4
fī l-shamūl
maʿnān bi-hi tasbī jamīʿa l-ʿuqūl
wa-l-jahūl
man yuṣghi fī-hā li-maqāli l-ʿadhūl
daʿ yaqūl
mā shāʾa fī-hā lastu ʿan-hā ʾaḥūl
tanjalī
ʿannī humūmī ʾidh ʾarā manzilī
mumtalī
min qahwatin ʿadhrāʾa lam tubdhali

5
qad samā
min baʿdi dhā qalbī li-ḥubbi l-dumā
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 319

wa-ntamā
li-ḥubbi badrin fī-hi wajdī namā
kullamā
fawwaqa naḥwī ṭarfu-hu ʾashumā
ladhdha lī
mawtī wa-yā bushrā-ya ʾin ṣaḥḥa lī
fa-ʿdhili
wa-l-lawmu fī-hi kaththara-w qalla lī

6
mā ranā
ʾillā ʾaʿāra l-jisma thawba l-ḍanā
wa-jtanā
min ghuṣni-hi qalba l-ʾasā wa-l-ʿanā
wa-nthanā
lisānu ḥālī qāʾilan muʿlinā
man walī
fī ʾummatin ʾamran wa-lam yaʿdali
yuʿzali
bi-nabli ʾalḥāẓi l-rashā l-ʾakḥali

(0
Sing to me,
it is delightful to drink by the stream;
fill my glass
with wine to hide my secrets from the carefree one.

1
In wine
is the cure for the sorrows of an emaciated and afflicted lover;
it is so pleasant
to drink shamelessly in public!
Why shouldn’t it be so?
But they rebuke one who loves a full glass
that appears
like a beautiful maiden under her jewels,
when the wine
that glows in it warms his heart.

2
Joy
inhabits songs, flowers,
and wine,
and kisses the dark red lips of glasses and young girls;
he who refrains
from fulfilling his wishes is deceived.
Pay generously
320 | Teresa Garulo

for this wine and do not go away,

and you will outdo
all mankind, past and future.

3
Life will never be sweet
in this world without a group of friends.
A refined man,
when invited to drink, promptly obeys,
but the fool
passes the night, in a time like spring,
alone
and sober, indifferent to his desires,
afflicted,
deprived of enjoyment.

4
In the cool wine
there is something that captivates the mind;
Only a fool
listens to the words of a rebuker.
He can say
what he wants about the wine, I will not change my mind:
my worries
will disappear if I see my house
well provided
with a virgin wine sparingly served.

5
After drinking
my heart wishes to love young girls,
and ardently
longs for a full moon that my ecstasy might grow
whenever
it casts at me its gaze like arrows;
death is delightful to me,
oh joyful tidings if he cures me.
So rebuke me,
I am indifferent to all your criticism.

6
One look from him
and my body is clothed with emaciation;
the fruit
of his boughs is but a heart full of grief and worry.
Now my tongue
is ready to tell everyone:
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 321

He who governs
over a nation and is not just,
will be deposed
with arrows from the black eyes of a gazelle).

5.6 Muḥammad b. Sharaf al-Dīn

The success of the muwashshaḥa of Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ did not end in Ayyūbid or
Mamlūk Egypt. Two centuries later, a Yemeni poet, Muḥammad b. Sharaf al-Dīn
(938–1010 H/1532–1601 CE), wrote yet another poem emulating Ibn Māʾ al-
Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa.67 Although it is included in the poet’s Dīwān of mubay-
yatāt and muwashshaḥāt, it is neither a mubayyata – the Ḥumaynī strophic poem
more akin to an Andalusi muwashshaḥa – nor a Yemeni muwashshaḥa – whose
structure is very different from its Andalusi equivalent. Still, it is clearly an emu-
lation of Man walī, and, like it, contains five stanzas. As suggested by Semah, Ibn
Sharaf al-Dīn probably also had in mind the muʿāraḍa of Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk. It is
a bacchic poem with the usual garden scenery, the beautiful cupbearer, and the
love for gazelle-like youths. According to the compiler ʿĪsā b. Luṭf Allāh,
Muḥammad b. Sharaf al-Dīn composed his poem late in life, around 1008–
1010 H/1599–1601 CE.

0
al-walī
ʾalqā ʿalā l-rawḍi funūna l-ḥulī
fa-njalī
ʾisfanṭa kaʾsin nūru-hu yaghtalī

1
ʾasfarat
zuhru l-dujā fī rawḍatin ʾazharat
ṣawwarat
la-nā l-samā fī l-ʾarḍi ʾidh nawwarat
ḥayyarat
ʾalbāba-nā fī ḥusni mā ḥayyarat
ḥaythu lī
kaʾsī ʿalā zahri l-rubā yanjalī
ka-l-ḥulī
yazīnu jīda l-ʿāṭili l-ʿayṭalī

||
67 Semah 1988, 231–232; Dufour 2011, 214–215. See the complete poem in Ibn Sharaf al-Dīn,
Dīwān (1978?), 150–152.
322 | Teresa Garulo

2
al-saʿīd
ṣabbun yuʿāṭī l-kāsa ghizlāna ghīd
ka-l-farīd
mabāsiman wa-l-ẓabyu ʿaynan wa-jīd
al-rashīd
man yamzuju l-kaʾsa bi-khamri l-badīd
kallilī
bi-l-kaʾsi kaffa l-shādini l-ʾakḥali
wa-mli lī
kaʾsī ʿalā rajʿi ghinā l-bulbuli

3
muʾnisī
ʿalā rtishāfī durrata l-ʾanfusi
ʾakʾusi
bi-Llāhi ʾadhiq-hā wa-lā taḥbasi
wa-ḥtasī
min kaffi sāqin ʾaḥwari ʾalʿasi
salsilī
fī l-kāʾsi dhāka l-rāʾiqi l-salsali
ʿallilī
ʾakwāba-hā bi-l-miski wa-l-mindali

4
al-malīḥ
malīḥun mithla smih wa-filʿih malīḥ
wa-l-qabīḥ
qabīḥun min bāhī l-muḥayyā l-ṣabīḥ
wa-l-ṣaḥīḥ
wa-Llāhi lā yaslā wa-lā yastarīḥ
man bulī
bi-ʿishqi ẓabyin ʾadʿajin ʾanjali
yanḥalī
mithla muḥayyā l-qamari l-munjalī

5
man naẓar
ʾilā ṭalʿati-h ʾaqsam mā dhā bashar
wa-l-bashar
ḥārū wa-qālū dhā malak ʾaw qamar
wa-l-qamar
min-hu khtafā wa-l-shamsu ghābat khafar
ʾasbilī
yā shamsu ʾadhyāla l-ḥayā wa-khjalī
wa-ʾfilī
bi-Llāhi min ʿujbi-ki dhā l-ʾawwali
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 323

(0
The Lord
has cast down upon the garden countless jewels,
so unveil
a fragrant wine whose light shimmers in its glass.

1
The stars of the night
shine in a garden full of flowers
that appears to us,
when it blooms, like heaven on earth,
and bewitches
our minds with its unrivalled beauty.
There
my glass, upon the flowers of the hills, appears
like jewels
adorning the long neck of a beautiful woman.

2
Happy
is a lover who offers a glass to tender gazelles
with unrivalled
mouths and an antelope’s eyes and necks.
Wise
is he who mixes that wine into the glass.
Make the glass
a crown in the hand of the black-eyed gazelle,
and fill
my cup as the nightingales renew their song.

3
My companions,
when I drink the pearls of wine,
are the glasses;
by God, fill them up, and do not put them away,
sip from the hand
of a black-eyed and red-lipped cupbearer,
pour
it into the glass, fresh and pure;
serve
the cups with musk and sandalwood.

4
The beautiful
is as beautiful as his name and his deeds are beautiful,
and the ugly
is ugly in spite of his pretty face,
324 | Teresa Garulo

and the reliable,

by God, never forgets nor finds rest.
One afflicted
by love for an antelope with large, dark eyes
wastes away
like the unveiled face of the moon.

5
He who looks
upon his countenance cries “This is no mortal”.
And the humans
are at a loss and say: “This is an angel or the moon!”
The moon
vanishes and the sun sets before him out of shyness.
Let down,
oh sun, the last of the rain in shame,
and go down,
in awe – by God – of this one, supreme).

5.7 ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm (Abū Hammām) (1945–2014)

The last emulation of Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s poem is a very recent one. Its author is
the Egyptian poet, researcher, critic, and translator – mostly of poetry from Spain
and Latin America – ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm (1945–2014), also known as Abū
Hammām. His poem, entittled “Muwashshaḥa miṣriyya”, was first published in
the first issue of the literary journal Ibdāʿ (January 1994),68 and later on was in-
cluded in the poet’s last book of poetry, Zahrat al-nār (1998), and in his al-Aʿmāl
al-shiʿriyya al-kāmila (2011), pages 238–244. This contrafactum is the longest
poem in this series, with ten stanzas instead of the usual five or seven. A further
difference with the preceding poems, centered on love or wine, is that this one is
a political poem,69 in which the author denounces a corrupt and oppressive
power, here identified with that of the last Fāṭimid sultan al-ʿĀḍid (r. 555–567 H/
1160–1171 CE) and his viziers, unable to fend off the Crusaders. It is not difficult

||
68 Some months later, in the same journal, no. 12, December 1994, Maḥmūd al-ʿAshīrī published
a study of the poem and its relationship with ʿUbāda’s poem, entitled “Īqāʿ al-maʿnā wa-
shāʿiriyyat al-īqāʿ. Dirāsa fī qaṣīda ‘ʿan muwashshaḥa andalusiyya’ li-l-shāʿir ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd
al-Ḥalīm (Abū Hammām)”, now included in Maḥmūd al-ʿAshīrī’s al-Sayr naḥw nuqṭa muftariḍa.
See al-ʿAshīrī 2014.
69 These two reasons, its length and its theme, have led me not to quote the poem in its entirety
in this paper, in addition to the significant gap in time – four centuries – between this contem-
porary poet and the last pre-modern one, Ibn Sharaf al-Dīn.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 325

to see in it the same critical attitude of Jamāl al-Ghīṭānī in his first novel al-Zaynī
Barakāt (1971). Also like him, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm uses the past as a met-
aphor for the present (the Mamlūks of the poem stand for the power of the mili-
tary establishment under president Ḥusnī Mubārak [1981–2011]), likely a ruse to
avoid censorship.
However, it is no surprise that, in order to address Egyptian politics, the con-
temporary poet turns time and again to the expressions of Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk’s
original, framed around the concept of just governance. It is also likely that the
author has in mind all the other emulations by Mamlūk poets. The poem seems
encircled by the initial and final aqfāl, that is to say, by the prelude (maṭlaʿ) and
the kharja, which repeates the prelude almost word for word:

(Prelude)
Man walī
fī ʾummatin ʾamran wa-lam yaʿdili
yuʿzali
ʾillā l-mamālīku fa-lā tanjalī

(He who governs

over a nation and is not just,
will be deposed,
except the Mamlūks, who will not disappear).

(Kharja)
Man walī
fī ʾummatin ʾamran wa-lam yaʿdili
yuʿzali
ḥattā l-mamālīki fa-qad tanjalī

(He who governs

over a nation and is not just,
will be deposed,
even the Mamlūks, who perhaps will disappear).

6 A second set of emulations

As mentioned before, al-Ṣafadī, after his first emulation of Man walī (Tawshīʿ al-
tawshīḥ number 33), declares, when introducing number 34, that he wanted to
compose another muwashshaḥa with the rhythm (wazn) of ʿUbāda’s poem, but
with a different set of rhymes (wa-ghayyartu al-qāfiya al-ūlā, ‘I changed the first
326 | Teresa Garulo

rhyme’) – here considering only the common rhymes. It is not an infrequent de-
vice even when a kharja is in fact re-used by a younger poet, because it is enough
to change the last word to create a poem that seems somewhat different.70 Al-
though there are plenty of earlier examples, even in these cases of reusing a
kharja, in which the change of the last word compromises the original set of
rhymes of the first muwashshaḥa, it is in the Mamlūk period, when al-Ṣafadī
lived, that this possibility seems to have been fully developed. In any case, there
are another four poems from this period that are emulations of the muwashshaḥa
of ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ. Chronologically, Al-Ṣafadī’s is the last one, but, as
he states clearly that his poem is a muʿāraḍa of the Andalusi poet, I will begin
with it because it is a very clear example. Although in the other poems it can be
concluded based on the rhythm that they are in fact emulations, neither the poets
who wrote them nor the anthologists who collected them mention this fact.

6.1 Al-Ṣafadī
Al-Ṣafadī’s muwashshaḥa is a love poem; at six stanzas and a prelude, it is a bit
longer than his previous one, and is even more affected, since the use of tajnīs in
the rhymes is more frequent and more emphasized.

0
Qaddirī
ʾanna raqībī bi-l-liqā qad durī
ʾaw ʿarī
hal yantahī ʿan khulqi-hi l-ʾawʿari

1
qad ḥashad
fī-ki saqāmī wa-ʾadhāba l-jasad
wa-l-ḥasad
min ʿādhilī mtadda ʾilā ghayri ḥad(d)
wa-qtaṣad
bi-ʾanna-hu yashmutu bī waqta ṣad(d)

||
70 See for instance a muwashshaḥa by Ibn Zuhr (Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs [1992], no. 292), in
which the poet uses the same kharja as Ibn Baqī (d. 540 H/1145 CE or 545 H/1150 CE) (Ibn Bishrī,
ʿUddat al-jalīs [1992], no. 177), but with a small change to the rhyme (Ibn Zuhr has ṣanaʿū,
where Ibn Baqī has faʿalū) that does not modify the meaning, as both verbs mean ‘to do, to
make’. A century later, the Hebrew poet Todros Abulafia (1247–ca. 1306 CE) again reused the
kharja from Ibn Baqī’s version. See Monroe/Swiatlo 1977, 146; more on this kind of reuse in
Garulo 2009b.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 327

fa-khburī
ḥāla l-muʿannā fī l-ḍanā wa-ḥburī
wa-bṣurī
ʾ in kāna qad khāna fa-lā tabṣurī

2
ʾanti fī
qalbī wa-fī fikrī fa-lā ʾantafī
fa-ʿṭifī
ʿalayya wa-staʾnī wa-lā taʿsifī
wa-sʿifī
yaʿqūba hādhā ḥusna-ki l-yūsufī
wa-ʿdhirī
man massa-hu l-ḍarru wa-lā taghdirī
wa-nṣurī
qalbī ʿalā ʿādhili-hi l-muftarī

3
jalla man
ʾabdā la-nā hādhā l-muḥayyā l-ḥasan
wa-rtahan
ʾahla hawā-hu bi-l-shajā wa-l-shajan
wa-mtaḥan
ʿushshāqa-hu dūna l-warā bi-l-ḥazan
tanbarī
sihāmu jafnay-ki li-qatli l-barī
ʾin barī
fa-ʾinna-hu yaḥyā wa-lam yuqbari

4
bi-l-daʿaj
min jafni-hā safku dimāʾi l-muhaj
wa-zdawaj
nūru thanāyā-hā wa-nūru l-balaj
wa-mtazaj
fī khaddi-hā māʾu l-ḥibā bi-l-ḍaraj
fa-nẓurī
li-yāsamīnin fawqa wardin ṭarī
ʾaḥmari
mudabbajin min khāli-hā l-ʾakhḍari

5
man qaḍā
ʿalā l-muʿannā fī-ki ḥattā qaḍā
wa-qtaḍā
ʾan shabba fī qalbiya jamru l-ghaḍā
wa-ntaḍā
328 | Teresa Garulo

min jafni-ki l-ʾaswadi lī ʾabyaḍā

fa-qdirī
ṣabrī ʿalā dhā qaddi-ki l-ʾasmari
wa-qṣirī
yā juʾdharān ṣāla ʿalā qaswari

6
yā khalī
min ḥubbi man qalbī bi-hā qad bulī
khalli lī
mā qāla-hu fī shāni-hā ʿudhdhalī
wa-rsili
ṭarfa-ka fī hādhā l-muḥayyā l-khalī
tubṣiri
nūra thanāyā thaghri-hā l-jawharī
ʾidh yarī
yarwī l-sanā ʿan khaddi-hā l-ʾazhari

(0
Suppose
that the spy already knows about our meetings
and comes to us –
will he change his rough nature?

1
My sickness
grows because of you, and consumes my body;
the envy
of my rebuker has no limits,
and he rejoices
at my sufferings when you send me away.
Now consider
the state of a lover suffering and emaciated; make him happy,
look at him,
but if he has betrayed you, look not.

2
You live
in my heart and in my mind, I do not deny it;
so have mercy
on me, take your time and do not act thoughtlessly;
and grant
this Yaʿqūb your beauty, like Yūsuf’s;
forgive and betray not
a man wounded by adversity,
and assist
my heart against a slandering rebuker.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 329

3
How far above is
a youth who shows us that beautiful face
which makes his lovers
prisoners of sorrows and worries,
and afflicts
those who love him with sadness.
The arrows
of his eyes are sharpened to kill all creatures
even innocents.
Indeed, they are alive and cannot be buried.

4
Large and black,
her eyes shed the blood of hearts;
As one:
the light of her teeth and the light of dawn,
and blended
in her cheeks are shyness and blush.
Now look
at that jasmine above a fresh rose,
red,
adorned with a birthmark, green.

5
Who sentenced
your suffering lover to death?
Who decreed
that embers of tamarisk wood should burn in my heart,
and unsheathed
the bright sword of your black eyes?
May my patience
resist your spear-like figure,
and restrain you,
oh antelope who takes on lions.

6
You, carefree
without this love that afflicts my heart:
listen not
to my rebukers’ words against her,
and fix
your gaze upon her carefree face.
You will see
the light of her teeth like jewels,
with a glow
that draws its brilliance from her bright cheeks).
330 | Teresa Garulo

6.2 Zayn al-Dīn Ibn al-Wardī

Al-Ṣafadī, however, was not the first poet to compose a muʿāraḍa of Ibn Māʾ al-
Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa with altered rhyming. Some years eariler, Ibn al-Wardī (d.
749 H/1349 CE), a contemporary of al-Ṣafadī, had already composed an emulation
of Man walī, in which he also modified the rhymes. Zayn al-Dīn ʿUmar b. Muẓaffar
Ibn al-Wardī, a Shāfiʿī jurist, philologist, man of letters, and poet, was born in
Maʿarrat al-Nuʿmān (Syria) in 689 H/1290-1 CE or 691 H/1291-2 CE, and died in
Aleppo in 749 H/1349 CE, during the plague.71 Almost coeval with him, al-Ṣafadī
includes a long biography of Ibn al-Wardī in his Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr, quoting poems and
letters drawn from their mutual correspondence, as well as other poems. Among
them is this muwashshaḥa whose structure imitates that of Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ, a
poem that Ibn al-Wardī composed in his youth.72 His muwashshaḥa, which, with
only four stanzas, appears to be incomplete, is a love poem with a profusion of
rhetorical devices, especially jinās or paronomasia.

0
madhhabī
ḥubbu rashān dhī jasadin mudhhabi
qad ḥubī
ḥusnan bi-hi yastaʿdhibu l-qadḥa bī

1
ʿādhilā
mā ʾanta fī lawmi-ka lī ʿādilā
sāʾilā
yukhbiru-ka damʿun qad hamā sāʾilā
āhi lā
taʿdhil fa-mā qalbī bi-dhā ʾāhilā
manṣibī
wa-l-ʿaqlu ʾadhhabtu-humā min sabī
mā rubī
ʾillā wa-qad rubī fī-hi mā rubī

2
raqqa mā
fī khaddi-hi l-wardiyyi qad raqqamā

||
71 Bencheneb, “Ibn al-Wardī, Zayn al-Dīn”, EI2. See al-Ṣafadī, Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr (1418/1998), 3: 677–
706 (biog. 1301); Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1973), 3: 157–160 (biog. 383).
72 Al-Ṣafadī, Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr (1418/1998), 3: 705–706; ʿAṭā 1420/1999, 263–264. I have followed
ʿAṭā’s version, that of the dīwān, but in some cases have turned, as a contrast, to the one provided
by al-Ṣafadī in Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr; in al-Ṣafadī the stanzas are ordered differently: 1, 4, 2, 3.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 331

ʿindamā
raʾaytu damʿī qad ḥakā ʿandamā
ḍarra mā
fī muhjatī min hajri-hi ḍarramā
min ʾabī
yaʾbā l-riḍā niltu l-jafā min ʾabī
fa-rʿa bī
riḍā-hu yā qalbu wa- tih wa-rʿabi

3
man ṣalā
lī fakhkha-hu bal qad naḍā munṣulā
ʾawwalā
mulāzimun ʾākhiru-hu l-ʾawwalā
balbalā
fuʾādu muḍnā-hu balā bal balā
fa-nha bī
ghayrī wa-ladhdhātu l-gharāmi nhabi
wa-lha bī
ʿan ʿudhddalin bal yā ḥashā-ya lhabī

4
mā nasī
ṭība zamāni l-waṣli fī mā nasī
wa-lmasī
raqība-nā bi-l-kaffi lam ʾalmasi
jā nasī
ḥarbī fa-ʾalfī kullamā jā nasī73
wa-rqa bī
yā ṭarfu suhdan wa-l-nujūma rqabi
wa-shna bī
man lam yahummu fī thagrin ʾashnabi

(0
My creed
is the love of a willowy bodied gazelle,
endowed
with a beauty that sweetens the slander against me.

1
Rebuker,
how unjust are your reproaches;

||
73 In al-Ṣafadī, Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr (1418/1998), 701: jānisī ⃒ ḥuznī fa-ʾalfī kullamā jā nisī, but its mean-
ing is equally obscure.
332 | Teresa Garulo

inquirer,
my flowing tears will inform you.
Ah, do not
blame me, my heart does not deserve it;
dignity
and reason, gone over of a boy
who grew
and, grown, so too his beauty did grow.

2
What beautiful is
the down in his rose-colored cheeks,
that, when
I saw the safflower of my tears,
the fire he has kindled
in my soul by his absence will hurt me.
Oh what a proud youth,
who would deny me pleasure, leaving only the rough.
So, for me, desist
from pleasing him, oh heart, or be perplexed and frightened.

3
He who set
his traps for me, and who, indeed, drew his sword
in the beginning,
keeps doing so, time and again.
Confounded
is the heart of his emaciated lover; his beloved besets him with woe.
Take leave of me,
distress another, and plunder the pleasures of passion;
let me forget
my rebukers, and you, my soul: burn in your fire.

4
He forgot
completely the delightful time of union;
now touch
our guardian with a hand I did not touch,
...
...74
Fend off
my insomnia, oh my eyes, and watch the stars,
and hate with me

||
74 See footnote 73.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 333

a man unconcerned with a dazzling smile).

6.3 Shihāb al-Dīn al-ʿAzāzī

Even before Ibn al-Wardī and al-Ṣafadī, another Eastern poet had used this de-
vice, namely to change the rhyme of the aqfāl (common rhymes) in order to com-
pose a new poem, perhaps perceived as more original. His name was Shihāb al-
Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-ʿAzāzī (d. 710 H/1310 CE), and his muwashshaḥa
imitating Man walī, following closely its rhymes, has already been quoted in this
chapter (see above, 5.3). His new imitation75 begins Mā ʿalā, thus representing a
truly subtle variation of the rhyme, as al-ʿAzāzī mantains the rhyme letter (lām),
changing only the vowel that follows it. It is collected in al-Ṣafadī’s Tawshīʿ al-
tawshīḥ, no. 19, but he does not mention it being an emulation of Man walī, a
poem that he includes in his anthology and that he imitates twice therein. This
kind of omission is not especially noticeable, because al-Ṣafadī sometimes seems
to forget the ultimate source for his imitations. An example at hand are the mu-
washshaḥāt nos. 3, 4 and 5 of his anthology: no. 3 (bāsimun ʿan laʾāl) is the poem
by Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī (see 5.2), and nos. 4 and 5, the emulations com-
posed by al-Ṣafadī and Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf al-Ṣūfī. But al-Ṣafadī never says that
the poem of this al-Mawṣilī is a muʿāraḍa of the muwashshaḥa Dāḥikun ʿan jumān
by al-Aʿmā al-Tuṭīlī. And yet he must undoubtedly have been familiar with al-
Tuṭīlī’s poem, the first quoted by Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk in his treatise on the art of the
muwashshaḥ, Dār al-ṭirāz, because al-Ṣafadī gives a summary of it at the begin-
ning of Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ. Is the change in the rhymes sufficient grounds to con-
sider the new poem as completely independent? But al-Ṣafadī himself said that
he composed an imitation of Man walī with different rhymes! Why do the same
criteria not apply in the case of Shihāb al-Dīn al-ʿAzāzī?
Mā ʿalā seems to have been a well-appreciated poem. In addition to Tawshīʿ
al-tawshīḥ, al-Ṣafadī included it in other two works: his biographical dictionaries
al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt ([1420/2000], 7: 103), and Aʿyān al-ʿaṣr ([1418/1998], 1: 273–
274). It is also included in Ibn Taghrībirdī’s al-Manhal al-ṣāfī ([1984–2009], 1:
367–369), in al-Nawājī’sʿUqūd al-laʾāl ([1420/1999], 161–163), and in al-Maqqarī’s
Nafḥ al-ṭīb ([1388/1968], 7: 91–92).76
It is a love poem, and like the muwashshaḥa of Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ, it has five
stanzas and a prelude:

||
75 Stern called attention to this imitation in his 1950 doctoral dissertation. See Stern 1974, 94.
76 And in ʿAṭā 1420/1999, 21–23.
334 | Teresa Garulo

0
mā ʿalā
man hāma wajdan bi-dhawāti l-ḥulā
mubtalā
bi-l-ḥadaqi l-sūdi wa-bīḍi l-ṭulā

1
bi-l-lawā
maliyyu ḥusnin li-duyūnī lawā
kam nawā
qatlī wa-kam ʿadhdhaba-nī bi-l-nawā
qad hawā
fī ḥubbi-hi qalbī bi-ḥukmi l-hawā
wa-ṣṭalā
nāra tajannī-hi wa-nāra l-qilā
kayfa lā
yadhūqu man hāma bi-rīmi l-falā

2
hal turā
yajmaʿu-nā l-dahru wa-law fī l-karā
ʾam tarā
ʿaynī muḥayyā man li-jismī barā
bi-l-surā
yā ḥādiyā rakbin bi-laylin sarā
ʿallilā
qalbī bi-tadhkāri l-liqā ʿallilā
wa-nzilā
dūna l-ḥimā ḥayya l-ḥimā manzilā

3
bī rashā
damʿī bi-sirrī fī hawā-hu washā
law yashā
barrada minnī jamarāti l-ḥashā
mā mashā
ʾillā nthanā min sukri-hi wa-ntashā
ʿaṭṭilā
mina l-ḥumayyā yā mudīrā l-ṭilā
mā ḥalā
ʾidhā ʾadāra l-nāẓira l-ʾakḥalā

4
hal yulām
man ghalaba l-ḥubbu ʿalay-hi fa-hām
mustahām
bi-fātiri l-laḥẓi rashīqi l-qawām
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 335

dhī btisām
ʾaḥsana naẓman min ḥabābi l-mudām
law malā
min rīqi-hi kaʾsan la-ʾaḥyā l-malā
ʾaw jalā
wajhan raʾayta l-qamara l-mujtalā

5
law ʿafā
qalbu-ka ʿamman zalla ʾaw man hafā
ʾaw ṣafā
mā kāna ka-l-jalmadi ʾaw ka-l-ṣafā
bi-l-wafā
sal ʿan fatā ʿadhdhabta-hu bi-l-jafā
hal khalā
fuʾādu-hu min khaṭarāti l-walā
ʾaw salā
wa-khāna dhāka l-mawthiqa l-ʾawwalā

(0
What accusation can be levelled
against one in ecstasy over young girls bejewelled,
and afflicted
by their black eyes and figures like white swords?

1
Beautiful is he
who has deferred payment of his painful debts;
how frequently
he resolved to kill me, and how he tormented me with his absence!
My heart,
ruled by the power of passion, loves him,
but he kindled
the fire of his reproaches and his hate;
why shouldn’t
he, in love with a desert gazelle, suffer too?

2
I wonder
if Fate would bring us together even in our dreams,
or if my eyes
would see the face of a beloved who wears out my body
with night travel;
oh caravan leader,
entertain
my heart with memories of our meetings,
and stop
336 | Teresa Garulo

at a dwelling in a protected valley – may God preserve it.

3
For a gazelle
is the love whose secret my tears betray;
if he wanted
he could cool the embers of my soul.
He walks,
tottering gracefully as if drunk.
You two, serving the wine,
serve no more,
for still sweeter
is a backward glance from his dark eyes.

4
Can one blame
a lover vanquished by ardent passion,
infatuated
by his languid glances, his slender frame,
and his smiles
revealing a string of pearls lovelier than the bubbles of wine?
If he filled
the glass with his saliva, it would give new life to the desert,
or if he showed
his face, you would see the shining moon.

5
If your heart
forgave the one who made a mistake, or erred,
or loved you
faithfully,
he would not be like a rock or a stone.
Ask about a young man you roughly torment,
if his soul
is free from thoughts and desires of fidelity,
or if he has forgotten
and betrayed his first covenant).

6.4 Al-Ṣafadī
Al-Ṣafadī was so enthusiastic about this poem that he not only recorded it, but
was eager to compose an emulation (Tawshīʿ al-tawshīḥ no. 20) following al-
ʿAzāzī, but with a degree of virtuosity in rhymes’ tajnīs far superior to his model,
affecting all the rhyme words in the aghṣān of every stanza: qamar ‘moon’/qamar
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 337

‘to be sleepless in the moonlight’; khatar ‘to come to the mind’/fī khaṭar ‘in dan-
ger’; saḥar ‘to bewitch’/ al-saḥar ‘dawn’, etc.

0
lī ʾilā
ẓabyi l-ḥimā shawqun wa-qad ʾanḥalā
ʾin ḥalā
fa-ʾinna-hu jarraʿa-nī l-ḥanẓalā

1
bī qamar
sabā l-ḥashā minnī wa-ʿaqlī qamar
law khaṭar
ʾamsā bi-hi ʾahlu l-hawā fī khaṭar
mudh saḥar
bi-ṭarfi-hi ʿtalla nasīmu l-saḥar
wa-ṣṭalā
muḥibbu-hu tadhkāra ʿaṣrin khalā
wa-btalā
bi-l-wajdi ḥattā ʾatʿaba l-ʿudhdhalā

2
kam ʾalam
min ṭayfi-hi li-mā bi-jafnī ʾalam(m)
fī l-ẓalam
ʾanṣafa lākin ḥīna wallā ẓalam
law nasam
mabsamu-hu ʾaḥyā jamīʿa l-nasam
ʾaw jalā
ṭalʿatu-hu fī dāmisin ʾalyalā
la-ʿtalā
ʿalā budūri l-timmi bayna l-malā

3
ʾin qaḍā
bi-qatlatī ṭarfu ghazālī nqaḍā
ʾidh maḍā
fī kabidī jafnā-hu fī-mā maḍā
ʾaw ʾaḍā
barqu l-riḍā lī ʿinda dhāti l-ʾaḍā
la-njalā
ʿannī l-ʿanā ʾaw qalla min-hu l-qilā
wa-nsalā
qalbu ʿaduwwin qāla ʿannī salā
338 | Teresa Garulo

4
ʾin ṣafā
lī qalbu-hu min hajri-hi ʾanṣafā
ʾin tafā-
ʾaltu77 li-qalbī bi-riḍā-hu ntafā
ʾaw ṭafā
damʿī ʿalā jafnin la-hu ʾawṭafā
ʾakhjalā
qaṭra ghawādin qad ghadat ḥuffalā
kayfa lā
wa-hwa ḥayā damʿī wa-qad ʾasbalā

5
biʾsa mā
ʿāmala-nī l-ḥubbu l-ladhī bī samā
ʿindamā
ʾajrā dumūʿī bi-l-jafā ʿandamā
ʾajra mā
ghafartu li-l-wāshī l-ladhī ʾajramā
fa-khtalā
bi-hi wa-khallā l-bāla rahna l-balā
ʾamma lā
dūna naʿam fī kulli mā ʾammalā.

(0
I yearn
for a gazelle from a sheltered valley; it has consumed me,
and, though sweet,
has made me swallow colocynth.

1
A moon
has captivated me from within, its light dazzling my mind;
if it appears,
the lovers will be in danger;
it has bewitched
the dawn breeze, sapping its strength;
its lover is burning
with memories of a bygone time,
and suffers
an ecstasy that has exasperated even the rebukers.

||
77 Note the violence of the caesura, cutting a word (tafāʾaltu) in half at the end of a rhymed
segment.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 339

2
What pain
his specter before my eyes ellicits
in the darkness!
He is equitable, but with power is unfair.
If his mouth
blew gently, he would give new life to all creatures;
and if his face
appeared in the dark of night,
it would rise
over the full moon on the desert.

3
If sentenced
to death by a look from my gazelle, it would be done,
for in the past
those eyes already pierced my soul;
if in a flash
I felt his approval, among other favors,
then gone
would be my suffering, or lessened his aversion,
and happy once more
this enemy heart, which said that he, about me, had forgotten.

4
If it would desist
from deserting me, his heart would be just.
If I regarded
his approval as a good omen for my heart, he would reject it.
If my tears
brimmed over eyelids beneath bushy brows,
they would put to shame
even a hard morning rain.
Why shouldn’t
they, if my tears themselves are the downpour?

5
How badly
I am treated by this love that rose sky high
when
his roughness drew my tears – red resin:
a reward
for forgiving the slanderer his crimes.
He chose to be alone
with him, leaving my soul a prisoner of woe:
he said no –
better than a yes – to all of those high hopes).
340 | Teresa Garulo

7 A success only in the East?

Eleven Syrian and Egyptian contrafacta of ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s mu-
washshaḥa Man walī is truly remarkable. Why did it not receive the same acclaim
in al-Andalus? Was its rhythm forgotten? Perhaps amidst the new stage in the
genre’s evolution in al-Andalus in the years that followed ʿUbāda’s time his some-
what contrived patterns simply receded from memory. The combination of
rhymed segments of three and eleven syllables, in this order, is infrequent in An-
dalusi anthologies of muwashshaḥāt, where it is more common to find poems
with the long segment before the short one. Nevertheless, there are some exam-
ples. In the anthology by Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs, there are two such mu-
washshaḥāt, no. 25 and no. 168.78 Both are anonymous love poems that lack a
prelude.
I will begin with no. 168, because it is more regular, or at least its rhyme
schemes are of the more frequent sort in this anthology, in both the aghṣān (ab
ab ab) and the aqfāl (mn on).79 It is a love poem addressed to an Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad.

1
marḥabā
bi-l-qamari l-ṭāliʿi min ʾufqi-hi
qad sabā
qalbī fa-ḥusnu l-nuṭqi min nuṭqi-hi
jannibā
yā ʿādhilayya l-lawma fī ʿishqi-hi
fa-l-munā
fī ḥubbi badrin laysa bi-l-ʾāfili
mā salā
ʿan ḥubbi-hi ghayru fatā jāhili

2
hākadhā
ʾaʿshaqu ḥattā ʾan ʾurā hālikā
hākadhā80

||
78 The sequence of three and eleven syllables also appears in another muwashshaḥa in ʿUddat
al-jalīs (no. 195), but its rhythm is so different from all these poems, its metrics in the eleven-
syllable segments so alien to Arabic prosody, that I will exclude it from the Man walī family.
79 In ʿUddat al-jalīs there are 68 muwashshaḥāt with exactly this rhyme scheme throughout the
whole poem (ab ab ab mn on); the combination ab ab ab in the aghṣān is the most popular in Ibn
Bishrī’s anthology (180 muwashshaḥāt have it); and, in the aqfāl, mn on is likewise the most
frequent (77).
80 Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992), 257; its editor suggests in his notes as a possibility ʿāʾidhā.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 341

min mālikin ʾaṣbaḥa lī mālikā

fa-ʾidha
lāqaytu-hu lāḥaẓa-nī ḍāḥikā
wa-nthanā
yahtazzu kā81-l-ghuṣuni l-māʾili
wa-btalā
qalbī bi-ḥubbin laysa bi-l-zāʾili

3
Aḥmadu
ḥallalta fī ḥubbi-ka safka l-dimā
ʾuḥsadu
fī l-mawridi l-ʿadhbi wa-ʾakhshā l-ẓamā
ʾashhadu
law ʾanna-nī niltu rtishāfa l-lamā
wa-l-ḍanā
muḥtakamun fī jismiya l-nāḥili
la-njalā
mā ʾashtakī min ʾalamin qātili

4
fī l-ḥashā
lawʿatu ḥubbin yā ʾAbā Jaʿfari
qad fashā
mā kuntu ʾakhfā min-hu fī muḍmari
yā rashā
nuzhatu-nā fī wajhi-hi l-qamarī
mā ʾanā
mimman yuṭīʿu l-ʿadhla min ʿādhili
wa-l-ʿulā
tamnaʿu-nī min khudʿati l-bāṭili

5
ʾinnamā
yatamannā l-yawma ghazālun sharūd
qad ṣamā
bi-laḥẓi ʿaynay-hi wa-wardi l-khudūd
kullamā
ghāzaltu-hu ʾaw qultu kayfa yajūd
hal la-nā

||
81 Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992), 257; Jones is probably right when he proposes in his notes
mithla l-ghuṣuni.
342 | Teresa Garulo

fī yawmi-nā82 min mawʿidin ʿājili

qāla lā
ḥattā mina l-yawmi ʾilā qābili

(1
Welcome,
moon rising over the horizon,
who captivated
my heart with an eloquence that is the heart of all eloquence.
Spare me,
rebukers, your reproaches over my love for him,
I desire
the love of a moon that never sets;
only the ignorant
could forget his love.

2
Thus
will I love until I die;
may I be saved
by a master who has become my master.
When I meet him,
he looks at me smiling.
He walks gracefully
trembling like a swaying bough,
and afflicts
my heart with a love that knows no end.

3
Aḥmad,
you think in love it is fine to shed blood;
people want to hold me back
from the sweet spring, and I fear thirst;
I swear
that if I win a kiss of his red lips,
now that emaciation
has taken over my thin body,
gone will be
the mortal pain that I suffer.

4
In my heart,

||
82 Ibn Bishrī, ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992), 257, has fī l-yawmi, but in this rendering it comes up one
syllable short.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 343

oh Abū Jaʿfar, lovesickness

disclosed
what I kept secret in my mind.
Oh antelope,
in your moon-like visage we find solace,
don’t think that I
will allow my rebuker to rebuke me;
dignity
bars me from liars’ deceit.

5
But
what does he want today, this shy gazelle
who hunts
with the glint of his eyes and the roses of his cheeks?
Whenever
I speak words of love or ask if he will be generous,
or if we,
on this day, will have our tryst without delay,
he says: No,
neither today nor tomorrow).

But, can this muwashshaḥā be counted as belonging to the same family as that of
Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s poem? The answer is yes, in view of the variations on the
rhymes introduced by the Eastern poets who acknowledged – at least in the case
of al-Ṣafadī – that they were emulating Man walī. It is worth noting that the
Ayyūbī and Mamlūk poets had a clear preference for an aa aa aa rhyme scheme
in the aghṣān, which was very infrequent in al-Andalus,83 and which they further-
more highlighted through tajnīs. This seems to point to a difference in the literary
tastes of the authors of muwashshaḥāt in the East and in the West, perhaps due
to the higher degree of mannerism in the later periods of Arabic literature. In any
case, it appears that in al-Andalus poets who chose to use Man walī’s pattern of
three and eleven syllables preferred a simpler set of rhymes, resulting in a less
rhetorically adorned poem. But it was precisely the rhetorical embellishment of
the aqfāl of ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa, with the use of a mm mm
rhyme scheme, that prompted the Egyptian poet Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk to emulate it

||
83 There are only three muwashshaḥāt with such a rhyme scheme in the aghṣān in Ibn Bishrī,
ʿUddat al-jalīs (1992), no. 2 (aa aa aa mm nn; 10–5 syllables), no. 10 (aa aa aa mmn mmn; 7–8 in
the aghṣān, and 7–8–3 in the aqfāl), and no. 169 (aa aa aa mm; and this is a rhyme with its echo,
that is, 10–2 syllables), and, besides, their aqfāl have a very different rhyme scheme from each
other, as can be seen, and from Man walī.
344 | Teresa Garulo

and to add more sophistication to the rhymes of his entire muwashshaḥa, rhym-
ing both short and long segments alike also in the aghṣān, a formula that hit the
mark in the East, ensuring the poem’s success over the centuries.
The other Andalusi muwashshaḥa that follows Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾs combina-
tion of three and eleven syllables is ʿUddat al-jalīs no. 25. This poem seems to
belong to a stage in the evolution of the genre prior to ʿUbāda’s innovations, at
least partially, because while the aqfāl segments have an mn xn rhyme scheme (x
being an unrhymed verse), the first segments of the aghṣān, those with three syl-
lables, have no rhyme at all. The rhyme scheme is therefore xa xa xa mn xn.
Lastly, as we have already mentioned, it has no prelude.

1
qad badā
mā kuntu ʾukhfī-hi ʿani l-ʿādhili
fī hawā
man zāda fī l-siḥri ʿalā bābili
fa-qṣirī
ʿan lawmi ṣabbin danifin nāḥili
law mashā
fawqa ḥabābin ṣāra fī lujjati
lam yura
yaghriqu fī l-māʾi mina l-khiffati

2
shaffa-nī
ḥubbu ghazālin laysa bi-l-munṣifi
laḥẓu-hu
ʾamḍā ʿalā qalbī mina l-murhafi
rīqu-hu
ka-l-shuhdi wa-l-miski maʿa l-qarqafi
mudh nashā
lam tastafiq min ḥubbi-hi sakratī
wa-hwa lā
yaʿlamu mā ʾuḍmira min lawʿatī

3
yā hilā-84

||
84 In this stanza there are two cases in which the caesura falls in the middle of a word: here, in
hilā-lan ‘moon’, and, in the third ghuṣn, in ḥat-tā ‘until’. In the fourth stanza, in the second of
the aghṣān, the caesura falls in the middle of the word al-ḥisā-ni ‘the beautiful ones’. Also in the
fifth stanza, in the first line, the caesura falls in the middle of the word lam-mā ‘when’. See above,
the poem 6.4 by al-Ṣafadī, who cuts the word tafāʾaltu ‘I regarded as a good omen’, in order to
rhyme with tafā.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 345

lan lam yazal yaṭlaʿu bi-l-ʾasʿudi

laysa fī
ḥubbi-ka ghayru l-ḥayni min musʿidi
dhubtu ḥat-
tā raqqa lī min raḥmatin ʿuwwadī
fa-l-wushā
lammā raʾaw damʿiya min muqlatī
qad jarā
yukhbiru ʿan wajdī wa-ʿan zafratī

4
lam tara
ʿaynī ka-man ʾahwā-hu bayna l-warā
fī l-ḥisā-
ni l-khurradi l-ʿayni wa-mā ʾin yarā
layta-hu
law jāda bi-l-waṣli wa-law fī l-karā
fa-l-ḥashā
qad kāda yanḍaju mina l-waḥshati
mudh naʾā
yā ʿādhilī man wajhu-hu qiblatī

5
qultu lam-
mā ʾan badā ka-l-shamsi fī l-manẓari
māʾisan
fī ḥullatin min sundusin ʾakhḍari
ʾābiqan
min ʿindi riḍwāna wa-lam yashʿuri
yā rashā
yakhtālu fī thawbin mina l-bahjati
qul matā
ʾaqbalta yā ḥibbī mina l-jannati

(1
It is now evident
what I was concealing from the rebukers:
I love
one even more enchanting than Babel;
so stop
reproaching a lover so ailing and frail that
if he walked
over an ocean of bubbles,
he would not
drown in the waters, so light is he.
346 | Teresa Garulo

2
I was consumed
by love for a gazelle, unjust,
whose eyes
penetrated my heart deeper than swords,
whose saliva
is like honey and musk with wine;
ever since he appeared,85
my intoxication for his love has no cure,
and he knows not
the yearning I conceal.

3
Oh moon,
ever rising auspiciously,
there is nothing
in this love for me but death;
So gaunt
have I become that my visitors, even the slanderers,
took pity on me
when they saw the tears in my eyes
flowing forth,
betraying my passion and my grief.

4
My eyes had not seen
any like their beloved, not among all the creatures,
nor among
the shy beautiful maidens.
If only
he would join me in union, at least in my dreams!
My heart
has been so lonely it could burst,
since the departure
– oh rebuker – of the one whose face is my qibla.

5
I said
when he appeared like the sun before me,
swaying
in robes of green silk brocade,

||
85 I think that nashā, ‘to be lightly inebrieated’, stands for nashaʾa, ‘to appear, to grow’. By
dropping the hamza, the poet can preserve that evocation of intoxication that ellicited the next
line, as well as the allusion to the youth of his beloved.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 347

running away
from Riḍwān, unaware of his flight:
Oh gazelle
strutting about in the garments of beauty,
tell me: when
did you arrive, my love, from paradise?).

8 The End
Here ends the story of this family of muwashshaḥāt, a successful strophic poem
struture that probably arrived in Syria and Egypt very early on, at the end of the
5th/11th century, but seems to have been forgotten in al-Andalus. What were the
reasons behind its success? This is question with no easy answer, as nobody at
the time bothered to record an explanation for its popularity. Only al-Ṣafadī ex-
pressly describes his enthusiasm for Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s muwashshaḥa, and his
interest in composing a muʿāraḍa or emulation of it – in fact, he composed three.
As with several of his predecessors, he relies on the rhyme strategies, mostly word
play or paronomasia (tajnīs), and specifically the repetition of very similar or
identical words with differents meanings, at the end of every rhymed segment. It
is perhaps a rethorical device used to cope with the asymmetry of a very short
first verse. This would make sense in the Arabic poetic tradition, in which verses
traditionally contain a caesura mid-way through, i.e. they are composed of two
equal halves or hemistichs, with internal rhymes (as in musammaṭ poems), or
without them. In this context, while the long segment of eleven syllables is easily
scanned as sarīʿ meter, the very short three-syllable rhymed verse seems to em-
phasize and even anticipate the next rhyme, especially because its foot is similar
to the last foot of the sarīʿ. Although by making this short segment repeat the last
foot of the long one, echoing it, the effect can be amplified, it seems that Ibn Māʾ
al-Samāʾ was unaware of this ornate device. Although his poem is quite sophisti-
cated, he only uses this sort of paronomasia in the prelude of the muwashshaḥa
(yaʿdili/yuʿdhali). His imitators were indeed much more interested in plays on
words and tajnīs than he was.
Neither al-Ṣafadī nor other poets and anthologists mention the music that
accompanied the poem, but it did have musical accompaniment. We know that
at least Kallilī, the muʿāraḍa by Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk (or perhaps Muẓaffar al-
ʿAylānī), was sung, and is still sung today.86 As an Andalusi song, Kallilī’s prelude

||
86 See footnote 46.
348 | Teresa Garulo

and first stanza appear in Kunnāsh al-Ḥāʾik, the compilation of lyrics to the An-
dalusi songs still sung in the lifetime of its author, Muḥammad al-Andalusī al-
Tiṭwānī (12th/18th century).87
Another muwashshaḥa from this family that appears in recent repertoires of
Andalusi songs is the last poem analyzed, the anonymous Qad badā – no. 25 of
ʿUddat al-jalīs, the anthology by Ibn Bishrī (8th/14th century). It is found on at
least two websites dedicated to Andalusi music and songs,88 and to malḥūn po-
etry.89 These sites are not identical, but all of them are similar to and seem to draw
on Kunnāsh al-Ḥāʾik, compiling songs composed of one stanza of a muwashshaḥa
or zajal, with or without a prelude. In this case the song – a zajal according to the
compiler – contains the ghuṣn of the first stanza of this muwashshaḥa along with
the kharja, with minimal but substantive variations. The first one reads:

qad badā mā kuntu ʾakhfī-hi ʿalā l-ʿādhili

fī l-hawā man jāda bi-l-siḥri ʿalā bābili
ʾaqṣiri l-lawma ʿan ṣabbin danifin naḥīli
yā rashā yakhtālu fī thawbin mina l-bahjāti
fa-matā ʾaqbalta yā ḥibbī mina l-jannāti

As one can see, this rendition reveals a kind of uneasiness at the combination of
a very short segment followed by a long one. In fact, they have chosen the oppo-
site combination, a long segment followed by the short one.
On the second and third web pages there is no caesura at all. In both typo-
graphical arrangements, all the lines have fourteen syllables. However, in all
three pages the prosody of the sarīʿ meter disappears, altered into a sort of ramal
meter, at least at the beginning of the line (— ∪ — — — ∪ — — — ⃒ ∪ — — ∪ —),90
although in the third line this scansion is not possible, since it contains 8 + 6
syllables, instead of 9 + 5, with the following sequence of short and long sylla-
bles: — ∪ — — ∪ — — — ⃒ ∪ ∪ — ∪ — —. It is also interesting to note that the
spelling suggests again that little attention has been paid to the syllable count

||
87 Kunnāsh al-Ḥāʾik (1999), 364–365 (no. 362). See also, Valderrama, “al-Ḥāʾik”, EI2; Davila
2016.
88 https://sites.google.com/site/starziko1/andaloussi/hjdghjdfgs (last accessed Apr. 21, 2019);
https://www.djelfa.info/vb/showthread.php?p=12011631&styleid=16 (last accessed Apr. 21,
2019).
89 http://montada.echoroukonline.com/showthread.php?t=221382&page=2 (last accessed July
4, 2020). On malḥūn see Pellat, “Malḥūn”, EI2.
90 Given that the sarīʿ meter is in fact a variety of rajaz verse (Frolov 2000, 170), this does not
pose a problem, because in Arabic metrics both meters rajaz and ramal are included in the same
circle.
 A Successful Andalusi muwashshaḥa: ʿUbāda b. Māʾ al-Samāʾ’s Man walī | 349

and the supposed stress pattern of Classical Arabic. For example, in the lines of
the kharja, instead of bahjati and jannati, it is written bahjāti and jannāti, a final
succesion of long syllables that is not possible in sarīʿ meter (nor in ramal), fol-
lowing the actual stress pattern.91 The same is true with the substitution of nāḥili
with the more common naḥīli, creating a final foot that is, again, impossible in
sarīʿ meter, not to mention that naḥīli can not rhyme with ʿādhili and bābili in
Arabic metrics.

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|
Part IV: Pathways of Reception from the Maghrib
to the Mashriq
Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva
Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī
asmāʾ al-nabāt, by al-Suwaydī of Damascus
(d. 690 H/1291 CE)

The circumstances surrounding the emergence of Arabic pharmacology, and its

development within the broad geographical framework of the medieval Islamic
world, left a lasting mark on the discipline’s terminology, and in particular re-
garding medicinal substances and the terms used to designate them. Without go-
ing into great detail, it is worth mentioning a few of the most relevant events and
factors in this historical and scientific process. The most important of these phe-
nomena is the translation into Arabic of Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica, ena-
bling the work to be transmitted and commented on across the Arab world.1 Like-
wise, it is important to recall that Islam incorporated a number of
pharmacological traditions, which brought with them new drugs that had been
unknown to the Greeks and, in turn, new names to designate them. Along the
same lines, we must bear in mind the process by which pharmacology was estab-
lished, cultivated and developed across the widely diverse set of regions, peoples
and languages with which the Arab-Islamic world entered into contact, a process
which would reach its culmination in al-Andalus.2
The linguistic impact of this process was immense, involving a major influx
of new medical terms from the most disparate array of regions and languages.
Even the names of simple medicines (asmāʾ al-adwiya al-mufrada) were so di-
verse that, in the words of Max Meyerhof, “n’a pu manquer de déconcerter les
médecins du moyen âge arabe”.3
As such, there was a pressing need to make sense of this great mass of foreign
terms, and to identify these drugs and medicines being referred to by the strang-
est of names. The desire to reduce this mosaic to a set of known terms gave rise
among Arab writers to a concern with linguistics, and more specifically lexicog-
raphy. This concern is clear in the medieval pharmacological literature, where

||
1 See Sadek 1983, or Dietrich’s monumental study on the subject (Dietrich 1988).
2 For an overview of medieval Arabic pharmacology, with special attention to linguistic aspects,
see Levey 1973.
3 Meyerhof 1940, XI.
||
Note: Translated from Spanish by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva, published by De Gruyter. This work is
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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358 | Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

medical treatises included full chapters or sections specifically addressing no-

menclature, clarifying and explaining their linguistic origins. More importantly,
it spawned works dedicated exclusively to this pursuit of compiling, clarifying,
explaining and glossing the medicines’ names. Specifically, I am referring to the
well-known lists of synonyms, a highly useful aid that allowed physicians to en-
gage with and navigate this tangled web of terminology.4
This genre of works, with an exclusively (or at least predominantly) lexico-
graphical approach, includes Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt (The book of the
characteristics of plant names), by physician ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq b. Muḥammad
b. Ṭarkhān al-Suwaydī (or b. al-Suwaydī). His nisba stems from his family’s city
of origin, al-Suwaydāʾ, in Syria’s Hawran region, even though al-Suwaydī himself
was born in Damascus in the year 600 H/1204 CE. Apart from a short time in
Egypt, he spent most of his life – which spanned almost the entire 7th/13th cen-
tury – in Syria and its capital, where he died in the year 690 H/1291 CE.5
The great historian of Arab medicine Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (d. 668 H/1270 CE),
who was not only a contemporary of al-Suwaydī, but also his friend (as were their
respective fathers before them), wrote a biography on him6 in which he describes
his extensive training in literature and his talents as a writer of both poetry and
prose. He likewise refers to him in the highest of terms as an outstanding physi-
cian with an intense curiosity and a wealth of knowledge acquired and put into
practice in the famous hospitals of Damascus, where he cultivated relationships
with the most important physicians of the period, including Muhadhdhib al-Dīn
ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. ʿAlī, known as al-Dakhwār (d. 628 H/1230 CE).
Moreover, although not mentioned by Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa, we know that al-Su-
waydī’s key references included the renowned Ibn al-Bayṭār,7 a native of the re-
gion of Málaga who left al-Andalus early on and, after a time in the Maghrib and
Ifrīqiya, and a stay in Egypt, would live in Damascus until his death in 646 H/
1248 CE. He is a figure we will return to later on.
To complete this sketch of the multifaceted al-Suwaydī, it is worth mention-
ing that Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa describes his friend as a talented calligrapher who had

||
4 On the books of synonyms, see Meyerhof 1940, XI–XLIV; and Ullmann 1970, 288–292.
5 For more on al-Suwaydī, apart from the book by Meyerhof cited above (1940, XXII and LVII–
LVIII), see Ullmann 1970, 284 and 291; Dietrich 1974; Dietrich 1998; and the works cited therein,
in addition to Ullmann 1977 and Leclerc 1876.
6 Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa, ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ (1299/1882), 2: 266–267.
7 As inferred from a note in the codex unicus of Maimonides’ Sharḥ asmāʾ al-ʿuqqār, presumably
written by al-Suwaydī, in which he indicates that the manuscript was copied by Ibn al-Bayṭār,
whom he refers to as “our sheikh”: “bi-khaṭṭ shaykhi-nā al-ḥākim al-fāḍil Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh
al-ʿAshshāb al-Mālaqī” (in Meyerhof 1940, LVII–LVIII).
 Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt | 359

mastered a number of styles, and who had made numerous copies of books on
medicine, including three copies of Avicenna’s lengthy Kitāb al-Qānūn.
Three works by al-Suwaydī have come down to us. One is a short treatise on
precious stones, Kitāb al-Bāhir fī al-jawāhīr, which apparently is of little interest
beyond the value of his references to other authors.8 Another is an extensive trea-
tise on therapeutics, Kitāb al-Tadhkira al-hādiya wa-l-dhakhīra al-kāfiya, a com-
pilation of quotations and excerpts from a variety of authors containing medical
prescriptions for each part of the body. Of the Tadhkira, which Ullmann has crit-
icized as overly bookish and scarcely judicious,9 there are several abridged ver-
sions, that of Egyptian physician al-Shaʿrānī (d. 963 H/1556 CE) being the most
noteworthy.10
However, al-Suwaydī’s most important work is his treatise on the names of
medicines, Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt, which we will turn to presently.11
Kitāb al-Simāt is not among the works mentioned by Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa, who only
provides the titles of the first two treatises mentioned above. This gives us reason
to suspect that it was written in the author’s later years (between 1270 and 1291),
and therefore after Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa completed his initial version of ʿUyūn al-
anbāʾ, dedicated to physician and vizier Amīn al-Dawla b. Ghazzāl, a Samaritan
convert to Islam (overthrown in 643 H/1245 CE)12, although it appears that he con-
tinued to add information, editing and reformulating passages of his magnum
opus up until his death (ca. 668 H/1270 CE).

||
8 See Mieli 1966, 162; and Ullmann 1972, 129.
9 Ullmann 1970, 284; the same author also has a study focusing exclusively on this work
(Ullmann 1977).
10 See Leclerc 1876, 2: 201. On al-Shaʿrānī’s abridged version (completed in 943 H/1536 CE)
Ullmann mentions an edition published in Būlāq (1294/1877) in the margins of Kāmil al-Ṣināʿa
al-ṭibbiyya by al-Majūsī (Ullmann 1977, 33, n. 2). In fact, al-Shaʿrānī’s version had already been
printed in Egypt: Mukhtaṣar Tadhkirat al-imām al-Suwaydī fī al-ṭibb, edited by Ṣāliḥ al-Ashmūnī
and printed by Angelo Castelli (1286/1869). A. Mieli 1966, 165, likewise mentions an 1862 edition
from Cairo, purportedly of the entire book, but in fact almost certainly an abridged version, most
likely one of the two cited above. Today, the work continues to be republished (e.g. al-Suwaydī,
al-Ṭibb [1416/1995]).
11 Dietrich even mentions a possible fourth work by al-Suwaydī, supposedly cited by Ibn Abī
Uṣaybiʿa (al-Dhakhīra al-kāfiya fī al-ṭibb); see Dietrich 1998. However, this is most likely just the
complete title of the Tadhkira, which does indeed appear in Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa: Kitāb al-Tadhkira
al-hādiya wa-l-dhakhīra al-kāfiya, confirmed, moreover, by certain manuscripts of the book (see
Ullman 1977, 33, n. 3). The confusion seems to have originated with Ḥājjī Khalīfa (see Leclerc
1876, 2: 202).
12 Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa, ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ (1299/1882), 1: 3, and 2: 235.
360 | Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

Kitāb al-Simāt has come down to us in a single manuscript containing 307

folios, believed to be in the author’s own hand, held at the Bibliothèque nationale
de France (current call number Ar. 3004, olim Suppl. 877).13 At one point, since
there were pages missing at the beginning and end, a copyist fashioned a new
cover that included the title of the work and the author’s name, scholar Ibrāhīm
b. Aḥmad b. Ṭarkhān.14 The copyist also tried to reproduce the prologue, suppos-
edly based on a damaged original, of which he managed to recover just a few
lines. The handwriting is elegant, flowing and legible, as is to be expected of a
talented calligrapher, with frequent notes in the same hand, inserted both be-
tween lines and in the margins.
Albert Dietrich15 has noted certain peculiarities in the language and spelling
of this manuscript (the names of letters treated as masculine, triptote case mark-
ing on the names of colors, confusion between alif maqṣūra and mamdūda, etc.),
to which we could add several more, for example the spelling of the name of the
city Beirut, often spelled Bayrūth, i.e. with thāʾ instead of tāʾ.
The work consists of an extensive repertoire of names of simple medicines,
which, contrary to what the title might suggest, are not limited exclusively to the
names of plants, although these do make up the vast majority of the entries. Ra-
ther, it also includes the names of animals used in pharmacology, in addition to
mineral-based drugs. Thus, it is an exhaustive dictionary providing independent
entries for all sorts of terms in a variety of languages. However, this also implies
a great deal of repetition across entries, which, as noted by Dietrich,16 makes the

||
13 Slane 1883–95, 534–535.
14 The fact that the manuscript makes no mention of the author’s nisba (al-Suwaydī), along
with Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa’s silence on the matter, must have confused Lucien Leclerc, whose blun-
der was already noted by Meyerhof (1935, 35). Indeed, in his Histoire de la médecine arabe, after
discussing al-Suwaydī and his Tadhkira in the section titled “Souedy” (Leclerc 1876, 2: 199–202),
he attributes Kitāb al-Simāt to a different author altogether, dedicating a separate section to “Ib-
rahim ben Ahmed ben Tarkhan”, whom he situates in the 14th century (Leclerc 1876, 2: 273–274).
Moreover, Leclerc, who held that most of this work was nothing but “un index d’Ebn el Beithâr”
(Leclerc 1876, 2: 273), was the first historian of Arabic medicine to successfully use al-Suwaydī’s
dictionary in his notes to the translation (Ibn al-Bayṭār, Traité des simples [1877–83]) of Ibn al-
Bayṭār’s treatise on simple medicines, with references to Kitāb al-Simāt (no. 65, 152, 211 et pas-
sim).
15 Dietrich 1974, 92–93.
16 Dietrich 1974, 92.
 Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt | 361

work unnecessarily long. The book contains 28 chapters corresponding to the let-
ters of the Arabic alphabet (abjad order17), and the number of entries in each
chapter is specified at its outset in both numbers and letters. The total number of
entries is well over 3,000.18 All scholars who have examined the manuscript have
emphasized the extraordinary linguistic richness of al-Suwaydī’s book, which
certainly merits future research into this rich multilingual trove of information.19
Among the languages represented in the book, the most prominent is of
course ʿarabiyya and its numerous dialectal variants, with constant references to
particular usage in different areas across the Arabic-speaking world, especially
the Middle East. In this sense, the author provides the most detailed information
on the area he knew best, Syria/Palestine/Lebanon, regularly referring to these
provinces and their linguistic usage, recording vocabulary unique to Syria, Da-
mascus, Palestine, Gaza, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Beirut, etc. He also regularly pro-
vides terms from Egypt (especially Cairo and Alexandria), frequently indicating
peculiar meanings and names used in this region. Although less abundant, al-
Suwaydī also provides dialectal uses from Mesopotamia (al-ʿIrāq) and from the
Arabian Peninsula, including Hejaz, Najd and other areas such as Yemen, Oman,
etc.
We occasionally find synonyms for the medicines in other Middle-Eastern
languages, such as Nabataean or Coptic, and, in just a handful of instances, he
also includes terms from other geographical regions and their languages, such as
Nubia, Armenia, the land of the Turks and Kurds, and even one isolated reference
to Hebrew.20
Moreover, al-Suwaydī also provides medical terminology from languages
whose scientific traditions had an overwhelming influence on Arabic pharmacol-
ogy, in particular Greek, which he designates as either yūnāniyya for Classical

||
17 As indicated in a marginal note at the beginning of chapter hamza: “hādhā murattab ʿalā
ḥurūf abjad” (fol. 2 r), with the following order: ʾ, b, j, d, h, w, z, ḥ, ṭ, y, k, l, m, n, s, ʿ, f, ṣ, q, r, sh,
t, th, kh, dh, ḍ, ẓ, gh.
18 This figure does not even include the many entries added by the author either in the margins
or between lines.
19 Apart from the occasional use of al-Suwaydī’s dictionary by Leclerc and, in particular, by
Max Meyerhof (the first to recognize the immense value of the text, which he marked as a priority
for publication in the Corpus Scriptorum Arabicorum: apud Mieli 1966, 283), till now the only
scholar to bring to light any portion of Kitāb al-Simāt has been Albert Dietrich, with his anno-
tated German translation of the 37 entries corresponding to chapter dhāl (Dietrich 1974, 94–107).
More recently, Fabian Käs has compiled a repertory of the mineral-based medicinal substances
included in the book (Käs 2010).
20 As a marginal note to the entry for dam al-akhawayn, ‘dragon’s blood’ (fol. 76r), which he
takes from Ibn al-Jazzār’s Iʿtimād.
362 | Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

Greek or rūmiyya for Byzantine Greek. In the same way, although less frequent
than Greek, there is a notable presence of synonyms from Persian, and, to a lesser
extent, Syriac, while Hindi trails far behind with just a handful of terms.
Turning now to the Islamic West, despite the relatively lower number of lan-
guages and dialects, the synonyms from these areas are still sizeable, even in
comparison to those from the languages spoken in the Islamic East. From North
Africa we find a large number of terms from the region of Ifrīqiya (in particular
Tunis and Kairouan), as well as the Maghrib, with frequent references and infor-
mation regarding the Arabic dialects spoken in these areas. On occasion the au-
thor mentions the territory of bilād al-barbar, and specifically the Berber lan-
guage, including concrete information on tribal language use, making for a total
of several dozen Berber terms. The western lands he mentions also include the
island of Sicily, which comes up several times.
However, it is al-Andalus that is by far the most widely represented land in
Kitāb al-Simāt. Al-Suwaydī’s references to the Iberian peninsula – however book-
ish, as we will see below – are constant, and exceed by far his references to any
of the other foregoing regions. In the absence of prior data on the frequency of
these references to al-Andalus, for the purposes of this paper I was able to make
quickly my own approximate calculations. What I have discovered is that there
are over 200 such references, either to al-Andalus as a whole or to a specific city
or area, far more than the approximately 120 references to the author’s native
Syria. As for the other countries we have seen, there are just over 100 references
to Egypt, 80 to Palestine and Lebanon, just under 80 to the Maghrib, fewer than
40 to Ifrīqiya, and a mere 7 to Sicily.
Leaving aside the imperfection of the totals, which still merit further analy-
sis, these abundant references to al-Andalus offer a variety of information, much
of which has to do with the relative availability of different plants or medicinal
substances, and, most of all, with these substances’ Andalusi names and syno-
nyms. From a linguistic point of view, it is interesting to note that the information
provided by al-Suwaydī reflects an Arabic/Romance duality in al-Andalus, which
is not to say that it reflects an actual Arabic/Romance bilingualism alleged to
have existed during the author’s time.
As far as the Arabic terms are concerned, the author indicates that they are
used specifically by Andalusi botanists (shajjārū ~ ʿashshābū al-Andalus), and
whether they enjoy widespread use (ʿinda ahl al-Andalus), belonging to the An-
dalusi dialect (ʿāmmiyyat al-Andalus), or whether, on the contrary, their use is
confined to a certain region (Sharq al-Andalus) or city (e.g. Málaga or Seville).
However, alongside these terms from the Arabic of al-Andalus, we find an
equal number of references to their synonyms in Romance, generally referred to
 Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt | 363

as laṭīniyya (‘Latin’), but also as ʿajamiyyat al-Andalus. These two labels, which
both refer to the same linguistic reality (i.e. the Romance vernacular of al-Anda-
lus),21 are applied to words such as the following:22 aqučéllah (fols. 24v, 64r, 236v),
basilískoh (fols. 57r, 67r, 136r, 191v), serrályah (fols. 81v, 232v, 274v), māṭresélbah
(fols. 164r, 199v, 233r, 240v), ṭornasōle (fols. 113v, 123r, 203v), yéḏrah (fols. 131r,
245v), yeḏqoh (fols. 66r, 131v, 287r), and so on up to a total of nearly 60 terms
whose Romance features are clearly recognizable, and which are unequivocally
designated as such by the author.23
In other cases, there are terms with a readily apparent Latinate origin that are
not explicitly designated as laṭīniyya or ʿajamiyya, but merely classified as Anda-
lusi: berbenat (53r), čiqálat (fols. 69v, 233r), pulqáyrat (fol. 237r), ṭuwérat (fols. 16v,
60r, 115v), etc., up to a total of approximately 40 further terms with undeniable
Romance features. In such cases it is reasonable to assume that the author merely
forgot to classify them under laṭīniyya or ʿajamiyyat al-Andalus, although some
could also be indicative of Romance loan words that had been fully integrated
into Andalusi Arabic.

||
21 The terms laṭīniyya and ʿajamiyya coexisted among Andalusi botanists and physicians to re-
fer to the Romance vernacular. The former is more common in older sources (up to the late 10th
century), whereas ʿajamiyya became predominant starting with al-Zahrāwī (d. ca. 404 H/1013
CE). However, the term laṭīniyya does still show up in later authors as well, as they continued to
copy from older sources. Clear evidence of this is to be found in Ibn al-Bayṭār, whose prologue
to Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ establishes the two terms’ equivalence (“al-laṭīniyya wa-hiya ʿajamiyyat al-An-
dalus”), a statement he repeats throughout the text, and al-Suwaydī, in turn, explicitly echoes
this equation of laṭīniyya = ʿajamiyyat al-Andalus (fol. 41r).
22 I have deemed it unnecessary for the purposes of this paper to include the botanical identi-
fication of the list of Romance terms that follows; without going into excessive detail, please note
that, in addition to adding in the vowels (generally not included in the manuscript) and marking
the stressed syllable with an accent, my system of transliteration is based on that used in al-
Andalus to represent Romance in Arabic characters, one which centuries later would continue
to be used (with some variations) in the aljamiado texts of the Mudejars and Moriscos. Thus, I
have transcribed the Arabic letter shīn as “s” taking into account the particular apico-alveolar
character of /s/ in Hispanic languages, which was particularly salient to Arabic speakers. Like-
wise, I have used “č” to transliterate jīm with shadda (often omitted in manuscripts), which rep-
resents Romance’s voiceless palatal affricate, and “ḏ” to avoid the digraph “dh” for the corre-
sponding fricative. Lastly, the superscript letters preserve the use of yāʾ and wāw to represent
diphthongs, as well as the use of hāʾ and tāʾ marbūṭa to indicate the presence of word-final vow-
els (-u/-o and -a, respectively).
23 As we can see, it is not uncommon for a single term to appear several times, as a result of the
author’s obstinate accumulation of synonyms in their own separate entries. For example,
maṭrōnyoh ‘strawberry tree’ is documented no less than six times throughout the text (fols. 37v,
158r, 167v, 190v, 235v, 238v).
364 | Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

However, the identification of Romance terms in Kitāb al-Simāt is not always

an easy task, at least not at first sight. This is due to the deformation some terms
undergo when rendered into Arabic script, making them unintelligible to the
point that they can only be deciphered through the comparative study of al-Su-
waydī’s sources, as well as other Andalusi sources containing Andalusi Romance
terms for medicinal substances. As the manuscript is in the author’s own hand,
we can infer that he himself was unfamiliar with the Romance language of al-
Andalus, even though he makes a show of his ability to accurately spell and vo-
calize all manner of terms, including Andalusi ones. For example, for the Ro-
mance term for danewort, he states “yadhquh bi-fatḥ al-yāʾ al-musaffal wa-iskān
al-dhāl al-muʿjam, baʿda-hā qāf maḍmūma, thumma hāʾ” (fol. 131v), in other
words, “yadhquh, with a fatḥa on the yāʾ with dots under it, and no vowel on the
dhāl, which has a dot on it, then a qāf with a ḍamma on it, followed by a hāʾ” (i.e.
yéḏqoh). He then adds that it is a Romance term (laṭīniyya), and offers a precise
botanical description and identification.
Some flagrant errors confirm the author’s lack of knowledge about Andalusi
Romance, as when the Hispanic term yéḏqoh, which we have just seen in detail,
is classified in another passage as a Berber term (fol. 44v); or when the Persian-
origin term marzajūsh is attributed to ʿajamiyyat al-Andalus (fol. 159v); or his in-
sistence on classifying the Syriac term qunābirā, cited in various instances
throughout the work (fols. 55v, 212v, 283v), as laṭīniyya24 (i.e. Romance), to cite
just a few examples of faulty associations in relation to Andalusi Romance ver-
nacular.
With relative frequency he records faulty terminology that is repeated
throughout the work, as in the case of shūqoh ‘elder’ (fols. 115v, 268v), or in one
instance sūqoh with a sīn (fol. 193r), perhaps by mistake, since he was clearly
aware of the diacritics on the first letter of the term: “shūqoh bi-shīn muʿjam” (fol.
193r). The correct term, however, is shabūqoh (i.e. sabūqoh), the Romance term
Andalusi authors normally give for elder. One interesting case is the term he pro-
vides for the carline thistle, known in Andalusi Romance as biskaráyin25 (< lat.

||
24 In one case (fol. 244v), the author actually goes back and rectifies his misidentification, writ-
ing in nabaṭiyya, i.e. Nabataean, above the term laṭīniyya.
25 It is of course beyond the scope of this essay to examine methodological issues such as the
transliteration of Romance terms into Arabic characters and how best to interpret them, or the
finer points of the phonetic history of the Andalusi Romance vernacular. However, it is worth
pointing out that this term should be vocalized as proposed above, ending in -áyin, and not with
the hypothetical evolved form -áyn, as has often been proposed (see Simonet 1888, 569; Asín
1943, 158–159; Corominas 1984–91, 5: 830; Corriente 2000–2001, 119). This is because the se-
quence -áyin exhibits the regular Andalusi Romance form of the Latin suffix -a g i n e, reflected
 Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt | 365

v i s c a r a g i n e), which al-Suwaydī records properly in the term’s own entry (fol.
57r), but everywhere else in the manuscript shows up as the truncated sh·k·rʾy·n
(fols. 4r, 29r, 84r [twice], 269r, 285r). This distorted form even enjoys its own entry
under the letter shīn (fol. 271r), a confusion stemming in all likelihood from a mis-
identification of the initial consonant as the Arabic preposition bi-.
Along the same lines, we sometimes find forms repeatedly written with a bare
consonant ductus lacking the corresponding diacritics (as occurs frequently
throughout the manuscript). One example is the Andalusi name for the white as-
phodel (abučo < lat. a l b u c i u m), which our author records as ‫( ﺍﯨﻮﺣﻪ‬without the
dot under the bāʾ and the jīm) three times throughout the work (fols. 54r, 277v,
292r). However, it does not have its own entry, perhaps because this error made
it impossible to order alphabetically.
For certain terms, though, the translation provided by the author is useful in
identifying them. This is the case, for example, of the ductus ‫ ﯨﺮﯨﻪ ﺩ ﻮ ﻪ‬given for a
supposedly “Latin” term (fol. 303v) that on first glance appears indecipherable,
as the diacritics are missing on some of the consonants (yāʾ, bāʾ, fāʾ and qāf, re-
spectively). The most logical interpretation is, of course, ‫( ﻳﺮﺑﺔ ﻓﻮﻗﻪ‬yerbat de fōqoh),
following the Arabic equivalent offered by the author: ʿushbat al-nār. Indeed,
yerba de fōqo (lit. “fire grass”) was the Andalusi name for, among others, Clematis
flammula L., known in Arabic as yāsmīn barrī or ‘wild jasmine.’
These and other issues raised by the study of the Romance lexicon in al-Su-
waydī’s work, which we have merely outlined here, point to the question of the
sources used for Kitāb al-Simāt. In our particular case we are interested in the
laṭīniyya or ʿajamiyya of al-Andalus, but the same is true more broadly for the rest
of the languages he includes as well.26
Al-Suwaydī frequently cites his sources, which are by and large Eastern au-
thors and texts. With 100 citations, the most important authority is al-Abharī, i.e.
Muḥammad b. Muḥammad (d. before 588 H/1192 CE), and in particular his lexi-
cographical work, Kitāb al-Ḥadāʾiq. Other important sources, from most cited to
least, are the encyclopedia Mabāhij al-fikar by the author’s contemporary al-

||
in the consonant ductus b·sh·k·r·ʾ·y·n, whose alif after rāʾ, apart from indicating the stressed syl-
lable, ensures the presence of a vowel after the yāʾ that follows.
26 In order to offer a complete panorama of the synonyms recorded in Kitāb al-Simāt, we should
also mention a small group of five terms that the author ascribes to a language he calls ifranjiyya
(fols. 26r, 98r, 122r, 177r, 213v). The term is not readily identifiable, and probably refers to a non-
Iberian Romance language, possible from the French or Italian (Sicily?) linguistic domains. In
order to answer this question, one would have to consider the several dozen ifranjiyya terms that
show up in al-Idrīsī’s book on simple medicines, a source that has yet to be thoroughly explored
and analyzed (see now Corriente 2012, esp. 59).
366 | Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

Waṭwāṭ (d. 718 H/1318 CE); the Jamhara, by Ibn Durayd (d. 321 H/933 CE); the
cosmography known as Nukhbat al-dahr [fī ʿajāʾib al-barr wa-l-baḥr], by Shams
al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Abī Ṭālib al-Anṣārī al-Dimashqī
(d. 727 H/1327 CE), here referred to as al-Mizzī. Various works cited less frequently
are the Minhāj, by al-Kōhēn al-ʿAṭṭār (fl. 658 H/1260 CE) or Ibn Jazla (d. 493 H/
1100 CE); al-Nihāya [fī gharīb al-ḥadīth wa-l-āthār], by Ibn al-Athīr (d. 606 H/
1210 CE), and others, or some cited by title alone, such as al-Iʿtimād [fī al-adwiya
al-mufrada], undoubtedly that of Ibn al-Jazzār (d. 369 H/979-80 CE), even though
he is not mentioned by name.
This list of works cited is, of course, by no means exhaustive. Other authors
of lexicographical and medical texts worth mentioning are the well-known Abū
Ḥanīfa (3rd/9rd c.), Khalīl (2nd/8th c.), al-Aṣmaʿī (d. 213 H/828 CE), al-Rāzī (d.
311 H/923 CE), and Galen (d. about 216), whose sporadic appearances lead me to
believe that they are being cited through secondary sources. Also of interest are
a handful of Andalusi treatise writers who are mentioned only on occasion, such
as Ibn Juljul (d. after 384 H/994-5 CE) or al-Ghāfiqī (d. about 560 H/1164-5 CE).
The authority of these sources is sometimes contrasted with al-Suwaydī’s
own opinion, which is always introduced by the expression qultu.
However, the most important source used in Kitāb al-Simāt is the great An-
dalusi botanist, pharmacologist and physician Ibn al-Bayṭār, whom we have al-
ready mentioned. Without a doubt all of al-Suwaydī’s copious references to al-
Andalus come from Ibn al-Bayṭār, along with his references to the Maghrib and
Ifrīqiya, some of his information on Egypt, and even some areas further east, such
as the Levant, including Damascus itself.
Even though al-Suwaydī only mentions his key source by name on a handful
of occasions,27 there is one work by Ibn al-Bayṭār that is cited constantly in Kitāb
al-Simāt. Interestingly enough, these quotations do not come from Ibn al-Bayṭār’s
great alphabetically ordered compendium of simple medicines, the famous Kitāb
al-Jāmiʿ li-mufradāt al-adwiya wa-l-aghdhiya, but rather from another work, Kitāb
al-Mughnī28, which is also about simple medicines, but specifically their thera-
peutic use for ailments of the human body following the a capite ad calcem
(“head to foot”) method of exposure. In effect, in his Kitāb al-Mughnī Ibn al-
Bayṭār also includes frequent synonyms for medicines in other languages, among
them Andalusi Romance. While this work lacks the richness of Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ,
Kitāb al-Mughnī does contain unique information that is not found in his more

||
27 As Ibn al-Bayṭār (fols. 37r, 87r, 272r, 275r) and in one case as Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b.
al-Bayṭār (fol. 205r).
28 As mentioned by Meyerhof 1940, XXXV.
 Andalusi Romance Terms in Kitāb al-Simāt fī asmāʾ al-nabāt | 367

famous work, in particular data from the author’s fieldwork in different locations
throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
And while Kitāb al-Simāt’s reliance on Kitāb al-Mughnī appears unquestion-
able, there is one fact that remains both peculiar and striking. One would expect
to find the Romance terms that al-Suwaydī has clearly borrowed from Ibn al-
Bayṭār in Kitāb al-Mughnī, the work he so frequently quotes. However, of the
roughly 100 terms in laṭīniyya or ʿajamiyyat al-Andalus that al-Suwaydī provides,
a mere tenth of them appear in Kitāb al-Mughnī,29 while every single one of them
shows up in Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ, which we can therefore reasonably assume is where
our author found them.
A thorough analysis of this subject, taking into account all of its ramifica-
tions, would greatly exceed the scope of this paper30, and would require an ex-
haustive comparison between al-Suwaydī’s book and the two works by Ibn al-
Bayṭār.31 It is, therefore, a subject I will continue to work on within the framework
of a broader ongoing study of the Romance language of al-Andalus as recorded
in Arabic botanical, pharmacological and medicinal works and manuscripts (by
Andalusi, Maghribi and even Eastern authors, as we have just seen), a project
that involves inventorying, cataloguing, editing and studying these and other
materials.32
As such, my goal here is simply to draw attention to these Romance terms
present in Kitāb al-Simāt, which traveled from al-Andalus to the Middle East in
written form via the work of Ibn al-Bayṭār, for whom they likely represented
somewhat distant echoes of a laṭīniyya or ʿajamiyya formerly spoken in his home-
land. Thanks to al-Suwaydī’s exhaustive dictionary, these odd-sounding terms
would continue to reverberate in Damascus, although not without significant al-

||
29 I have consulted a two-volume Eastern copy of the work held at Spain’s Real Academia de la
Historia (Colección Gayangos, MSS CXLV-CXLVI). On Kitāb al-Mughnī, see now Rajab 2008.
30 Originally delivered at the international conference Repensar al-Andalus a través del Tiempo
y del Espacio, held from 31 October to 2 November 2002 in the Auditorium of Damascus Univer-
sity’s School of Pharmacy. For this new version I have added some new bibliographical refer-
ences that have appeared in the intervening years.
31 There is an additional book by Ibn al-Bayṭār on the names of simple medicines, his Tafsīr to
Dioscorides, preserved in an autograph manuscript held in the library of Mecca and published
in two important editions carried out by Murād (1989) and Dietrich (1991) respectively. The work
had previously been published in Egypt, but in a less reliable edition.
32 On the complex problems affecting the textual transmission of materials in Andalusi Ro-
mance (and the concurrence of other Hispanic Romance varieties) in Arabic manuscripts, in the
context of a single work, see Villaverde 2008.
368 | Juan Carlos Villaverde Amieva

terations – a flaw which by no means diminishes the enormous value of this en-
cyclopedic work, with its dual pharmacological and linguistic focus, and remark-
able degree of erudition.

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José Bellver
The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the
Central Islamicate World: Ibn Sabʿīn’s son
and his Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm

The aim of the present contribution is to edit and translate the treatise Kitāb al-
Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm (Book on the voyage along the pathway of the spiritual kin-
dred), a short Ṣūfī text extant in one known manuscript, MS Istanbul, Süley-
maniye, Hekimoğlu 506, fols. 11v–16r. The manuscript ascribes the text to Yaḥyā
b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn, a son of the Andalusi philosopher and Ṣūfī Ibn Sabʿīn
(d. 669 H/1270 CE), whose name was otherwise unknown. To provide some con-
text, I will summarize the extant information about Ibn Sabʿīn’s life and present
the available data about his son. Then, I will summarize the contents of this short
treatise and examine its link to the school of Ibn Sabʿīn. And last, I will describe
the manuscript on which the edition is based, and provide the edition and trans-
lation of this work. The Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm represents a witness during
the early Mamlūk period of the spread of Andalusi intellectual Ṣūfism, particu-
larly in the school of Ibn Sabʿīn, to the Mashriq.

1 Ibn Sabʿīn
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Ibrāhīm, known as Ibn Sabʿīn,1 was the most
renowned intellectual Ṣūfī born in al-Andalus after Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638 H/1240 CE).
He was born in 613 H/1216 CE or more likely in 614 H/1217 CE in the town of
Ricote, in the vicinity of Murcia, to a wealthy family of high-ranked officials

||
1 For primary sources on Ibn Sabʿīn, see al-Bādisī, al-Maqṣad (1993), 69; al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-
islām (1990–2000), 49: 283–287; al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1985), 5: 326–335; al-Ghubrīnī, ʿUnwān al-dirāya
(1979), 237–238; Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1973–77), 4: 31–38; Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafa-
yāt (1974), 2: 254; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 196–207; al-Sakhāwī, al-Qawl (1431–33 H),
286–291. For secondary bibliography on Ibn Sabʿīn, see al-ʿAdlūnī 2006; Akasoy 2007a; Cornell
1997; Cornell 2007; Kattoura 1977; Spallino 2011; Taftāzānī 1973. For the editions of Ibn Sabʿīn’s
works, see Ibn Sabʿīn, al-Kalām (1941); Rasāʾil (1965); Budd al-ʿārif (1978); Rasāʾil (2007).
||
Note: This paper has been carried out within the research project Local contexts and global dy-
namics: al-Andalus and the Maghreb in the Islamic East (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE).

Open Access. © 2021 José Bellver, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-013
372 | José Bellver

with close ties with the Banū Hūd. Ibn Sabʿīn spent his initial formative period
in al-Andalus, most likely in the region of Murcia, where he became well ac-
quainted with the sciences of the ancients at a very young age. This confirms
that he came from a learned and wealthy environment with access to rich li-
braries, maybe palatine. During the second quarter of the 7th/13th century, the
Christian conquests of Andalusi territories led to a massive emigration of Anda-
lusis to the Maghrib and the central Islamicate world. In this context, Ibn Sabʿīn
moved to Ceuta around 640 H/1242-3 CE during the period when Abū ʿAlī Ibn
Khalāṣ (r. 635–ca. 646 H/1237–ca. 1248 CE) was governor of the city. Even
though Ibn Sabʿīn was in his mid-twenties when he arrived in Ceuta, he had
already garnered a group of close devotees in al-Andalus around his figure, who
followed him to Ceuta. According to al-Bādisī, in Ceuta Ibn Sabʿīn got married to
a rich woman, who built a zāwiya within her house and covered his expenses,
although this information may be derogatory considering Ibn Sabʿīn’s wealthy
origins and al-Bādisī’s theological enmity against Ibn Sabʿīn.2 Since there is no
other marriage of Ibn Sabʿīn reported, it can be surmised that Ibn Sabʿīn’s two
known children, a son and a daughter, were born from this marriage. Ibn
Sabʿīn’s daughter was eventually married to the disciple of Ibn Sabʿīn, the poet
and Ṣūfī ʿAfīf al-Dīn Sulaymān al-Tilimsānī (ca. 610–690 H/ca. 1213–1291 CE),
and gave birth to a son named Muḥammad,3 that is the famous poet Shams al-
Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (d. 688 H/1289 CE), known as al-
Shābb al-Ẓarīf, and born in 661 H/1263 CE, when Ibn Sabʿīn was still alive. Thus,
Ibn Sabʿīn’s daughter should have been born early in the 640s H, and should
have been married to ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī late in the 650s H or the very early
660s H. After his period in Ceuta, Ibn Sabʿīn, presumably fleeing from the enmi-
ty of the legists, initially moved to Bejaya around 644 H/1246-7 CE,4 where Abū
al-Ḥasan al-Shushtarī (d. 668 H/1269 CE) became his disciple. According to a
famous account of their meeting, Ibn Sabʿīn told al-Shushtarī to go with Abū
Madyan (d. 594 H/1198 CE), an eponymous of ethical Ṣūfism, if his goal was to
attain Paradise, but to stay with him if his goal was to attain the Lord of Para-
dise.5 Ibn Sabʿīn left the Maghrib around 648 H/1250-1 CE6 and subsequently
passed through Tunis, where he was not allowed to remain for long, and Cairo;
and finally settled in Mecca around 652 H/1254 CE under the protection of the

||
2 Al-Bādisī, al-Maqṣad (1993), 69.
3 Al-Sakhāwī, al-Qawl (1431–33 H), 293.
4 Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī, Fawāt al-wafayāt (1974), 2: 254.
5 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1973–77), 4: 206.
6 Al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1985), 5: 334.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 373

local ruler Abū Numayy Muḥammad I (r. 652–701 H/1254–1301 CE). Ibn Sabʿīn
died in Mecca in 668 H/1269 CE or 669 H/1270 CE in unclear circumstances.

2 Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn

Very little is known about the son or sons of Ibn Sabʿīn. The main information is
provided by Taqī al-Dīn al-Fāsī al-Makkī (d. 832 H/1429 CE),7 who transmits it on
the authority of Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Mayūrqī (d. 778 H/1377 CE).8 Al-
Fāsī, in the context of his enumeration of the hardships that Ibn Sabʿīn went
through during his lifetime as a punishment for his beliefs, points out that Ibn
Sabʿīn had a son who died in 666 H/1267-8 CE, before Ibn Sabʿīn did. Thus, Ibn
Sabʿīn’s son should have died in his early to mid-twenties. Al-Fāsī also remarks
that Ibn Sabʿīn’s son had been imprisoned, presumably in Cairo, by the Mamlūk
sultan al-Ẓāhir Baybars (r. 658–676 H/1259–1277 CE), because of a kalima trans-
mitted from Ibn Sabʿīn. It is not clear what the word kalima may mean in this
context. Meaning literally a word, it may intend a speech, a short treatise or a
letter. It is thus possible that the present treatise conveying the Ṣūfism of Ibn
Sabʿīn would be the reason behind the imprisonment of Ibn Sabʿīn’s son. Addi-
tionally, al-Fāsī gives no indication about the reasons for his death, nor about
the place where he died. Furthermore, according to al-Fāsī, on the occasion of
al-Ẓāhir’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 667 H/1269 CE, once Abū Numayy and his
uncle had paid allegiance to the Mamlūk sultan, al-Ẓāhir strenuously searched
for Ibn Sabʿīn, but Ibn Sabʿīn hid from him, maybe fearing for his life once the
pilgrimage would have concluded.
The way al-Fāsī phrases the sentence by which he gives information about
Ibn Sabʿīn’s son, i.e. “he had a child (walad) who died during [Ibn Sabʿīn’s]
lifetime in the year 66”,9 does not preclude that Ibn Sabʿīn would have had more
children, including more than one son; and in fact we know that he also had a
daughter at least. Nevertheless, it is very likely that the son of Ibn Sabʿīn who
died in 666 H/1267-8 CE in his early to mid-twenties would be his only son and
the author of the present treatise, i.e. Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn. To my
knowledge, there is no further information about other sons. Additionally, the
present treatise contains some deep insights, so the author was a penetrating

||
7 Al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1985), 5: 334.
8 On him, see al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1985), 3: 102–103, no. 596.
9 Al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1985), 5: 334.
374 | José Bellver

intellectual Ṣūfī. Consequently, should the author have lived enough, more
biographical information and more works of such an insightful Ṣūfī would be
expected, considering the preeminent position which a son of Ibn Sabʿīn would
have had in the eyes of Ibn Sabʿīn’s disciples. Moreover, a mistaken attribution
of this work to a son of Ibn Sabʿīn can be ruled out, because of the oddity of
attributing a work to an otherwise unknown figure. In short, the fact that such
introductory but insightful work is the only treatise known to us attributed to a
son of Ibn Sabʿīn squares with a short-lived author raised in a highly intellectual
milieu of Ṣūfī adscription. Thus, it may be presumed with some degree of cer-
tainty that Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn was Ibn Sabʿīn’s son reported by al-
Fāsī who died in 666 H/1267-8 CE. If this is so, then this work should have been
written in the first half of the 660s H, although the place where it was written
cannot be concluded.

3 The Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm

Contrary to what the term sulūk in the title of Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn’s work, Kitāb al-
Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm, may suggest, the present treatise is not a work of Ṣūfī
ethics addressing the needed behavior (sulūk) of the Ṣūfī aspirant (murīd) in
order to attain the presence of God, despite minor references to ethical Ṣūfism,
as it is assumed that the reader already knows the Ṣūfī etiquette and practices.
Rather, the Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm is a brief summary of some ideas
about the spiritual wayfaring according to the Ṣūfism of the school of Ibn
Sabʿīn. The inclusion of Ibn Sabʿīn within Ṣūfism is not unproblematic. In his
early work, Budd al-ʿārif, Ibn Sabʿīn distinguishes his spiritual pathway from
Ṣūfism, understood in the rather narrow sense of ethical Ṣūfism. Ibn Sabʿīn
points out that the main pathways are five and lead to different degrees of per-
fection. These are the pathways of the legist (faqīh), the theologian, whom he
identifies with al-Ashʿarī, the philosopher, the Ṣūfī, and the realizer (muḥaqqiq)
or intimate (muqarrab). In Budd al-ʿārif, Ibn Sabʿīn criticizes Ṣūfism, because in
his view Ṣūfism does not address existential unity to its fullness, since there is
still a duality between the wayfarer and his object,10 whilst he identifies his
spiritual pathway with the muqarrab or muḥaqqiq, the intimate for whom there
is no plurality in existence. However, in Ibn Sabʿīn’s later works, ethical Ṣūfism

||
10 See al-Taftāzānī 1973, 266; Ibn Sabʿīn, “al-Risāla al-faqīriyya”, in Rasāʾil (2007), 53–73, here
67.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 375

becomes an integral part of his teaching, so that he ends up merging his grasp-
ing of Neoplatonism with ethical Ṣūfism and his personal elaborations on abso-
lute existence (waḥda muṭlaqa). In short, his view of Ṣūfism is summarized in
his meeting with al-Shushtarī pointed out above. In his view, Ṣūfism, epito-
mized by Abū Madyan, may allow an aspirant to attain Paradise, i.e. the at-
tributes of God, but by following the pathway of the muḥaqqiq, the aspirant
would attain the Lord of Paradise, i.e. existential unity (waḥda).
Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn divides his Kitāb al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm in two different
sections in which he addresses the sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm from two different
perspectives. First, the author addresses the stages in the spiritual pathway
from a rather traditional Ṣūfī perspective, although in connection with his un-
derstanding of the soul; and second, he develops the concept of muḥaqqiq from
a perspective specific to the school of Ibn Sabʿīn, and depicts some metaphysi-
cal correspondences of the pair muḥaqqiq/murīd, i.e. realizer/aspirant. Even
though the author has a Neoplatonic mindset considering his understanding of
the relationship between the soul and materiality, in this treatise he presents a
traditional Ṣūfī cosmology and psychology aimed at the spiritual realization
(taḥqīq) and leaves aside any direct reference to technical, philosophical termi-
nology addressing the hierarchies of the cosmos or of the soul, to whose classi-
fications and faculties his father devoted important sections of his Budd al-ʿārif.
Thus, taking into consideration that our current understanding of Ṣūfism is
wider than during the period of the author, this is a work of intellectual Ṣūfism
in the school of Ibn Sabʿīn written from a Neoplatonic standpoint. This work
avoids the use of philosophical, technical terminology, with which nevertheless
the author should have been well acquainted.
In the first section,11 written from a more traditional Ṣūfī perspective, Yaḥyā
b. Sabʿīn endorses the common Ṣūfī cosmology which, depicting the worlds
traversed by the wayfarer in his spiritual ascension, consists of three levels of
reality: first, the world of dominion (ʿālam al-mulk), which is tantamount to the
material world; then the world of sovereignty (ʿālam al-malakūt); and last the
world of compulsion (ʿālam al-jabarūt).12 The closer the wayfarer is to the divine
Essence, the more real the traversed world is; whereas the actual reality of the
material world to which the wayfarer returns in his descent is in fact metaphori-

||
11 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fols. 11v–14v.
12 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fols. 13v–14r.
376 | José Bellver

cal (majāzī). Since God is beyond time and space, distances from God are meas-
ured in terms of the knowledge the spiritual wayfarer has of God.13
The author also adopts the traditional Islamic classification of the states of
the soul, ultimately based on the Qurʾān, consisting of the inciting soul (nafs
ammāra), the blaming soul (nafs lawwāma), the inspired soul (nafs mulhama),
and the appeased soul (nafs muṭmaʾinna).14 Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn devises the true
nature of the soul as a reality essentially detached from matter, and which
comes to be engulfed by matter only accidentally. The nature of the soul is es-
sentially intellectual and perfect, but when engulfed by matter it becomes evil
and devilish. Thus, depending on whether the soul is freed from matter or not,
the soul is either knowledgeable – what is tantamount to the soul grasping the
primary substances of things, i.e. their essential realities – or ignorant.15 To have
his soul detached from matter, the wayfarer should seek the mid-point in his
soul, i.e. the balance between defectiveness and excess, which lays in its intel-
lectual dimension.16 In the school of Ibn Sabʿīn, the mid-point is an indication of
perfection, since perfection is attained when nothing can be added to a thing,
nor can be detracted from it.17
During his return to God, the wayfarer covers three different stages: first,
from pure evil (sharr maḥḍ) to common good (khayr mushtarak); second, from
limited good (khayr muqayyad) to absolute good (khayr muṭlaq); and last, from
pure good (khayr maḥḍ) to pure good. These three stages make up the three
levels of tawba, that is of turning oneself to God. These stages may be connect-
ed, first, to the ʿālam al-mulk, second to the ʿālam al-malakūt, and last to the
ʿālam al-jabarūt, although the author does not expressively state so. In the
fourth and last stage, the wayfarer brings to the material and metaphorical
world the spiritual realities that he has attained. Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn draws his short
presentation of the stages in the spiritual pathway from one of the descriptions
of spiritual poverty (faqr) that Ibn Sabʿīn includes in his al-Risāla al-faqīriyya:

||
13 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 14r. See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007) by an
unknown disciple of Ibn Sabʿīn 151, 162, for distances from God in terms of knowledge in the
school of Ibn Sabʿīn.
14 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 13r.
15 For the happiness of the soul according to Ibn Sabʿīn, which consists in the rational soul
being detached from matter and dwelling in the proximity of God, see Ibn Sabʿīn, Budd al-ʿārif
(1978), 320–368.
16 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 14r.
17 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 123.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 377

It is said that poverty (faqr) is [embodied by] the one who portrays his beginnings with
will, worship, submission (islām), the world of testimony (ʿālam al-shahāda), leaving be-
hind the pure evil (sharr maḥḍ) for the common good (khayr mushtarak), striving (mu-
jāhada), a restricted method (ṭarīq muqayyad), trusting in God (tawakkul), surrendering to
Him (taslīm), entrusting the matters to Him (tafwīḍ), the first level of turning oneself to
God (tawba), desired seclusion (khalwa), a broad vestibule (dihlīz jāmiʿ), and periods of
forty days which stir and make ready. His voyage (sulūk) is portrayed with satisfaction,
faith, servanthood, the world of sovereignty (ʿālam al-malakūt), leaving behind the limited
good (khayr muqayyad) for the perfect good (khayr muṭlaq), endurance (mukābada), jour-
neying along the pathway mentioned before when portraying the beginnings, the second
level of turning oneself to God (tawba), reflection which follows quietness (sakīna), the
remembrance which stirs abandonment [of any other than God] (takhallī), adornment
[with the attributes of God] (taḥallī), God’s self-disclosure (tajallī), distance from relatives
and the own country, curtailing the bonds with the whole, and self-imposing abundant
actions to unveil the goal. And his arrival (wuṣūl) is portrayed with servanthood, witness-
ing (mushāhada), the world of compulsion (ʿālam al-jabarūt), the station of excelling
(maqām al-iḥsān), leaving behind the limited pure good for the whole to attain the goal
and the participation (ishtirāk), turning away effacement (maḥū) for serene clarity (ṣaḥū),
the third level of turning oneself to God (tawba) established18 along seventy stations bring-
ing19 the assumption (takhalluq) of the most beautiful names, and the arrangement
(tadbīr) of the first sage (ʿālim) with works of knowledge and practice and with the com-
mon name. So, understand.20

The concept of khayr maḥḍ is very frequent in the school of Ibn Sabʿīn. This is
an obvious reference to the Neoplatonic topos transmitted by the Theology of
Aristotle and al-Kalām fī maḥḍ al-khayr, i.e. the Latin Liber de Causis, into the
Islamic world. Ibn ʿArabī, and before him Ibn Sīnā (d. 428 H/1037 CE), identified
it with absolute existence. More unusual is the concept of sharr maḥḍ, which
Ibn ʿArabī identified with absolute non-existence (ʿadam muṭlaq).21
The process by which the soul becomes detached from matter and attains
perfection is described in the terms of a theosis, or deification.22 To refer to this
process, Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn uses the term takhalluq, that is the assumption of the
attributes associated with the divine names as one’s own character traits (ta-

||
18 I read maḍrūba instead of maṣrūfa appearing in both editions. Cf. Cairo, Dār al-kutub, MS
Taymūr taṣawwuf 149, fol. 119r (= p. 235).
19 I read fāʿila instead of fāṣila appearing in both editions. Even though the ʿayn is almost
closed and resembles a ṣād, the scribe writes a vertical stroke below ʿayns, as in this case. In
addition, the verb faʿala takes the particle bi- as in this case, while the verb faṣala usually takes
bayna. Cf. Cairo, Dār al-kutub, MS Taymūr taṣawwuf 149, op. cit.
20 Ibn Sabʿīn, “al-Risāla al-faqīriyya”, in Rasāʾil (2007), 65.
21 Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt (1911), 3: 556.
22 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 14r.
378 | José Bellver

khalluq bi-asmāʾ Allāh), a term which al-Ghazālī (d. 505 H/1111 CE) had used
before in his commentary of the names of God.23 However, Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn un-
derstands takhalluq in the sense of a radical theosis (taʾalluh). As the soul be-
comes detached from matter, the wayfarer leaves behind the bodily character
traits and assumes as his own character traits the attributes associated with the
divine names. However, the assumed attributes by the wayfarer are not different
from the attributes of God. And in turn, the attributes of God are not superadded
to His essence.24 This approach is different from waḥda muṭlaqa, or absolute
unity, which is the hallmark of the Sabʿīniyya, since there is no possible deifica-
tion when only God’s existence is real.25 Thus, from a waḥda muṭlaqa perspec-
tive, the existential nature of the aspirant is not transformed by his spiritual
wayfaring, since at all time there is only one existence: God’s existence, which
Ibn Sabʿīn represents by the all-encompassing circle (iḥāṭa). The spiritual way-
faring entails a transformation of the aspirant’s awareness of the existential
reality, but not a transformation of his being, since for Ibn Sabʿīn being is no
other than God’s existence. Nevertheless, it is possible that Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn
avoided to address waḥda muṭlaqa openly in this writing and simply adopted a
bottom-up perspective suitable for the aspirant, since he also states that God’s
existence takes upon the existence of things, which do not have an existence in
themselves.26
The process of detaching the soul from matter is ultimately carried out by
the master, to whom Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn ascribes two main characteristics: he is
both an ʿālim and a mudabbir.27 He understands the term ʿālim, which is usually
translated as knower or religious scholar, as the one who directly knows the
essential realities of things. Thus, his concept of ʿilm is less related to the trans-
mitted knowledge of religious scholars than to the direct intellectual grasping
on non-material essences. Second, the mudabbir,28 with the sense of arranger or
organizer, is the one who detaches souls from matter and brings them to the
direct intellectual grasping of the essential realities of things. Thus, the
mudabbir makes the aspirant become an ʿālim. Hence, the ultimate goal of the
master is the realization (taḥqīq) of the aspirant (murīd).

||
23 See Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, al-Maqṣad (2003), 45–58.
24 See also Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 153.
25 See Ibn Sabʿīn, “al-Risāla al-faqīriyya”, in Rasāʾil (2007), 66.
26 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 14r.
27 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 13r.
28 Ibn Sabʿīn regards God as the ultimate mudabbir. See Ibn Sabʿīn, Budd al-ʿārif (1978), 147.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 379

The Ṣūfism of ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn has been frequently linked to the
Shūdhiyya Ṣūfī strand, which flourished in the region of Murcia during the late
Almohad and third taifa periods, and whose main proponents were the theolo-
gians and Ṣūfīs Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm Ibn Dahāq al-Awsī, known as Ibn al-Marʾa
(d. 611 H/1214 CE), and Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Ibn Aḥlā al-Anṣārī (d.
645 H/1247 CE).29 Nevertheless, Ibn Sabʿīn’s Ṣūfism is rather personal and his
Ṣūfī metaphysics presents important differences with Ibn Dahāq’s theological
metaphysics. In any case, Ibn Aḥlā and his followers referred to their Ṣūfī strand
as madhhab al-taḥqīq, i.e. the school of realization,30 a concept which is central
in Ibn Sabʿīn’s metaphysics.
In the second section of the work,31 Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn addresses his concepts
of taḥqīq and, particularly, of the muḥaqqiq. The author’s understanding of the
muḥaqqiq,32 i.e. the one who, being perfectly aware of absolute unity, brings
into effect taḥqīq, is rather broad. In Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn’s view, the muḥaqqiq and
the murīd, i.e. the realizer and the aspirant, become macrocosmic principles
transcending the roles they play in their microcosmic embodiments. Having
assumed the character traits associated with the divine attributes and dwelling
in the unity of God, all muḥaqqiqs are the same one muḥaqqiq, who is eternally
permanent.33 Ultimately, the muḥaqqiq represents the divine effusion, whilst the
murīd represents the reception of the divine effusion by creation. For Yaḥyā b.
Sabʿīn, the quiddity34 of the muḥaqqiq is not inside creation.35 Hence, it is not
limited by created beings, and thus all created beings receive the effusion,

||
29 For instance, the Syrian scholar Badr al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm Ibn
Jamāʿa al-Kinānī (639–733 H/1241–1333 CE) linked Ibn Sabʿīn to the school of Ibn Dahāq and
Ibn Aḥlā. See al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1985), 5: 330. On Badr al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa, see al-Dhahabī, Muʿjam
(1990), 448, no. 652.
30 Ibn al-Zubayr, Ṣilat al-ṣila (1993–95), 5: 413. For Ibn Dahāq and taḥqīq, see also the poem
that Ibn Dahāq addresses to Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī al-Faḍl al-Sulamī al-
Mursī (d. 655 H/1257 CE) quoted in al-Dhahabī, Siyar (1982–93), 23: 316.
31 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fols. 14v–16r.
32 On Ibn Sabʿīn’s concept of the muḥaqqiq, see al-Taftāzānī 1973, 250–293. Akasoy 2007b
examines Ibn Sabʿīn’s biography and his historic context and doubts that Ibn Sabʿīn under-
stood the concept of muḥaqqiq in a Mahdist sense.
33 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 15r.
34 The term quiddity (māhiyya) is widely used in the Ṣūfī texts of the school of Ibn Sabʿīn.
Rather than the universal definition of the species, the quiddity (māhiyya) is the spiritual coun-
terpart of any being, its immaterial reality. Contrary to the technical sense in philosophy, the
quiddity in their Ṣūfī works seems to include also the hecceitas, so that every single individual
seems to have his own individual quiddity.
35 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 14v.
380 | José Bellver

which is the muḥaqqiq himself, according to their predisposition (istiʿdād),

since the quiddity of the muḥaqqiq, not being limited by the quiddities of the
created beings, can become the active enlivening element in everything. Yaḥyā
b. Sabʿīn gives examples in which the effusion represented by the muḥaqqiq
becomes the specific difference of any particular reality according to its predis-
position (istiʿdād). For instance, the muḥaqqiq becomes growth in the plant
kingdom, motion in the animal kingdom, or intellection in the human being.36
Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn’s understanding of the muḥaqqiq seems to address the third
thing, i.e. the isthmus (barzakh) between the uncreated and the created, which
is the universal human being (insān kullī) in the terminology of Ibn Barrajān (d.
536 H/1141 CE); and the Muḥammadan reality (ḥaqīqa Muḥammadiyya), the
breath of the All-Merciful (nafas al-Raḥmān), or the perfect human being (insān
kāmil) in the terminology of Ibn ʿArabī.
The muḥaqqiq gathers in himself the three deputyships:37 namely the divine
deputyship (khilāfa ilāhiyya), the prophetic deputyship (khilāfa nabawiyya), and
the deputyship of the ahead (khilāfat al-sibq). As to the muḥaqqiq’s embodiment
of the khilāfa ilāhiyya,38 Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn identifies the muḥaqqiq with the divine
unfolding of the worlds, which he illustrates with the descent of the word (kali-
ma)39 and the spirit (rūḥ) exemplified by Jesus,40 who in his descent gathers the
spiritual and the corporeal and sums up the unity of existence (waḥdat al-
wujūd). Despite the fact that Ibn ʿArabī is usually regarded as the proponent of
waḥdat al-wujūd and Ibn Sabʿīn of waḥda muṭlaqa, the concept of waḥdat al-
wujūd was probably used first by Ibn Sabʿīn.41 In turn, by khilāfa nabawiyya and
the khilāfat al-sibq, Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn apparently refers to the plain concepts of
prophecy and sainthood/imamate.
Ultimately, for Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn, the muḥaqqiq becomes the seventh and last
all-encompassing element in a universal unfolding of seven periods or personi-
fications. Thus, the muḥaqqiq is the final fullness or pleroma. Among the days

||
36 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fols. 14v–15r.
37 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 16r.
38 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 14v.
39 The kalima is a frequent topic in Andalusi Ṣūfism also common in Ismāʿīlī texts. See Ebstein
2013, 33–76.
40 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 15v.
41 Nevertheless, Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn should have been also acquainted with the school of Ibn
ʿArabī through his brother-in-law, ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī, who before becoming the disciple
of Ibn Sabʿīn was disciple of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī (d. 673 H/1274 CE), himself disciple of Ibn
ʿArabī. Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī is known for using the concept of waḥdat al-wujūd twice. See
Cornell 2007, 34, n. 21.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 381

of the week, the muḥaqqiq is equivalent to Friday (yawm al-jumʿa),42 i.e. the day
of reunion and, in the eyes of Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn, the last day of the week, al-
though in Islamic timekeeping the day usually regarded as the last day of the
week is Saturday. Considering Friday as the last day of the week is very specific
to Ibn Barrajān’s Ṣūfism, who had already deemed Friday as a totalizing and
scatological day in his symbolization of the days of the week in his commentary
of the divine name al-Dahr in his Sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā.43 Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn
may have had access to Ibn Barrajān’s Sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā through his
brother-in-law, ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī, himself older than Yaḥyā’s father, since
al-Tilimsānī wrote a commentary of the names of God with verbatim quotations
of substantial sections of Ibn Barrajān’s Sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā.
As an embodiment of a pleromatic figure, the muḥaqqiq is also equivalent to
the seventh nāṭiq,44 i.e. the seventh and last speaker or speaking prophet. Thus,
the muḥaqqiq represents a Muhammadan personification,45 since Muḥammad,
being the fullness of prophecy, abrogates all previous adscriptions and partial
revelations in a final and all-encompassing pleroma. Additionally, the
muḥaqqiq sums up the influences and powers of all seven planets.
To have a better understanding of the concept of the muḥaqqiq in the school
of Ibn Sabʿīn, the Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd by an unknown disciple of Ibn Sabʿīn
may shed additional light. The author identifies a hierarchy of three levels of
objects of desire (maṭlūb) in the spiritual pathway: namely God, who is the high-
est desired one (maṭlūb aʿẓam),46 the Prophet, and the heir (wārith).47 The goal in
the spiritual ascension is no other than God; but God cannot be known or at-
tained except through the Prophet, so the Prophet ends up embodying the de-
sired one. However, the quiddity of the Prophet cannot be known or attained
except through the heir, who is no other than the muḥaqqiq. Thus, the muḥaqqiq
becomes the ultimate desired goal in the spiritual pathway. Considering this
hierarchy of objects of desire, the pure good (khayr maḥḍ), that is God,48 comes
to be represented by the Prophet.49 In turn, the muḥaqqiq becomes the good
(khayr) and the desired goal, and as the link to God through the Prophet, the

||
42 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 16r.
43 Ibn Barrajān, Sharḥ (2010), 2: 354–355.
44 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 16r. For the evolution of the concept of the
seven speaking prophets in al-Andalus, see Ebstein 2013, q.v. nāṭiq.
45 Istanbul, Süleymaniye MS Hekimoğlu 506, fol. 15v.
46 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 145.
47 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 186–187.
48 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 145, 171, 185.
49 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 127, 131.
382 | José Bellver

muḥaqqiq is the condition to attain eternal joy (ladhdha) and happiness

(saʿāda). This is what Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn probably intends by the three deputy-
ships, although for him the deputyship of the ahead is only a particular aspect
of the muḥaqqiq.
The author of Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd also addresses the macrocosmic role of
the muḥaqqiq as Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn does.50 The muḥaqqiq’s macrocosmic role is
ultimately inherited from the equivalent role of the Prophet, since the muḥaqqiq
is the link to him. And because God effuses everything through the Prophet, and
the muḥaqqiq is the link to the Prophet, the muḥaqqiq becomes the deputy effu-
ser (fayyāḍ) and the source (ʿayn) of everything (al-kull). God is the ultimate
effuser (mufīḍ), and the quiddity of all quiddities. He is both desired by the
quiddities, and the only one existing in the desiring quiddities.51 Since the effu-
sion takes place through the muḥaqqiq, quiddities receive the effusion through
him according to their share.52 Additionally, the author of Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd
views all the effected existents, i.e. the effused existents by the muḥaqqiq, as
possible existence (mumkin al-wujūd), which he identifies with the servant
(ʿabd), understood in a macrocosmic sense.53 The personification of possible
existence in the servant agrees with the macrocosmic role Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn at-
tributes to the aspirant (murīd). Nevertheless, contrary to Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn’s text,
there are no references to the pleromatic role of the muḥaqqiq in Sharḥ Risālat
al-ʿahd, maybe because the only known extant manuscript of this text is incom-
plete.

4 The manuscript
The edition presented hereby is based on the only known manuscript of Kitāb
al-Sulūk fī ṭarīq al-qawm, MS Hekimoğlu 506, fols. 11v–16r, held at Süleymaniye
Library in Istanbul (referred to as H in the present edition). The manuscript is a
collection of twelve works, of which ten are authored by or attributed to Ibn
ʿArabī. In addition to the present work by Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn, ʿAbd
al-Wāḥid al-Shaʿrānī’s al-Mīzān al-dharriyya al-mubayyina li-ʿaqāʾid al-firaq al-
ʿaliyya is the only other work whose authorship is not attributed to Ibn ʿArabī in
the manuscript.

||
50 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 187.
51 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 171.
52 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 187.
53 See Sharḥ Risālat al-ʿahd (2007), 161.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 383

The manuscript is a rebinding of previous manuscripts copied in Istanbul

and Damascus in at least two different hands. The present treatise does not have
a colophon, and consequently it does not indicate the identity of the scribe or
the place and time when the treatise was copied. Nevertheless, the hand of the
present work is the same of the first seventy-seven folios of the manuscript. The
scribe provides a colophon at the end of the subsequent work containing Ibn
ʿArabī’s al-Tadbīrāt al-ilāhiyya in fols. 16v–77v. This first section of the manu-
script (fols. 1r–77v) was copied by ʿAbd al-Qādir b. al-Marḥūm al-Shaykh
Muṣṭafā al-Dimashqī between 5–7 Dhū al-Ḥijja 1057 H/22–24 December 1647 CE
in Istanbul (fol. 77v). Thus, the scribe can be identified as ʿAbd al-Qādir b.
Muṣṭafā al-Ṣafūrī al-Dimashqī (1010–1081 H/1601–1670 CE), born in Damascus,
who, after a formative period in Cairo and a time in Turkey, spent most of his
teaching life in Damascus, becoming one of the most renowned scholars of the
city.54 He is described as a jurist, Qurʾānic commentator, traditionist, grammari-
an and theologian. His name also appears in the chain of transmission of Ibn
ʿArabī’s works to Abū al-Mawāhib Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Ḥanbalī al-
Dimashqī (d. 1126 H/1714 CE) as al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir b. al-Shaykh Muṣṭafā
al-Ṣafūrī,55 which confirms the identification of the scribe. ʿAbd al-Qādir b.
Muṣṭafā al-Ṣafūrī was also the teacher of the celebrated scholar and Ṣūfī ʿAbd
al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1050–1143 H/1641–1731 CE),56 in turn well-known for his
interest in Ibn Sabʿīn, al-Shushtarī and ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī.57 Thus, the
works of the school of Ibn Sabʿīn were already read in the scholarly circles of
Damascus on the eve of ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī along the works of Ibn
ʿArabī. It is also possible that ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Ṣafūrī were among those who
introduced ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī to the Sabʿīniyya.
The work is written in a very clear and readable, slightly cursive naskh in
black, with titling and abjad notation in red naskh. The text is almost fully dot-
ted, except for few tāʾ marbūṭas. It contains few hamzas, but no vowels or shad-
das, whilst punctuation is indicated with red overlines. The body text consists
of twenty-three lines per page. There are no marginalia, i.e. no marginal correc-
tions, collations or glosses, except few infrequent three-dot signs referred to by
intext calls, probably indicating problems in the transmitted text. The manu-
script is foliated with both Hindu and Arabic numerals and contains catchwords
in verso folios.

||
54 On him, see al-Muḥibbī (n.d.), 2: 467–469.
55 Al-Ḥanbalī, Mashyakha (1990), 106.
56 Al-Kattānī 1982–86, 2: 756–758 (here 757), no. 415.
57 Sirriyeh 2005, 9–12 and 136.
384 | José Bellver

The transmitted text may contain few lacunae indicated with a slightly great-
er separation between words and intext calls, although the marginalia do not
indicate the reasons after the calls, and in a couple of cases the sentences are
grammatical to some extent. The text presents problems with verbal agreements,
particularly in the muḍāriʿ form, since it shows a tendency to make agreements
with the object rather than with the frequently anaphoric subject, probably
owing to an eventual, although common, dropping of the dotting of personal
prefixes of the muḍāriʿ form at some point in the chain of transmission of the
text, which were incorrectly supplemented by some later scribe. Additionally, in
nominal sentences, pronouns in the role of subject tend to agree with the predi-
cate and not with their references. All these textual problems, in a highly ana-
phoric text rich in appositions and coordinate clauses, make the syntactic struc-
ture of the text difficult to be followed. Thus, considering that this edition is
based on the only known extant copy of the work, both the edition and transla-
tion of the work should be deemed tentative and temporary until new copies of
this work may come to our knowledge.

5 Edition
‫\ ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﺴﻠﻮﻙ ﻓﻲ ﻁﺮﻳﻖ ﺍﻟﻘﻮﻡ‬12v\
ّ
.‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﻴﻦ ﻭﺍﻟﺼﻼﺓ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺴﻠﻴﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺧﺎﺗﻢ ﺍﻷﻧﺒﻴﺎء ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺮﺳﻠﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﺭﺏّ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﻦ ﻫﺎﺩﻱ ﺍﻟﻤﻀﻠّﻴﻦ ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺤﻤﺪ‬
:‫ﺃ ّﻣﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ‬
:‫ﻳﻘﻮﻝ ﺍﻟﻌﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﻔﻘﻴﺮ ﺇﻟﻰ ﷲ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﻑ ﺍﻟﺴﺎﻟﻚ ﺑﺎ ﻳﺤﻴﻰ ﺍﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﺑﻦ ﺳﺒﻌﻴﻦ‬
‫ﺻﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ‬ّ ‫ﺧﻮﺍ‬ ‫ﻭﻳﻌﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﺗﻘﺴﻴﻤﻬﺎ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻫﻲ‬ ‫ ﺃﻥ ﻳﻌﺮﻑ ﻣﺮﺍﺗﺐ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﻭﻛﻢ‬58‫ﻳﺴﺘﺤﺐ ﻟﻠﻤﺮﻳﺪ ﻭﻳﺠﺐ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺴﺎﻟﻚ ﺍﻟﻌﻴﺪ‬
‫\ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﻭﻓﻲ ﺃﻱ ﻧﻔﺲ ﻫﻮ ﻭﻫﻞ ﻫﻮ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻷ ّﻣﺎﺭﺓ ﺃﻭ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻬﻤﺔ ﺃﻭ‬13r\ ‫ ﺃﺣﻮﺍﻟﻬﺎ؛ ﻭﻛ ّﻞ ﻓﺮﺩ ﻭﺃﻳﻦ ﻫﻮ ﻣﻦ‬59‫ﻭﺗﻘﻴّﺪﻫﺎ ﻭﺗﻘﻴّﺪ‬
60

‫ ﻭﺇﻥ‬،‫ﺼﺎ ﻳﺘﻮﺏ ﻭﻳﺆﺏ‬ ً ‫ ﻓﺈﻥ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻧﻘ‬،‫ ﻭﻳﻌﻠﻢ ﺃﻱ ﺷﻲء ﺣﺪﺙ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ ﻣﻦ ﺯﻳﺎﺩﺓ ﺃﻭ ﻧﻘﺼﺎﻥ ﺃﻭ ﺗﻮﺳﻂ‬.‫ﺍﻟﻠﻮﺍﻣﺔ ﺃﻭ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻤﺌﻨﺔ‬ ّ
.‫ ﻭﻻ ﺧﻴﺮ ﻓﻲ ﺳﺎﻟﻚ ﻳﻜﻮﻥ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ‬.‫ ﻭﺇﻥ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻭﺍﻗﻔًﺎ ﻳﺤﺮﻙ ﺃﺣﻮﺍﻟﻪ ﻭﻳﻄﻠﺐ ﺍﻟﻜﻤﺎﻝ‬،‫ﻛﺎﻥ ﺯﻳﺎﺩﺓ ﻳﺴﺘﻨﻜﺮ ﻭﻳﺴﺘﻜﺜﺮ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺸﺮ‬
ّ ‫ ﻭﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﻣﺪﺑّﺮ ﻷﻧّﻪ ﻳﺪﺑّﺮ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﻭﻳﺨﻠﺼﻬﺎ ﻭﻳﻨﻘﻠﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ‬.‫ ﻭﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺃﻧّﻪ ﻗﺎﻡ ﺑﻪ ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻢ‬.‫ﻓﺎﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﻫﻮ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺑّﺮ‬
‫ ﻛﻤﺎ‬،‫ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺸﺘﺮﻙ ﺃﻭ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﻴّﺪ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻠﻖ ﺃﻭ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ‬
‫ ﻭﻣﺪﺑّﺮ ﺑﻤﻌﻨﻰ ﻳﻨﻘﻞ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻨﻘﺺ ﺇﻟﻰ‬.‫ ﺃﻱ ﻳﻌﻠﻢ ﺣﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﻛﺎﻣﻠﻬﺎ ﻭﻧﺎﻗﺼﻬﺎ‬،‫ ﻭﻧﻘﻮﻝ ﺇﻧّﻪ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺑﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﺍﻷﻣﻮﺭ‬.‫ﺫﻛﺮ‬
‫ ﻭﻣﺪﺑّﺮ ﺑﻤﻌﻨﻰ‬61.‫ﻣﺠﺮﺩﺓ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺍﺩ‬ ّ ‫ ﻭﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﻷﻧّﻪ ﻳﻌﻠﻢ ﺍﻟﺠﻮﺍﻫﺮ ﺍﻷﺻﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﻸﺷﻴﺎء ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻛﺎﻧﺖ‬.‫ﺍﻟﻜﻤﺎﻝ‬
‫ ﻭﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ‬.‫ﺍﻷﻭﻝ‬ّ ‫ﺟﻮﻫﺮﻫﺎ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ّﻫﺎ‬ ‫ﺩ‬ ‫ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺪﺑﻴﺮ ﻳﺮ‬.‫ﻣﺨﻠﺺ ﻟﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﺁﺕ ﺍﻟﻄﺎﺩﻳﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺎﺩّﺓ ﺍﻟﻐﺎﻣﺮﺓ ﻟﻬﺎ‬

||
58 ‫ ]ﺍﻟﻌﻴﺪ‬dub. H
59 ‫ ]ﻭﺗﻘﻴّﺪ‬scripsi ‫ ﻭﺗﻔﻴﺪ‬H
60 ‫ ]ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻬﻤﺔ‬scripsi ‫ ﻣﻮﺍﺍﺏ‬H
61 ‫ ]ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺍﺩ‬scripsi ‫ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﺍﺩ‬H
 ‫‪The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 385‬‬

‫ﻷﻧّﻪ ﻳﻜﺸﻒ ﺍﻷﻧّﻴّﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻠﻘﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﻮﻟﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻛ ّﻞ ﺷﻲء ﺍﻟﻤﻠﺰﻣﺔ ﻛ ّﻞ ﺷﻲء ﻓﻲ ﻋﻨﻘﻪ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺪﺑّﺮ ﺃﻳﻀًﺎ ﺑﻤﻌﻨﻰ ﻣﺨﻠﺼﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﺍﻟﻮﻫﻤﻴّﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﻌﺪّﺩﺓ ﻟﻠﻨﻄﻔﺔ ﺗﺘﻜﺜّﺮﻫﺎ‪ 62‬ﻭﻳﺼﺮﻓﻬﺎ >ﺇﻟﻰ< ﺃﻧﻴﺘﻬﺎ ﺍﻷﺻﻠﻴّﺔ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﺫﺍﺗﻬﺎ‪ 63،‬ﻭﻫﻲ‬
‫ﻣﺤﻤﻮﻟﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻜ ّﻞ ﴿ﻻ ﻳﻐﺎﺩﺭ‪ 64‬ﺻﻐﻴﺮﺓ ﻭﻻ ﻛﺒﻴﺮﺓ﴾‪.‬‬
‫ﻭﺗﺤﺮﻙ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻠﻮﺏ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻠﻮﺏ‪ .‬ﻣﺜﺎﻝ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻭﺗﺤﺮﻙ ﺇﻟﻴﻪ ﺑﺠﻤﻠﺘﻪ ﻭﺍﺷﺘﻐﺎﻟﻪ ﺑﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻮﺟﻬﻪ؛‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺮﻳﺪ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﺗﻜﻠّﻔﺖ ﺇﺭﺍﺩﺗﻪ ﺑﺎ‬
‫ﻭﺃﻭﻝ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺑﺔ ﺍﻟﺨﺮﻭﺝ‬ ‫ﻳﺘﻘﺮﺏ ﺇﻟﻴﻪ ﺑﺼﻔﺎﺗﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﺘﺨﻠﻖ ﺇﻟﻴﻬﺎ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺠﻮﻫﺮ ﺑﻤﺎ ﺃﻣﻄﺮ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ‪ّ .‬‬ ‫ﺫﻟﻚ ﺗﻮﺟﻬﻪ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺃ ّﻣﻪ ﻭﻫﻮ ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺸﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺸﺘﺮﻙ‪ .‬ﻭﺗﺴﺘﻌﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﻄﻊ ﻋﻘﺒﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﻭﻗﻬﺮ ﺃﺧﻼﻗﻬﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﺘﻮ ّﻛﻞ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺴﻠﻴﻢ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺸﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺨﺮﻭﺝ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﺍﻷﻭﻟﻰ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺪ‬‫ﻭﺣ‬ ‫\‬ ‫‪13v‬‬ ‫\‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‪.‬‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺜﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻷﻭﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺘﻮﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺘﻔﻮﻳﺾ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺸﺘﺮﻙ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﺜﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺑﺔ ﺍﻟﺨﺮﻭﺝ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﻴّﺪ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻠﻖ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺑﺔ ﺍﻟﺨﺮﻭﺝ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ‪ .‬ﻭﺳﻌﺎﺩﺓ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﻓﻲ ﺇﻧّﻤﺎ ﻫﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺨﻠّﺼﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺸﻬﻮﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴّﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺗﺤﻘّﻘﻪ ﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﺸﻬﺎﺩﺓ‪،‬‬
‫ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ‪،‬‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺠﺮﺩ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺟﺴﺎﻡ ﻭﻗﻮﺍﻫﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺠﻮﻫﺮ ﺑﺎﻷﺧﻼﻕ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎﻧﻴﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﻔﻨﺎء ﻣﻦ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﺜﺒﻮﺕ ﻓﻲ ﺣﻀﺮﺓ‬ ‫ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﺪﺭﻙ ﺳﻌﺎﺩﺗﻪ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻹﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻭﻟﺮﺳﻮﻟﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻻﻣﺘﺜﺎﻝ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﺪﺭ ﺍﻟﻮﺳﻊ‪ .‬ﻭﺫﻫﺎﺏ ﻫﻮﺍﻩ ﺷﺮﻁ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ ﻓﻲ ﻭﺣﺪﺍﻧﻴّﺔ‬
‫ﻭﻳﻘﻄﻊ ﺑﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﺇ ّﻣﺎ ﺑﻜﺸﻒ ﻣﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻈﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﻘﺪﻳﻢ‪ ،‬ﺃﻭ ﺑﻮﺍﺭﺩ ﺻﺎﺩﻕ ﺑﺨﺒﺮ‪ ،‬ﺃﻭ ﺑﻤﺎ ﻳﻈﻬﺮ ﻟﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻻﺳﺘﻐﺮﺍﻕ ﻓﻲ ﺃﻣﺮ‬
‫ﷲ ﻭﺭﺳﻮﻟﻪ ﻭﻣﺸﺎﻫﺪﺗﻬﻢ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻘﺎﻡ ﺍﻹﺣﺴﺎﻥ‪ ،‬ﺃﻭ ﻓﻲ ﺛﺒﻮﺕ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﻫﻮ ﻋﻼﻣﺎﺕ ﺭﺿﻮﺍﻥ ﷲ ﻭﺍﻧﻘﻄﺎﻉ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺸﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺤﻠّﻪ ﺍﻧﻘﻄﺎﻋًﺎ ﺫﺍﺗﻴًﺎ‪ ،‬ﺃﻭ ﺑﺘﺤﻘّﻖ ﺍﻟﻔﻨﺎء ﻭﻣﺎ ﺃﺷﺒﻪ ﺫﻟﻚ‪ .‬ﻭﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻜﻼﻡ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﻳﺪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺬﻫﺐ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﻓﻴّﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﺃﻥ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﻓﻴّﺔ ﻟﻬﺎ ﻧﺴﺒﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺬﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻘﺪﻳﻤﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻞ ﺍﻟﻜﻠّﻲ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺍﻟﻜﻠّﻴّﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺟﻤﻴﻊ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻋﻠﻢ ّ‬
‫‪66‬‬ ‫‪65‬‬
‫ﻣﻮﺿﻊ ﺍﻟﺠﺴﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺘﺠﺎﻭﺭ ﺇﺫ ﺍﻟﺠﺴﻢ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻔﺎﺭﻕ ﻭﺍﻟﺬﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﺮﻭﺣﺎﻧﻴّﺔ ﻣﻔﺎﺭﻗﺔ‪ .‬ﻭﺇﻧّﻤﺎ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻻ ﻧﻘﻮﻝ ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺣﺪ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻳﺘﺼﺮﻑ ﻭﻳﺘﻮﺣّﺪ‬‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻌﺸﺮﺓ‪ .‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻳﻄﻌﻢ ﺣﻴﻮﺍﻥ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻳﻌﻘﻞ ﺇﻧﺴﺎﻥ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻳﻜﺎﺷﻒ ﻋﺒﺪ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ‬
‫ﻭﻳﺤﺼﻞ ﺃﻧﻮﺍﻉ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻑ ﻭﻳﺘّﺼﻒ ﺑﻤﺎ ﻫﻲ ﺻﻔﺔ ﻗﺪﻳﻤﺔ ﺣﻘﺎ‪ 67.‬ﻭﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﻔﻬﻮﻡ ﻣﻦ ﻗﻮﻟﻪ‪ ،‬ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻡ‪" ،‬ﻛﻨﺖ ﺳﻤﻌﻪ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﻳﺴﻤﻊ ﺑﻪ" ﺍﻟﺤﺪﻳﺚ ﺍﻟﻤﺸﻬﻮﺭ‪.‬‬
‫ﻭﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﺗﻌﻠّﻞ ﻭﻻ ﺗﻔﻬﻢ‪ ،‬ﻭﺗﻌﻠﻢ ﻭﻻ ﺗﻌﻠﻢ‪ .‬ﻭﺟﻬﻠﻪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ ﻭﺟﻮﺩﻩ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻚ؛ ﻭﻋﻠﻤﻪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ ﺣﻀﻮﺭﻩ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ‬
‫\‪ \14r‬ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻜﻮﺕ‪ ،‬ﻭﺧﺮﻭﺟﻪ ﻋﻦ ﺟﻬﻠﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺣﻠﻮﻟﻪ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﺠﺒﺮﻭﺕ‪ ،‬ﻭﺯﻭﺍﻟﻪ ﻋﻦ ﺫﻟﻚ‪ ،‬ﻭﺛﺒﻮﺗﻪ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﻳﻌﻘﻞ ﻣﻨﻪ ﻣﺎ ﻻ‬
‫ﻳﻌﻘﻞ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻘﺪﻳﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﻄﻠﻖ‪> ،‬ﻭ<ﻭﺻﻮﻟﻪ ﺇﻟﻰ ﻏﺎﻳﺘﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺇﻋﺎﺩﺗﻪ ﺇﻟﻰ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﻩ‪ ،‬ﻭﺇﺧﺒﺎﺭﻩ ﻋﻨﻪ ﻛﻠﺴﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﻗﻠّﻪ‪ 68‬ﺍﻟﻜﻮﻥ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﺠﺪﻩ‬
‫ﺃﻥ ﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻥ ﻛﺎﻣﻞ ﻭﻣﺘﻮﺳّﻂ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻠﻴﺔ ﻭﻧﺎﻗﺺ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺮﻭﻡ‪ ،‬ﻭﻛﻔﺮﻩ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺠﻮﺏ‪ .‬ﻭﻅﻬﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻫﺬﺍ ّ‬
‫ﻭﺍﻟﺸﺮ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﺽ ﻟﻪ ﻫﻲ ﺍﻷﺧﻼﻕ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻣﻮﻣﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻭﺃﻥ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺑﺎﻟﺬﺍﺕ‪،‬‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺤﻴﻮﺍﻧﻴﺔ ﻭﺍﻷﺧﻼﻕ ﺍﻟﺠﺴﺪﺍﻧﻴﺔ‪ّ ،‬‬
‫ﺍﻟﺸﺮ ﺍﻟﺼﺎﺩﺭ ﻋﻦ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺴﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﺸﻴﻄﺎﻥ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﻈ ّﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻓﻲ ﴿ﻫﻞ ﺃﺗﻲ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻥ﴾‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ‬ ‫ﺗﺴﻤﻴﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﻓﻴّﺔ ﻧﻔ ً‬
‫ﺗﻤﺰﻕ ﺍﺗّﺼﺎﻝ ﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻥ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻜﻼﻡ ﻓﻲ ﺃﺳﺒﺎﺑﻬﺎ ﻭﻟﻮﺍﺣﻘﻬﺎ ﻳﻄﻮﻝ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ‬ ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻔﻮﺍﺳﻖ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﺤﺠﺎﺏ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ّ‬
‫ﺫﻛﺮﻩ‪.‬‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﻟﻴﺲ ﺑﻴﻨﻪ ﻭﺑﻴﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮﺩﺍﺕ ﻣﺮﺗﺒﺔ ﺯﻣﺎﻧﻴّﺔ ﻭﻻ ﻣﻜﺎﻧﻴّﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺇﻧّﻪ ﻣﻮﺟﻮﺩ ﻣﻊ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﻳﻘﻮﻡ ﺑﻮﺟﻮﺩﻫﺎ ﻭﻻ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻋﻠﻢ ّ‬
‫ﺃﻥ‬
‫ﻭﺟﻮﺩ ﻟﻬﺎ ﻓﻼ ﻗﺮﺏ ﻭﻻ ﺑﻌﺪ ّﺇﻻ ﺑﺤﺴﺐ ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻢ ﺑﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺨﻠّﻖ ﺑﺄﺳﻤﺎﺋﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻻﺗّﺼﺎﻑ ﺑﺄﻭﺻﺎﻓﻪ ﻭﺻﻔﺎﺗﻪ‪.‬‬
‫ﺃﻥ ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻢ ﺑﺎ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺨﻠّﻖ ﺑﺄﺳﻤﺎﺋﻪ ﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻌﻤﺔ‪ 69‬ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻘﻴﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﻨﻌﻢ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺣﻀﺮﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﻨﻌﻢ ﺑﺎﻟﺨﻠﻖ ﺍﻟﺤﺴﻨﺔ‪،‬‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻋﻠﻢ ّ‬
‫ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ‪ ،‬ﺇﻥ ﻛﺎﻧﺖ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﻏﻴﺮ ﺯﺍﺋﺪﺓ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺫﺍﺗﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﺘﻐﺎﻳﺮ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻮﺻﻮﻓﻬﺎ‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻟﺘﺨﻠّﻖ ﺑﺼﻔﺎﺕ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ‪ .‬ﻭﺻﻔﺎﺕ‬ ‫ﻭﻫﻲ ﺻﻔﺎﺕ‬

‫||‬
‫‪ H‬ﻳﺘﻜﺜﺮﻫﺎ ‪] scripsi‬ﺗﺘﻜﺜّﺮﻫﺎ ‪62‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺫﺍﺗﻪ ‪] scripsi‬ﺫﺍﺗﻬﺎ ‪63‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺗﻐﺎﺩﺭ ‪] scripsi‬ﻳﻐﺎﺩﺭ ‪64‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻣﻮﺿﻮﻉ ‪] scripsi‬ﻣﻮﺿﻊ ‪65‬‬
‫‪] dub. lac. H‬ﻻ ‪66‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺣﻖ ‪] scripsi‬ﺣﻘﺎ ‪67‬‬
‫‪] dub. H‬ﻭﻗﻠّﻪ ‪68‬‬
‫‪ add. et ras. H‬ﺍﻟﻌﻈﻤﻰ ]ﺍﻟﻨﻌﻤﺔ ‪69‬‬
‫‪386 | José Bellver‬‬

‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ‪ ،‬ﻻ ﻳﻔﺎﺭﻕ ﻓﻲ ﺫﺍﺗﻪ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﺛﺎﺑﺖ ﺃﺑﺪًﺍ‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ؛ ﻭﺍﻟﺼﻔﺔ ﻏﻴﺮ ﺯﺍﺋﺪﺓ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺬﺍﺕ ﻓﻬﻮ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺼﻔﺎﺕ ﺫﺍﺗﻪ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﺻﻔﺔ‬
‫ﻓﺎﻟﻤﺘﺨﻠّﻖ ﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺑﺎ ﺛﺎﺑﺖ ﺃﺑﺪًﺍ‪ .‬ﻭﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﻗﺎﻝ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻟﻠﺬﻱ ﺷﻬﺪ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺑﺎﻟﺨﻠﻖ ﺍﻟﻌﻈﻴﻢ‪ّ :‬‬
‫﴿ﺇﻥ ﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦ ﻳﺒﺎﻳﻌﻮﻧﻚ ﺇﻧّﻤﺎ ﻳﺒﺎﻳﻌﻮﻥ‬
‫ﺻﺎ‬‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﺫﺍﺗﻪ ﻭﻋﻠﻤﻪ ﻋﻠﻢ‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻓﻬﻢ ﺫﻟﻚ‪ .‬ﻭﺗﺨﻠّﺺ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺧﻼﻕ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻣﻮﻣﺔ ﺧﻼ ً‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﷲ﴾ ﻟﻜﻮﻧﻪ ﻛﺎﻧﺖ ﺍﻟﺨﻠﻖ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﻫﻲ ﺻﻔﺎﺕ‬
‫ﺼﺎﻻ ﺗﺎﻣﺎ‪ .‬ﻭﺑﺤﺴﺐ ﻫﺬﺍ \‪ \14v‬ﻣﻘﻴﺲ ﻓﻲ ﻛ ّﻞ ﺯﻣﺎﻥ‪ ،‬ﻓﺂﺕ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻘﺮﺏ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﺪﺭ ﻣﺎ ﺃﻧﺖ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﺤﻖ ﺍﺗ ّ ً‬
‫ّ‬ ‫ﺗﺎﻣﺎ ﻳﺘّﺼﻞ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺘﺨﻠّﻖ ﻭﺍﻟﻌﻠﻢ‪ .‬ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻜﻼﻡ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺑﺤﺴﺐ ﻛﻼﻡ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﻓﻴّﺔ ﺗﻜﻠّﻤﻨﺎ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺑﻜﻼﻡ ﻳﻌﺸﻖ ﺍﻟﺼﺐ ﻭﻳﺰﻳﻞ ﺍﻟﻜﺮﺏ‪.‬‬
‫ﻭﻫﺎ ﺃﻧﺎ ﺃﺗﻜﻠّﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺑﻘﻮﺓ ﺃﺧﺮﻯ ﻭﺍﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﻓﻲ ﺭﻭﺡ ﻛﺎﻥ ﺃﻭ ﺻﻔﺔ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪ ﺛﺎﺑﺖ ﺃﻭ ﺧﻴﺮ ﻣﺸﺘﺮﻙ ﻓﻲ ﺑﺪﺍﻳﺘﻪ‬
‫ﻭﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻮﻛﻪ ﺧﻴﺮ ﻣﻘﻴّﺪ ﻭﻓﻲ ﻧﻬﺎﻳﺘﻪ ﺧﻴﺮ ﻣﺤﺾ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻖ ﺍﺳﻢ ﻣﺴﺘﺠﻴﺐ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻬﺎﻳﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺴ ّﻤﻰ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪﻩ ﺻﺪﻳﻖ ﺃﺧﺬ ﻋﻦ‬
‫ﺍﻻﺳﻢ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻭﻻ ﺑﺮﻫﺎﻥ‪ ،‬ﺻﺎﻏﻲ ﺑﻞ ﻣﻌﺘﺰﻝ‪ 70‬ﻣﺤﺾ‪ ،‬ﻭﻧﻈﺮﺓ ﻛﺎﻣﻠﺔ؛ ﺃﻭ ﻫﻲ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ ﻣﻄﻠﻘﺔ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪﻩ ﻛﻮﻥ‬
‫ﻣﻄﻠﻖ؛ ﺃﻭ ﻫﻮ ﺇﺣﺎﻁﺔ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪﻫﺎ ﻣﺤﺎﻁﻬﺎ‪ 71،‬ﻭﻫﻮ ﻛﺎﻹﺣﺎﻁﺔ ﻭﻭﺍﺣﺪ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪ ﺃﺟﺰﺍء ﺍﻹﺣﺎﻁﺔ ﻭﻣﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﻣﺮﺍﺗﺒﻬﺎ؛‬
‫ﺃﻭ ﻫﻮ ﻓﻴﺾ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪﻩ ﻗﺒﻮﻝ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ‪ .‬ﻭﺑﻬﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﻨﻈﺮﺓ‪ ،‬ﻳﻜﻮﻥ‪ 72‬ﺍﻟﺨﻼﻓﺔ ﺍﻹﻟﻬﻴﺔ‪ ،‬ﻷﻧّﻪ ﻳﻘﺒﺾ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻟﻢ ﻭﻳﻤﺪّﻫﺎ ﺇﻣﺪﺍﺩًﺍ‬
‫ﻷﻥ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻖ ﻻ ﻣﺎﻫﻴﺔ ﻟﻪ ﺩﺍﺧﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﻜﻮﻥ‪.‬‬ ‫ﻗﻮﻻ ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻔًﺎ ﻟﻸﻧﻮﺍﻉ ﻣﺘّﻔﻖ ﺍﻟﻮﺟﻮﺩ‪ّ ،‬‬‫ﻭﺍﺣﺪًﺍ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﻘﺒﻞ ﻣﻨﻪ ﻣﺮﻳﺪﻩ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻟﻢ ﻛﻠّﻬﺎ ً‬
‫ﻭﺇﻥ ﻣﺎﻫﻴﺘﻪ ﻣﻌﺮﻭﻓﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺎﺯ ﻣﻮﺟﻮﺩﺓ ﺣﻘﻴﻘﺔً‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﺤﻘﻴﻘﺔ ﺗﺠﻤﻊ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻟﻢ‪ ،‬ﻓﺈﻧّﻬﺎ ﺃﺟﺰﺍء ﻣﺎﻫﻴﺘﻬﺎ‪ .‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺗﺤﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻌﺪﺩ ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ّ‬
‫ﻧﻤﻮﺍ ﻭﺍﻟﺤﻴﻮﺍﻥ ﺣﺴﺎ ﻭﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻥ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﻣﻔﻴﺾ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﻘﺒﻠﻪ ﻛ ّﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﺪﺭ ﺍﺳﺘﻌﺪﺍﺩﻩ‪ .‬ﻓﻴﻘﺒﻠﻪ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺪﻥ ﺟﺎﻣﺪًﺍ ﻭﺍﻟﻨﺒﺎﺕ ً‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺣﺪ‪.‬‬
‫ﻓﻜﺮﺍ‪ .‬ﻭﺭﺅﻳﺘﻪ ﻭﻋﻘﻠﻪ ﻭﺍﻟﻌﻘﻮﻝ ﺑﺤﺴﺐ ﺍﺳﺘﻌﺪﺍﺩﻫﺎ‪ .‬ﻭﻫﻜﺬﺍ ﺇﻟﻰ ﻣﻨﺘﻬﻲ‪ 73‬ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‪ .‬ﺃﻭ ﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻞ ﺍﻟﻜﻠّﻲ ﺑﻨﻈﺮ ﻣﺎ‪ .‬ﺃﻭ ﻫﻢ‬ ‫ً‬
‫ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻢ‪ ،‬ﺃﻋﻨﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻖ ﻭﺍﻟﺼﺪّﻳﻖ ﻭﺗﺄﺻﻴﻠﻪ‪.‬‬
‫ﻭﻫﺎ ﺃﻧﺎ ﺃﺫﻛﺮ ﺑﻌﺾ ﺍﻷﻣﺜﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭﺓ‪ 74‬ﻋﻨﺪﻧﺎ‪ .‬ﻓﻨﻘﻮﻝ ﻫﻲ ﺳﺒﺐ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺟﺴﻤﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﻧﺒﺎﺕ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻧﻤﻮﻩ‪ ،‬ﻭﺣﻴﻮﺍﻥ‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺻﻔﺘﻪ ﻭﺣﺮﻛﺘﻪ‪ \15r\ ،‬ﻭﺇﻧﺴﺎﻥ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻓﻜﺮﻩ ﻭﺭﺅﻳﺘﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﺻﺎﻟﺢ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻋﻤﻠﻪ ﺑﺒﻌﺾ ﻣﺼﺎﻟﺤﻪ ﻭﻋﺠﺰﻩ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ﺍﻷﻛﺜﺮ‪ ،‬ﻭﺣﻜﻴﻢ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺗﺤﺼﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻮﻝ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭﺓ ﻗﺒﻞ‪ ،‬ﻭﻓﻠﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺩﻭﺭﺍﻧﻪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﻄﺒﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﻗﺪﺭﺗﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ‬
‫ﻣﺠﺮﺩ ﺧﺎﻟﺺ ﻣﻔﺎﺭﻕ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﺩّﺓ‪ ،‬ﻭﺧﻴﺮ ﻣﺤﺾ‪ ،‬ﻭﻋﺎﻟﻢ ﺑﺎ ﺑﻌﻠﻢ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻣﺘﺪﺍﺩﻩ ﻣﻦ ﺫﺍﺗﻪ ﻭﺭﺟﻮﻋﻪ ﺇﻟﻴﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻠﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻫﻮ‬
‫ﺣﻖ ﻭﻛﻠﻤﺔ‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬
‫ﻣﺠﺮﺩ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﺩّﺓ‪ ،‬ﻭﺷﻴﺨﻪ ﻣﻤﺪّﻩ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻠﻚ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻟﻢ ﻛﻠﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻮ ّ‬‫ّ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻧﻈﺮﻱ‪ .‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﺻﻮﺭﺓ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‬
‫ﻫﺬﺍ ﻣﺎ ﺫﻛﺮ ﻗﺒﻞ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﻜﻼﻡ ﻓﻴﻤﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻫﻮ ﻣﺎ ﻧﺼﺐ ﻓﺎﻗﻨﻊ ﺑﻤﺎ ﻫﻨﺎ‪ .‬ﻭﺇﻥ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻻﺳﻢ ﻣ ّﻤﺎ ﻳﻠﻴﻖ ﺑﻌﻘﻠﻪ ﻭﺍﻟﺤﻜﻤﺔ‬
‫ﻓﺈﻥ ﺧﺎﻁﺐ ﻋﻘﻠﻪ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮﺩ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺃﺣﻮﺍﻟﻪ؛ ﻭﺍﻟﻤﻔﺮﻭﺽ ﻓﻲ ﻁﺮﻳﻘﻪ ﻋﻨﺪ‬ ‫ﺗﺤﺾ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺨﺎﻁﺒﺔ ﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻥ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﺪﺭ ﻋﻘﻠﻪ‪ّ ،‬‬
‫ﻓﺈﻥ ﻛ ّﻞ ﻁﺎﺋﻔﺔ ﻋﻘﻠﻬﺎ‪ 75‬ﻁﺮﻳﻘﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﺑﻪ ﺗﺤﻜﻢ ﻭﺗﺮﺟﻊ ﻭﺗﻨﻈﺮ‪ 76‬ﻓﻲ ﺻﻐﺮﻫﺎ ﺇﻟﻰ ﻛﺒﺮﻫﺎ‪ .‬ﻭﻛﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻘﻮﻡ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻧﺴﺒﺘﻪ ﺟﺎﺯ‪ّ .‬‬
‫ّ‬
‫ﻁﺮﻳﻘﻬﻢ‪ ،‬ﻫﻮ ﻋﻘﻠﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﻜﻠﻲ ﻭﻣﻨﻪ ﻳﺴﺘﻤﺪﻭﻥ ﻭﻋﻨﻪ ﻳﺄﺧﺬﻭﻥ‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻓﻬﻢ ﺫﻟﻚ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﺳﺄﻝ ﺇﺧﻮﺍﻧﻚ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺒّﻴﻦ ﻣﻨﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺘﻘﺪﻳﻦ ﻓﻲ‬
‫ﻧﺴﺒﻚ‪ ،‬ﺭﺟﻞ ﻋﺎﺭﻑ ﺑﺎ ‪ ،‬ﻳﺪﻟّﻚ ﻋﻠﻰ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‪ .‬ﻓﺈﻥ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﻠّﺪ ﺍﻟﺼﺎﺩﻕ ﻣﻦ ﺇﺧﻮﺍﻧﻚ ﺑﻤﺜﺎﺑﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﻑ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻋﺪﻡ‬
‫ﺍﻹﻧﻜﺎﺭ ﻭﻗﺒﻮﻝ ﺍﻟﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻮ ﻓﻮﻗﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻮ‪ 77‬ﻭﺩﻭﻧﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﻓﺈﻥ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ ﻫﻲ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻭﺑﺎﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ ﺇﻥ ﺍﻟﺬﻭﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﻘّﻘﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﻓﺔ ﺑﺎ ﻭﺭﺳﻮﻟﻪ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻲ ﻣﻨّﺎ‪ .‬ﻭﺇﻥ ﺗﻘﺪّﻣﻨﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﺰﻣﺎﻥ ﺃﻭ ﺗﺄ ّﺧﺮﻧﺎ‪ّ ،‬‬
‫ﺟﻮﻫﺮ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻫﻮ ﻣﻔﺎﺭﻕ‪ 78‬ﻻ ﺗﺪﺧﻞ‪ 79‬ﺗﺤﺖ ﺍﻟﺰﻣﺎﻥ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﻓﻮﻥ‪ ،‬ﻭﺇﻥ ﻛﺜﺮﺕ ﺃﺷﺨﺎﺻﻬﻢ‪ ،‬ﻓﺠﻮﻫﺮﻫﻢ ﻭﺍﺣﺪ‬

‫||‬
‫‪] dub. H‬ﻣﻌﺘﺰﻝ ‪70‬‬
‫‪] bis scr. H‬ﻛﻮﻥ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ ﺃﻭ ﻫﻮ ﺇﺣﺎﻁﺔ ﻭﻣﺮﻳﺪﻫﺎ ﻣﺤﺎﻁﻬﺎ ‪71‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺗﻜﻮﻥ ‪] scripsi‬ﻳﻜﻮﻥ ‪72‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻣﻨﺘﻬﻲ ‪] scripsi‬ﻣﻨﺘﻬﻲ ‪73‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺃﻣﺜﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ ‪] scripsi‬ﺍﻷﻣﺜﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭﺓ ‪74‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻏﻔﻠﻬﺎ ‪] scripsi‬ﻋﻘﻠﻬﺎ ‪75‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻭﻳﻨﻈﺮ ‪] scripsi‬ﻭﺗﻨﻈﺮ ‪76‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻮﻱ ‪] scripsi‬ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻮ ‪77‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻣﻘﺎﺭﻕ ‪] scripsi‬ﻣﻔﺎﺭﻕ ‪78‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻳﺪﺧﻞ ‪] scripsi‬ﺗﺪﺧﻞ ‪79‬‬
 ‫‪The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 387‬‬

‫ﺑﺎﻟﺤﻖ‪ .‬ﻭﻋﻠﻢ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﺑﺬﺍﺗﻪ ﻻ ﻳﺘﺒﺪّﻝ‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬

‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ‬ ‫ﺻﻬﻢ ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ‪ .‬ﻭﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﺃﻧﺼﺒﺘﻬﻢ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﻑ ﻳﻌﺮﻑ‬ ‫ﻭﺧﻮﺍ ّ‬
‫ﻓﺎﻟﻌﺎﺭﻑ ﻻ ﻳﺘﺒﺪّﻝ‪ .‬ﻭﻋﻠﻢ ﷲ ﺑﺬﺍﺗﻪ ﻭﺍﺣﺪ‪ ،‬ﻓﺎﻟﻌﺎﺭﻑ ﻭﺍﺣﺪ‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻓﻬﻢ ﺫﻟﻚ‪.‬‬
‫ﻓﺎﻟﻤﺘﻘﺪّﻡ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻘﻴﻦ ﻫﻮ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺄ ّﺧﺮ ﻭﺑﺎﻟﻌﻜﺲ‪ .‬ﻓﻤﻦ ﻫﻨﺎ ﻳﻔﻬﻢ ﻛﻴﻒ \‪ \15v‬ﻅﻬﺮﺕ ﺍﻟﺼﻮﺭﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﻨﻮﻳﺔ‪ .‬ﻓﺈﻥ ﻋﻴﺴﻰ ﻅﻬﺮ‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﺮﻭﺡ ﻭﺍﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ‪ .‬ﻭﻫﺬﺍ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺇﺩﺭﺍﻙ ﺣﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء ﻳﻜﻠّﻢ ﺍﻟﻨﺎﺱ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﻬﺪ‪ ،‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﺴﻔﻴﻨﺔ ﺍﻟﺤﺎﻣﻠﺔ ﺍﻹﻟﻬﻴّﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﻻ ﺗﺄﺧﺬ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﻬﺪ ﻣﺜﻞ ﻣﺎ ﺗﺄﺧﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻡ ﻭﺍﻟﻔﻘﻬﺎء‪ ،‬ﻓﺘﺪﺧﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺎﺯ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺤﻘﻴﻘﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻛﺎﻥ ﺗﺤﻔﻈﻪ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻳﻌﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﻘﺪّﻣﺔ‬
‫ﻭﻫﺬﺍ ﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﺷﺮﻳﻌﺔ ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﺴﻼﻡ ﻭﻛﺸﻒ ﺣﻘﺎﺋﻘﻬﺎ ﻭﺑﻴﺎﻧﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻋﻠﻤﻪ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻨﺪ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺮﺩﺓ ﻭﺍﺣﺪﺓ ﻛﻤﺎ ﺗﻘﺪّﻡ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ ﻫﻲ ﺍﻟﺮﻭﺡ ﻫﻮ ﻫﻮ‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻓﻬﻢ ﺫﻟﻚ‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺃﺏ ﺃﻓﺎﺩﻩ‪ .‬ﻭﺑﺎﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﺬﻭﺍﺕ‬
‫ﻭﻗﻮﻟﻪ "ﻳﻨﺰﻝ ﻋﻴﺴﻰ" ﻳﺮﻳﺪ ﺑﺬﻟﻚ ﻧﺰﻭﻝ ﺍﻟﺮﻭﺡ ﺍﻟﻜﺎﺷﻒ ﻭﺍﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺆﻳّﺪﺓ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻣﺎ ﺫﻛﺮ >ﻓﻲ< ﺫﻟﻚ‪ ،‬ﻭﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺗﺼﺮﻑ ﺍﻟﺮﻭﺣﺎﻧﻲ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺠﺴﻤﺎﻧﻲ‪ .‬ﻭﻻ ﻳﻬ ّﻤﻚ ﺷﻲء‪ 80‬ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻈﺎﻫﺮ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﺠﻌﻞ ﺍﻟﻈﺎﻫﺮ ﻧﻔﺲ ﺍﻟﺒﺎﻁﻦ ﻭﺑﻌﻜﺴﻪ‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺚ‬
‫ﻭﻳﺘﺮﺣّﻞ ﺇﻟﻰ ﻏﺎﻳﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮ ﺍﻧﺘﻘﺎﻝ‪ .81‬ﻭﻳﺠﺘﻤﻊ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮ ﺗﺠﺮﻳﺪ‪ .‬ﻭﻫﻲ ﻭﺣﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻮﺟﻮﺩ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﺠﻌﻠﻬﺎ ﻭﺍﺣﺪًﺍ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺮﻭﺣﺎﻧﻲ‬
‫ﻱ‪ .‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻳﻤﺤﻖ ﺍﻟﻄﺮﻕ ﻭﺍﻟﺼﻨﺎﺋﻊ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﻨﺴﺦ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﺍﻫﺐ‪،‬‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺠﺴﻤﺎﻧﻲ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﺮﻓﻊ ﺍﻹﺿﺎﻓﺔ ﺑﻤﺤ ّﻞ ﺍﻷﻭﻫﺎﻡ‪ .‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﻣﺤ ّﻤﺪ ّ‬
‫‪83‬‬
‫ﻭﻳﻌﺮﻑ ﺍﻟﻜ ّﻞ ﻓﻲ ﺣﻘﻴﻘﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﺒﻴﻦ‪ 82‬ﺍﻟﻔﺮﻕ‪ ،‬ﻭﻻ ﻳﺒﻘﻰ ّﺇﻻ ﻣﻦ ﺩﺧﻞ ﻣﻌﻪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺬﻫﺒﻪ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﺣﻴﻨﺌﺬ ﺍﺍﺍﻥ‪ .‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺗﺘﺒﺪّﻯ‬
‫ﻳﺠﺮ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻟﻢ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﺨﺮﺟﻬﺎ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻷﺟﺴﺎﺩ‪،‬‬ ‫ﻭﺗﺘﻔﺮﻉ ﻋﻮﺍﻟﻢ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﺍﺍﺍﻡ‪ .‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ّ‬
‫‪86‬‬
‫ّ‬ ‫ﺑﺤﺮﺍ‪ 84،‬ﻭﺗﺘﻮﻟّﺪ‪ 85‬ﻣﻨﻪ ﺫﻭﺍﺕ‪،‬‬ ‫ﻋﻮﺍﻟﻢ ً‬
‫ﻭﻳﺤﻘّﻖ‪ 87‬ﺟﻮﺍﻫﺮ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺲ ﺍﻟﻤﻔﺎﺭﻗﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﻜﺸﻒ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﺎﺩﺉ ﺍﻷﻭﻟﻰ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﺣﻴﻨﺌﺬ ﺍﺍﺍﻝ ﺍﺍﺍﻙ‪ .‬ﻳﺎ ﻫﺬﺍ‪ ،‬ﺍﻟﺨﻼﻓﺔ ﺍﻹﻟﻬﻴّﺔ ﺗﺨﺘﺮﻉ‬
‫‪88‬‬

‫ﺍﻟﺬﻭﺍﺕ ﻭﺗﺒﻴﻨﻬﺎ ﻭﺗﺒﺪﺃ ﻋﻮﺍﻟﻢ ﻭﺗﺨﻔﺾ ﻭﺗﺮﻓﻊ ﻭﺗﻘﺒﺾ ﻭﺗﺒﺴﻂ ﻭﺗﻌﺬﺏ ﻭﺗﻨﻌﻢ‪ .‬ﻭﺷﺮﺣﻬﺎ ﻻ ﻳﻤﻜﻦ ﻭﺻﻔﻪ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺬﺍ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺎﺏ‪.‬‬
‫ﻭﺍﻟﺨﻼﻓﺔ ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻮﻳﺔ ﺗﺼﻠﺢ ﺍﻟﻌﻮﺍﻟﻢ ﻭﺗﺨﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﻐﻴﺒﺎﺕ ﻭﺗﻜﺸﻒ ﺣﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﺍﻷﺷﻴﺎء‪ .‬ﻭﺧﻼﻓﺔ ﺍﻟﺴﺒﻖ ﺗﺤﻔﻆ \‪ \16r‬ﻣﻌﺎﻣﻼﺕ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻌﺰ ﻭﺍﻟﻔﺴﺎﺩ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺭﺽ‪ .‬ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻖ ﻟﺠﻤﻊ ﺍﻟﺜﻼﺛﺔ ﻭﺳﻜﻮﻥ ﺍﻟﻮﺣﺪﺓ ﻣﻦ ﺃﺟﺰﺍء ﻣﺎﻫﻴﺘﻪ‪.‬‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺨﻠﻖ ﻭﺗﻘﻤﻊ ﺍﻟﺬﻭﺍﺕ ﻭﺗﺰﻳﻞ ّ‬
‫ﺍﻷﻭﻝ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﻜﺸﻒ ﺟﻤﻴﻊ ﻣﺎ ﻏﺎﺏ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻣﺒﺘﺪﺋﻪ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‬ ‫ﻭﻳﻌﻴﺪ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ‪،‬‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻨﺎﻅﺮ‬ ‫ﻭﻳﺰﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻴﻪ‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎ ﻫﻮ‬ ‫ﻭﻫﻮ ﻣﺤﻘّﻖ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ﺃﻫﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻞ ﻓﻲ ﻛﺘﺒﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﻨﺰﻟﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﻄﺎﻟﺒﻬﻢ ﺑﻤﺪﻟﻮﻟﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﺤﺘ ّﺞ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﻢ ﺑﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﻳﻀﻊ ﺍﻟﺠﺰﻳﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﻦ ﺟﺤﺪ ﺭﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻲ‪ ،‬ﺻﻠّﻰ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠّﻢ‪.‬‬
‫‪89‬‬
‫ﻱ‪ .‬ﻭﻫﻮ ﺗﺴﺎﻋﻲ‪ ،‬ﻻ ﻳﻔﻘﺪ ﺃﺑﺪًﺍ‪ .‬ﻭﻳﺎ ﻫﺬﺍ‪ ،‬ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻖ ﺳﺎﺑﻊ ﺍﻟﻨﻄﻘﺎء‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩ‬ ‫>‪<...‬‬ ‫ﻳﺸﺎﻫﺪ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻘّﻖ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﺧﺎﺗﻤﻪ‪.‬‬
‫ﻲ ﺳﺒﻌﺔ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّﺎﻧ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺮ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺸﺨﺺ‬ ‫ﻳﻜﻤﻞ‬ ‫ﻭﻛﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺬﺍﺗﻲ‪.‬‬ ‫ﺍﻹﻧﺴﺎﻥ‬ ‫ﻭﻛﻤﺎﻝ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻌﺔ؛‬ ‫ﻳﻮﻡ‬ ‫ﻭﻫﻮ‬ ‫ﺍﻵﺧﺮ؛‬ ‫ﻭﺁﺧﺮﻫﻢ؛ ﻭﻫﻮ ﻳﻮﻡ ﷲ؛ ﻭﻫﻮ‬
‫ّ‬
‫ﺃﻳﺎﻡ‪ ،‬ﻳﺎ ﻫﺬﺍ‪ ،‬ﻓﻴﻮﻡ ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻌﺔ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻳﺠﻤﻊ ﻛ ّﻞ ﻣﺎ ﺗﺒﺪّﺩ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﻳﺎﻡ‪ .‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺻﻠﻰ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻏﻔﺮ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻟﺘﻔﺮﻳﻂ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪّﻡ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻷﻳﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﺨﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬
‫ﻗﺒﻠﻬﺎ؛ ﻭﻫﻲ ﺭﻛﻌﺘﺎﻥ‪ ،‬ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺣﺪ ﻟﻠﻤﻘﺪّﻡ ﻭﺍﻷﺧﺮﻯ ﻟﻠﻤﻘﻴﻢ؛ ﻭﺍﻟﺨﻄﺒﺔ ﺗﻘﺮﻳﺮ ﺍﻟﺨﻠﻖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺃﺣﻮﺍﻟﻬﻢ‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻓﻬﻢ ﺫﻟﻚ‪.‬‬
‫ﻳﺎ ﻫﺬﺍ‪ ،‬ﺍﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻨﻄﻘﺎء‪ 90،‬ﻟﻪ ﻗﻮﺓ ﻛ ّﻞ ﻭﺍﺣﺪ ﻣﻨﻬﻢ‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﻓﻼﻙ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺪﺭﺍﺭﻱ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ‪ .‬ﻣﺜﺎﻝ ﺫﻟﻚ‪ :‬ﻟﻪ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺯﺣﻞ‪ ،‬ﺍﻟﻤﺸﺮﻕ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎﺕ‪ ،‬ﻭﻗﺒﺾ ﺍﻟﺬﻭﺍﺕ ﻛﻠّﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻭﺣﺼﺮﻫﺎ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ‪ .‬ﻭﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﺸﺘﺮﻱ‪ ،‬ﻧﻤﻮ ﺍﻟﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﻭﺯﻳﺎﺩﺗﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ‬

‫||‬
‫‪ H‬ﺷﻴﺌﺎ ‪] scripsi‬ﺷﻲء ‪80‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺍﻧﺘﻌﺎﻝ ‪] scripsi‬ﺍﻧﺘﻘﺎﻝ ‪81‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻭﺑﺒﻴﻦ ‪] scripsi‬ﻭﻳﺒﻴﻦ ‪82‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻳﺘﺒﺪّﻯ ‪] scripsi‬ﺗﺘﺒﺪّﻯ ‪83‬‬
‫]ﺑﺤﺮﺍ ‪84‬‬
‫ً‬ ‫‪ H‬ﺑﺤﺮ ‪scripsi‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻭﻳﺘﻮﻟﺪ ‪] scripsi‬ﻭﺗﺘﻮﻟّﺪ ‪85‬‬
‫]ﻭﺗﺘﻔﺮﻉ ‪86‬‬
‫ّ‬ ‫‪ H‬ﻭﻳﺘﻔﺮﻉ ‪scripsi‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﻭﺗﺤﻘﻖ ‪] scripsi‬ﻭﻳﺤﻘّﻖ ‪87‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺍﻷﻭﻝ ‪] scripsi‬ﺍﻷﻭﻟﻰ ‪88‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺍﻟﻨﻄﻔﺎ ‪] scripsi‬ﺍﻟﻨﻄﻘﺎء ‪89‬‬
‫‪ H‬ﺍﻟﻨﻄﻔﺎ ‪] scripsi‬ﺍﻟﻨﻄﻘﺎء ‪90‬‬
388 | José Bellver

،‫ ﻭﻗﻮﺓ ﺍﻟﻌﺰﻡ ﻭﺍﻹﻗﺪﺍﻡ‬،‫ ﻭﺍﻟﻨﺼﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺃﻋﺪﺍء ﷲ‬،‫ ﺑﺄﻣﺮ ﷲ‬91‫ ﺍﻹﻗﺪﺍﻡ‬،‫ﺍﻟﻤﺮﻳﺦ‬
ّ ‫ ﻭﻣﻦ‬.‫ﺻﻮﺭﻩ ﻭﻓﻲ ﻧﺼﻴﺒﻪ ﻭﺗﻮﻟّﺪﺍﺕ‬
.‫ ﻭﻫﻮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﺜﺎﻝ‬.‫ ﻭﻛﺸﻒ ﺣﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮﺩﺍﺕ‬،‫ ﺍﻟﻈﻬﻮﺭ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺾ‬،‫ ﻭﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺸﻤﺲ‬.‫ ﻭﻗﻬﺮ ﺧﺼﻤﺎﺋﻪ‬،‫ﻭﺇﻅﻬﺎﺭ ﺣﺠّﺘﻪ‬
.‫ﻭﷲ ﺃﻋﻠﻢ ﺑﺎﻟﺼﻮﺍﺏ‬

6 Translation
/12v/ Book on the voyage along the pathway of the spiritual
kindred
Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds, the Guide to the clear truth of those who
have gone astray; and blessings and peace be upon the Seal of the prophets and
the messengers.
The poor servant of God, the knower (ʿārif), the wayfarer in God, Yaḥyā b.
ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn, says:
It is recommendable for the aspirant (murīd) and an obligation for the re-
turning wayfarer to know the degrees of the soul, the number of its divisions, its
attributes in himself, the restrictions inherent to it, and the restrictions inherent
to its states; and every individual [should know] where is he in /13r/ the uni-
verse and which soul he relates to, [i.e.] the inciting soul (ammāra), the inspired
soul (mulhama), the blaming soul (lawwāma), or the appeased soul
(muṭmaʾinna). He [should] know if what happens to him is excessive, deficient,
or in the middle point; and in case it is deficient, he [should] turn to God and go
back [to Him]; and if it is excessive, he [should] reject it and regard it as exces-
sive; and if he is standing still, he should stir up his states and seek perfection,
and no [other] good befalling a wayfarer is like this.
The master (shaykh) is the sage (ʿālim) and the arranger (mudabbir). The
meaning of ‘sage’ is such that through him knowledge is carried out; and the
meaning of ‘arranger’ is because he arranges things, frees them, and renders
them from being pure evil (sharr maḥḍ) to common good (khayr mushtarak), or
from limited good (khayr muqayyad) to absolute good (khayr muṭlaq), or from
pure good (khayr maḥḍ) to pure good, as it has been mentioned before. So, we
say that [the master] is a ‘sage’ because he knows the realities (ḥaqāʾiq) of the
affairs, i.e. he knows the realities of the things, be they perfect or defective. [He
is] an ‘arranger’ (mudabbir) in the sense that he renders things from defective-
ness to perfection. The meaning of ‘sage’ [attributed to the master] is because

||
91 ‫ ﺻﺪﺍﻉ ]ﺍﻹﻗﺪﺍﻡ‬add. sup. lin. H
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 389

he knows the primary substances (jawāhir aṣliyya) of things in that they are
detached from matters, whilst [he is] an ‘arranger’ in the sense that he frees
them, [i.e. the souls], from things which bring about firmness to them and
[from] the matter engulfing them; and the arrangement (tadbīr) brings them
back to their first substance. The meaning of ‘sage’ is because he unveils the
absolute being (al-anniyya al-muṭlaqa) said of every single thing and which is
fastened [to] everything in its neck.92 And ‘arranger’ [is] also [meant] in the
sense that he frees them from illusory things, made abundant by a sperm that
multiplies them, and he turns them back [to] their primary beings in which
things [have] their essence,93 and they are predicated from all, and [the book]
“does not leave anything small or big”.94
The aspirant is the one who enjoins his will with God, moves completely
towards Him and his occupation is to devote his attention to Him; and the de-
sired moves to the desired. An example of this is his attention devoted to his
source (umm). And he comes close to Him by His attributes, [i.e.] by assuming
the character traits related to them and the substantiation of what flows from
them. The first level of turning oneself to God (tawba) is to leave the pure evil
for the common good. You need the help of trusting in God (tawakkul), surren-
dering to Him (taslīm), entrusting your matters to Him (tafwīḍ) and the first,
second and third degrees of turning yourself to God (tawba) to cut the hin-
drances of the soul and to subjugate its character traits. /13v/ The first degree of
turning oneself to God is leaving the pure evil for the common good. The second
degree of turning oneself to God is leaving the limited good for the absolute
good. The third degree of turning oneself to God is leaving the pure good for the
pure good. The happiness of the Ṣūfī is to be freed from the physical appetites;
[it is] his realization to achieve the world of testimony (ʿālam al-shahāda); [it is]
the detachment from bodies and their faculties; the substantiation of the merci-
ful character traits; the extinction from the world of the soul; the permanence in
the presence of the True; to answer to God and His Messenger; and the compli-
ance [with God’s commands] in the measure of his possibility. To dwindle his
craving is a self-imposed condition to achieve the unity (waḥdāniyya) of the
True. [The aspirant] attains his happiness and asserts it in the lowly world
(dunyā) by an unveiling (kashf) of what dwells in the pre-eternal order (niẓām
qadīm); or by an inspiration confirmed by a prophetic information (khabar); or

||
92 See Qurʾān 17.13.
93 Both the edition and translation of this last sentence is tentative, since the Arabic text in
the manuscript seems corrupted.
94 Q: 18.49.
390 | José Bellver

by what becomes manifest to him after immersing in the command of God and
His Messenger; [or by] their witnessing in the station of excelling (iḥsān) or in
the permanence in the pure good – which consists in the signs of the satisfac-
tion of God, and in the essential separation of evil from his place; or by the real-
ization of the extinction in God; [or by] anything similar to this. And these are
the remarks regarding the aspirant according to the Ṣūfī path.
Know that for the Ṣūfīs the soul is linked to the pre-eternal essence, the
universal intellect, and the universal soul. All of this is in the vicinity of the
body, since the body is not separated, whilst the spiritual essence is. And yet,
we do not <…>95 say the first of ten. Consequently, he is an animal considering
his tasting, a human being considering his reasoning, a servant considering
that he experiences unveilings, goes back [to God], declares the unity of God,
obtains different kinds of dignity, and is described by truly pre-eternal attributes.
And this is the sense of his famous dictum, peace be upon him: “I was the hear-
ing by which he hears”.96
The ‘soul’ is a spiritual reality (maʿnā) which explains the causes and does
not understand, which knows and does not know. Its ignorance in itself is its
existence in the world of dominion (ʿālam al-mulk); whereas its knowledge in
itself is [namely] being present in the world of /14r/ sovereignty (ʿālam al-
malakūt), leaving behind its ignorance, inhabiting the world of compulsion
(ʿālam al-jabarūt), abandoning it, establishing what can be grasped from it
which cannot be grasped from the absolute pre-eternal, attaining to its outmost
reach, returning to its metaphorical reality (majāz), informing of it to its lime
(kils),97 deeming creation as insignificant, glorifying the bereft (maḥrūm), and
hiding (kufr) the veiled.
And this shows that the human being (insān) is perfect and in the middle
point (mutawassiṭ) considering his intellectual dimension, whilst he is deficient
considering his animal dimension and his bodily character traits. [This also
shows] that in him the good is essential, whilst the evil, which is predicated of
him by accident, is [namely] the plurality of blameworthy character traits, what
the Ṣūfīs call the ‘soul’, the devil, the shadow mentioned in “Hath there come

||
95 At this point in the Arabic text, there is a call on a short blank to a marginal note by the
scribe that may point to a lacuna in the text. Nevertheless, the scribe does not specify in the
margin the meaning of the call, whilst the current sentence, regardless of a possible lacuna, is
grammatical. However, the topic of the paragraph apparently changes in this point.
96 Al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ (2002), 1617, no. 6502.
97 A possible reference to the body.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 391

upon man”,98 the evil originated in the world of vices, the veil, and the fire
which tears to pieces the unity of the human being. And discussing their causes
and concomitants would be lengthy.
Know that between the True and the existents there is no temporal or spa-
tial degree. He exists with the things and takes upon their existence (yaqūmu bi-
wujūdihā), although they have no existence [in themselves], and there is no
closeness and no farness except according to the knowledge of Him, to the as-
sumption of His names as character traits, and to taking His attributes and qual-
ities as one’s own.
Know that the knowledge of God, exalted may He be, and the assumption of
His names as character traits (takhalluq bi-asmāʾi-Hi) are a grace that stirs the
conferred in the presence of the Conferrer through nice characters (khilaq ḥasa-
na), which are the attributes of the True. The attributes of the True are not su-
peradded to His essence, and variation is ascribed to the subject receiving the
attributes. Thus, the assumption of the attributes of the True, if His attributes
are His essence, is an attribute of the True; and the attribute, since it is not super-
added to the essence, is the True. And since there is no division in His essence, He
is eternally permanent. Therefore, the one who has assumed the [divine] charac-
ter traits knows God [and is] eternally permanent. In like manner, God, exalted
may He be, said to whom He bore witness of his immense nature (khuluq
ʿaẓīm):99 “Those who swear allegiance unto thee, swear allegiance only unto
Allāh”100 because of the fact that his characters, which are the attributes of the
True, are His essence, and because his knowledge is [His] knowledge. So, un-
derstand this. To free oneself completely from the blameworthy character traits
completely unites with the True. And considering that /14v/ this is a rule for any
time, so come close in accordance with your assumption of the character traits
and knowledge. These are the remarks on the soul according to the approach of
the Ṣūfīs in which we talk with words which stir passionate love in the enam-
ored and bring sorrow to an end.
Now, I will talk about the soul with another faculty (quwwa),101 [about] the
Ṣūfī master, be he a spiritual essence (rūḥ) or an attribute (ṣifa), and [about] the

||
98 Q: 76.1 (trans. Pickthall). The author is referring to sūra 76, i.e. al-Dahr. This may be a refe-
rence to 76.14, “the shade thereof is close upon them and the clustered fruits thereof bow
down” (trans. Pickthall), although the shade referred to here is part of the description of Para-
dise.
99 A reference to the Prophet. See Q: 68.4.
100 Q: 48.10 (trans. Pickthall).
101 The faculty (quwwa) referred to by the author, in the context of a section which primarily
deals with the muḥaqqiq, is rather intriguing. This quwwa may refer to the one Ibn Sabʿīn defi-
392 | José Bellver

aspirant, be he firmly established or common good in his beginnings, limited

good while traveling the pathway, or pure good at the end. The [noun] ‘realizer’
(muḥaqqiq), [i.e. the one who makes the aspirant achieve true reality], is an
answering noun (ism) to the utmost degree of the named, and his aspirant
(murīd) is a veracious (ṣiddīq) who takes from the name with no connecting
cause or rational proof. [The realizer] is attentive (ṣāghī) but detached and pure-
ly unmixed, [although with] perfect contemplation.102 [The realizer] is an abso-
lute word (kalima muṭlaqa), whilst his aspirant is an absolute created being
(kawn muṭlaq). Or [the realizer] is an encompassing circle (iḥāṭa), whilst its
aspirant103 is the encompassed by it.104 He is like one within the encompassing
circle who aspires to the sections (ajzāʾ) of the encompassing circle and to all of
its degrees (marātib). Or [the realizer] is the absolute effusion (fayḍ muṭlaq),
whilst his aspirant is the absolute reception (qubūl muṭlaq). And with this in
view, he is the divine deputyship (khilāfa ilāhiyya), because he grips the worlds
and assists them with single help. And from him, his aspirant receives, in all the
worlds, a different speech for every species, in agreement with [their kind of]
existence, because the realizer does not have a quiddity (māhiyya) inside crea-
tion (kawn), and the way his quiddity is conventionally perceived is the meta-
phor, [whereas] it exists as reality. The Reality (ḥaqīqa) sums up the worlds, and
they are parts of its quiddity, and it transforms the numbers into the one. The
True effuses and every being receives [His effusion] in the measure of its predis-
position (istiʿdād). The mineral receives [His effusion] in the form of being inan-
imate; plants receive it in the form of growth; the animal in the form of sensa-
tion; and the human being in the form of thinking. His intellectual vision, his
intellect and [in general] the intellects are in the measure of their predisposi-

||
ned as a gathering unsurmountable all-encompassing word (kalima jāmiʿa māniʿa muḥīṭa).
This faculty, or level of the soul, encompasses all other faculties, including the mind (dhihn).
See Ibn Sabʿīn, “Risālat al-Iḥāṭa”, in Rasāʾil (2007), 193–212, here 194. Additionally, Ibn Sabʿīn
points out that the muqarrab, i.e. the muḥaqqiq, speaks to every degree of existence with his
faculty, i.e. the faculty of the muḥaqqiq, which partakes that degree of existence. The fact that
Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn addresses the topic with a specific faculty of the soul, above the one with
which Ṣūfism is discussed, may point to the fact that Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn regarded himself as a
muḥaqqiq. See Ibn Sabʿīn, “Mulāḥaẓāt Budd al-ʿārif”, in Rasāʾil (2007), 329–339, here 332. The
Mulāḥaẓāt Budd al-ʿārif was commonly known as Miftāḥ Budd al-ʿārif or al-Fatḥ al-mushtarik.
102 This is a rather tentative translation of a likely corrupted sentence.
103 I.e., the aspirant aiming for the encompassing circle, i.e. God.
104 See Ibn Sabʿīn, “al-Risāla al-faqīriyya”, in Rasāʾil (2007), 64, where the center of the circle
is the limited existence associated with created beings, while the perimeter of the circle exem-
plifies absolute existence. Instead, Ibn Sabʿīn’s iḥāṭa, as in his Risālat al-Iḥāṭa, is an expression
of absolute existence in which the center is as absolute existence as the perimeter or the radii.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 393

tion, and this is so until the end of the world. Or it [i.e. the Reality or the quiddi-
ty of the realizer] is the universal intellect from a certain point of view. Or they
are the knowledge, [and by them] I mean the realizer, the veracious and his
foundation (taʾṣīl).
Now, I will provide some examples common among us. So, we say: [the Re-
ality or the quiddity of the realizer] is a rope (sabab) considering [the aspirant’s]
body,105 a plant considering his growth, an animal considering his attribute and
motion, /15r/ a human being considering his thinking and intellectual vision, a
virtuous (ṣāliḥ) considering his action in some of his matters and his failure in
most of them, a knowledgeable in the rational sciences (ḥakīm) considering the
grasping of the intellects already mentioned, a sphere (falak) considering his
rotation around his axis (quṭb), his capability (qudra) considering his stretch
from his essence and his return to it, an angel considering that he is detached,
freed and separated from matter, and [that he is] pure good and a sage (ʿālim) of
God with non-rational (ghayr naẓarī) knowledge. Thus, he is the form (ṣūra) of
the universe and detached from matter. His master assists him in all these
worlds, and he is true and a word (kalima).
This is what has been mentioned before, and the discussion following the
above is now presented – so be satisfied with what you will find here. If this
noun (ism) is suitable for his intellect, and rational knowledge (ḥikma) stirs to
address the human being in the measure of his intellect, then what is found in
his spiritual states (aḥwāl) addresses his intellect; and what is imposed onto
him by his spiritual method (ṭarīq) in accordance with his kinship succeeds.
Consequently, for every group their intellect is their method, and with it, they
judge, go back and in their littleness direct their attention to their eminence.
And so, for the spiritual kindred (qawm), their method is their universal intel-
lect; they borrow from it, and from it they take [their knowledge]. So, under-
stand this and ask the loving ones of your brethren, those who firmly believe
among your lineage, [i.e.] a man who acknowledges God (ʿārif bi-Llāh), who will
guide you to God, exalted may He be, since one truthful imitator of your broth-
ers is equivalent to the knower (ʿārif) from the point of view of his absence of
denial and the reception of the realities, and the [truthful imitator] is over the
[knower] regarding his high rank and is below him regarding his direct
knowledge (maʿrifa).

||
105 Here the author seems to be considering the term sabab, pl. asbāb, which is usually trans-
lated as ‘cause’, i.e. secondary cause, in its original sense of ‘rope’, since the author views
materiality, and thus the bodily, as a rope tethering the soul.
394 | José Bellver

In all, the essences effected by the realizer (dhawāt mutaḥaqqiqa) acknowl-

edging God and His Messenger are one of us. If we advance or are delayed from
the temporal point of view, direct knowledge (maʿrifa), which is in the sub-
stance of the soul, considering that [the substance of the soul] is separated, is
not subjected to time. And if the number of individuals [with direct knowledge]
increases, their substance remains one, whilst their properties are varied. And
the same happens regarding their shares of direct knowledge (maʿrifa), since
the knower (ʿārif) knows the True by means of the True, and the knowledge
(ʿilm) that God, exalted may He be, has of His essence does not change, so con-
sequently the knower does not change. Thus, the knowledge which God has of
His essence is one, and therefore the knower is one. So, understand this.
Regarding the realizers, the advanced one is the delayed one and vice versa.
From here, it is understood how /15v/ the ideal form (ṣūra maʿnawiyya) becomes
manifested. Jesus became manifested by means of the spirit and the word. And
so, considering his grasping of the realities of things, he spoke to the people
from the cradle, and [the cradle] is the divine carrying ship (safīna ḥāmila
ilāhiyya) – and do not take the cradle like the common and the jurists take it,
because the metaphoric sense would meddle in the real world. Similarly, [this is
so] considering that the previous divine law (sharīʿa) was committed to his
memory – and this is the meaning of the divine law of the Prophet, peace be
upon him. And he unveiled the realities of [the divine law] and their explana-
tions. And in like manner, [this is so] considering that his knowledge (ʿilm)
comes from God, exalted may He be, and he had no father from whom he would
have benefitted. In all, the detached essences are one as stated before. And the
word is the spirit, [and the spirit] is He (al-kalima hiya al-rūḥ huwa huwa). So,
understand this.
And his106 word “Jesus descends” intends, with the above in mind, the de-
scent of the unveiling spirit and of the confirming word, and this is so consider-
ing what is mentioned in this regard and considering the outflow (taṣarruf) of
the spiritual over the bodily. Do not be concerned by anything regarding the loci
of manifestation (maẓāhir).107 He [i.e. the unveiling spirit, that is the confirming
word, in his descent exemplified by Jesus] makes the outward (ẓāhir) as the
inward (bāṭin) and vice versa. He moves to an utmost point without changing
his position. He joins together [all the worlds covered over his descent] without

||
106 The author may refer here to the Prophet.
107 I.e. the apparent differences in the manifested beings are produced by the loci of manifes-
tation, and not by the spiritual reality detached from matter which they manifest; so, do not be
concerned by the apparent differences.
 The Influence of Andalusi Ṣūfism on the Central Islamicate World | 395

detachment (tajrīd) [from matter]. This is the unity of existence (waḥdat al-
wujūd). He makes them one in the spiritual and the bodily and removes the
relation (iḍāfa) in the place of illusions (maḥall al-awhām);108 and thus, he is
Muḥammadī. Considering that he effaces the methods (ṭuruq) and the occupa-
tions, abrogates the schools (madhāhib), knows all in reality, makes the differ-
ence evident, and no one remains except he who enters with him in his path, he
is then AAAN.109 Considering that the worlds are manifested in the form of a sea,
essences originate from it, and the worlds ramify, he is AAAM.110 And consider-
ing that he drags the worlds, draws them away from the bodies, brings the sepa-
rated substances of the soul into effect, and unveils the first principles, he is
then AAAL111 AAAK.112 Oh you!, the divine deputyship (khilāfa ilāhiyya) produces
the essences, makes them evident, originates the worlds, lowers, lifts, grips,
unfolds, punishes, and bestows. And the commentary of all of the above cannot
be carried out in the present book.
The prophetic deputyship (khilāfa nabawiyya) improves the worlds, gives
information about the hidden, and unveils the realities of things; whilst the
deputyship of the ahead (khilāfat al-sibq) preserves /16r/ the conducts of creat-
ed beings, subdues the essences, and removes the high standing (ʿizz) and cor-
ruption (fasād) from earth. The realizer (muḥaqqiq) combines all three [deputy-
ships] and the quietness of unity from parts of his quiddity. He is the realizer of
the True the way he is. He supplies the contemplator (nāẓir) with the whole;
returns the sage (ʿālim) to his first origin; unveils what the people of the differ-
ent religious adscriptions do not penetrate in their revealed books; calls for their
return with the meanings contained in [these books]; argues against them with
[these books]; and imposes the tax (jizya) on whom rejects the message of the
Prophet, God’s blessings and peace be upon him.
The realizer already mentioned regards his seal. <…> Maḥmūdī. [The seal] is
a nonagon (tusāʿī) and it is never lost. Oh you!, the realizer is the seventh
speaker (nuṭaqāʾ), and the last of them. He is the day of God, and the last one.
He is the Friday (yawm al-jumʿa), the perfection of the essential human being
(insān dhātī). And as the lordly individual completes seven days, oh you!, in
Friday everything which is scattered throughout the days [of the week] is gath-
ered. Whoever prays in that day, God forgives the negligence in the previous

||
108 I.e. unity is beyond the category of relation.
109 Its abjad value is 53.
110 Its abjad value is 43.
111 Its abjad value is 33.
112 Its abjad value is 23.
396 | José Bellver

days. The prayer consists of two cycles (rakʿa): the first stands for the previous
[days of the week] and the last for the current one; while the sermon makes
mankind acknowledge their spiritual states. So, understand this.
Oh you!, the seventh speaker has the powers of the other speakers. [He has
the powers which he receives] from the spheres as well, and from the firma-
ments too. An example of this is the following: from Saturn, he receives the
capability to illuminate knowledge (mushriq ʿalā al-maʿlūmāt), to grip all the
essences, and to gather them with him; from Jupiter, the capability to make the
realities grow, to increase them according to his forms and in his participation,
and engenderings; from Mars, the fearlessness in performing the command of
God, the victory against the enemies of God, the power of determination and
fearlessness, the manifestation of His proof (ḥujja), and the subjugation of His
opponents; and from the Sun, the pure appearance, and the unveiling of the
realities of the existents. And so forth according to this example. And God
knows what is right.

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Kentaro Sato
Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of
Knowledge in Mamlūk Cairo

1 Introduction
In Muḥarram 791 H/January 1389 CE, Ibn Khaldūn (732–808 H/1332–1406 CE) was
appointed as a professor of ḥadīth at the Ṣarghitmish madrasa in Cairo. He chose
to lecture on al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the famous ḥadīth collection compiled by Mālik ibn
Anas (d. 179 H/795 CE). His first lecture, before starting on the body of the text,
focused on his isnād and the brief introduction of the author and book. For his
autobiography, Ibn Khaldūn reproduced the full text of his first lecture, including
his isnād that traces back to the author Mālik.1 Figure 1 is the reconstructed isnād
of Ibn Khaldūn based on his lecture text.2
One of the remarkable things in this figure is that it shows only Maghribi3
scholars’ names, and none of Mashriqi scholars’, except the author Mālik. It is
true that Ibn Khaldūn was born in Tunis and lived in various cities and towns in
al-Maghrib, such as Fez, Granada, and others, until he finally migrated to Cairo
around the age of 50. Given that he learned from Maghribi scholars in the early
stages of his life and inherited the Maghribi tradition of knowledge, it does not
seem so surprising that his isnād does not include any Mashriqi scholars’ names.

||
1 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 293–310. For his appointment, see also Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr
(1986), 2: 347–348; al-Maqrīzī, al-Sulūk (1939–73), 3: 589–590.
2 Identification of transmitters in the Figures 1 and 2 is based on Lirola Delgado/Puerta Vílchez
2004–12 as well as medieval biographical dictionaries cited in the bibliography. I, however, have
not specified sources of the identification for each transmitter.
3 In this article, the term al-Maghrib refers to the Muslim West as a whole, including al-Andalus.

Open Access. © 2021 Kentaro Sato, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-014
400 | Kentaro Sato

Fig. 1: Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn

In the Maghribi context, however, knowledge comes from the east. There indeed
was a disparity between the west and the east in terms of the authority of
knowledge. Since the early Islamic period, many Maghribi scholars travelled to
the east and studied there. However, travel and learning in the opposite direction
was rare.4 Knowledge brought back from the east was deemed authoritative in
the west and Maghribi scholars who returned from the east were highly re-
spected.
One such scholar is Ibn Rushayd (657–721 H/1259–1321 CE), called al-raḥḥāla
or the great traveller. He was born in Ceuta and travelled to the east in the 680s

||
4 In the case of al-Andalus, we have a quantitative analysis relevant to this point. The Biblioteca
de al-Andalus, a monumental ‘Data Base’ of Andalusi authors, includes entries of 2,465 authors
who were born in al-Andalus or came from other places and left their mark in al-Andalus. Of the
2,294 authors born in al-Andalus, 383 (i.e. 16.7%) travelled to al-Mashriq. On the other hand,
only 40 Mashriqi-born authors were found on the intellectual scene of al-Andalus. See Lirola
Delgado 2013, 22–32, 54–60.
 Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of Knowledge in Mamlūk Cairo | 401

H/1280s CE. After returning to the west with abundant knowledge which he had
acquired from many Mashriqi scholars, he became a renowned ḥadīth scholar in
Granada and Fez. In fact, the name of Ibn Rushayd appears in Ibn Khaldūn’s
isnād, but in his lecture in Cairo, he told that Ibn Rushayd transmitted al-Mu-
waṭṭaʾ from the scholars of Ceuta and al-Andalus, omitting their names, saying,
“They are not in my memory at present”.5
Thus, in Cairo, Ibn Khaldūn presented himself as a scholar based exclusively
on the Maghribi tradition of knowledge. This might reflect his enduring attach-
ment to al-Maghrib; in Cairo Ibn Khaldūn continued to dress in the Maghribi style
and maintained contact with Maghribi rulers and scholars.6 However, my objec-
tive here is not to examine this isnād from the viewpoint of his personality. Ra-
ther, my question is: What was the advantage of his Maghribi isnād? Was it ac-
cepted in Cairo, and, if accepted, how and to what degree?

2 Advantages of Ibn Khaldūn’s isnād

Ibn Khaldūn’s isnād has two advantages that could attract students. One is the
fact that it goes back to Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (152?–234 H/769?–849 CE), an
influential scholar in 3rd/9th-century Córdoba. He travelled from al-Andalus to
the east, learned directly from Mālik ibn Anas in Medina, and brought back his
teachings to his homeland. It is said that there were 15 transmitted versions
(riwāyas) of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, as the author Mālik himself did not leave a definitive
text and his work was transmitted by several of his disciples, including Yaḥyā ibn
Yaḥyā. Of the 15 versions, Yaḥyā’s was the most widespread, being one of the two
surviving versions in their entirety in our days.7 In his lecture, Ibn Khaldūn said
that once Yaḥyā had introduced al-Muwaṭṭaʾ to the west, people were satisfied
only with his version and abandoned the others, until everyone learned the
Yaḥyā version in both the east and the west in Ibn Khaldūn’s time.8 It seems that
the case was not so different in Cairo either. When enumerating various versions
of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, al-Suyūṭī (849–911 H/1445–1505 CE), a prolific scholar in
9th/15th-century Cairo, placed the Yaḥyā version above the others and gave the

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5 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 310.
6 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Rafʿ al-iṣr (1998), 235; Fischel 1967, 23–25.
7 Schacht, “Mālik b. Anas”, EI2, 6: 264.
8 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 304–305.
402 | Kentaro Sato

most detailed accounts.9 As Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā transmitted his version to his disci-
ples in Córdoba, its isnād would naturally consist of the names of Maghribi schol-
ars, especially Cordoban ones. To learn the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, one
needed to rely on the Maghribi tradition.
The second advantage lies in the line from Aḥmad Ibn Baqī (537–625 H/1143–
1228 CE) to Ibn Hārūn al-Ṭāʾī (603–702 H/1207–1303 CE) among the many other
lines in Ibn Khaldūn’s isnād. This line leads to Ibn Khaldūn by way of his four
teachers: al-Wādī Āshī (673–749 H/1274–1348 CE), al-Ābilī (681–757 H/1282–1356
CE), Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām (676–749 H/1277-8–1348 CE), and al-Balafīqī (680–771
H/1281-2–1370 CE). Ibn Khaldūn himself does not detail its advantage;10 however,
there are other Maghribi scholars who learned al-Muwaṭṭaʾ with the same line of
isnād and emphasized its value and excellence. For example, a scholar of Ceuta,
al-Qāsim al-Tujībī (ca. 670–730 H/ca. 1271–1329-30 CE) recorded his isnād of the
Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ.11 He learned it in Tunis from the elderly teacher Ibn
Hārūn al-Ṭāʾī, who was probably more than 70 years old at the time judging from
the birth years of the two. Ibn Hārūn, in his turn, had learned it from his teacher
Ibn Baqī, again quite old. Al-Tujībī considers this line as a great and lofty one
(isnād jalīl ʿālin) because Ibn Hārūn was the last disciple of his teacher Ibn Baqī.
Moreover, Ibn Baqī was the last disciple of his teacher Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-
Khazrajī (d. ca. 560 H/1164-5 CE), and al-Khazrajī and all the transmitters of ear-
lier generations were also the last disciples of their respective teachers.12 As is
well known, the transmission of knowledge from an aged teacher is highly es-
teemed, especially in ḥadīth transmission, because it reduces the number of
transmitters, thus drawing the disciple closer to the authority of the author or the
Prophet Muḥammad.
In addition, the location where Ibn Hārūn learned from Ibn Baqī was also
important. Al-Tujībī says that Ibn Baqī transmitted al-Muwaṭṭaʾ to Ibn Hārūn be-
tween 617 H/1220-1 CE and 620 H/1223-4 CE “in the room of his ancestor Baqī ibn
Makhlad – May God give him mercy – in Córdoba – May God restore it – (bi-
ghurfat jaddi-hi Baqī ibn Makhlad, raḥima-hu Allāh taʿālā, bi-Qurṭuba, aʿāda-hā
Allāh taʿālā)”.13 Baqī ibn Makhlad (201–276 H/817–889 CE) was a distinguished
scholar in 3rd/9th-century Córdoba and his residence apparently remained in his

||
9 Al-Suyūṭī, Tazyīn al-mamālik (2010), 113.
10 He only describes this line as “lofty paths (ṭuruq ʿāliya)” in explanation of his learning from
Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām. See Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 19.
11 Al-Tujībī, Barnāmaj (1981), 53–54.
12 Al-Tujībī, Barnāmaj (1981), 54–55.
13 Al-Tujībī, Barnāmaj (1981), 53.
 Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of Knowledge in Mamlūk Cairo | 403

descendants’ hands even in the 7th/13th century. Al-Tujībī also says that this
isnād connected scholars to Mālik through native Cordobans (al-Qurṭubiyyīn al-
baladiyyīn) because all the transmitters from Ibn Hārūn to Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā were
Cordobans, and that the isnād is rare and precious (nādir mustaṭraf).14 The Islamic
city of Córdoba was conquered by the Christian king of Castile, Fernando III, in
633 H/1236 CE, only a dozen years after the transmission from Ibn Baqī to Ibn
Hārūn. Therefore, Ibn Hārūn belonged to the last generation that could learn in
Islamic Córdoba. Most likely the critical situation in his native town was why he
emigrated from Córdoba to Tunis, though we do not know the details of his emi-
gration. This line of isnād from Ibn Hārūn to Ibn Baqī must have brought back
memories of the lost Islamic city of Córdoba for Muslim scholars.
Al-Tujībī is not the only scholar who exalted this isnād. Al-Wādī Āshī, one of
Ibn Khaldūn’s teachers, also said that he did not know at the time any isnād on
earth loftier than this one (mā aʿlamu al-āna ʿalā wajh al-arḍ aʿlā min hādhā al-
sanad). 15 This isnād was highly appreciated and diffused in al-Maghrib, espe-
cially among those scholars who learned in Tunis where Ibn Hārūn emigrated to,
taught, and died. Many Maghribi scholars shared the same isnād with Ibn Khal-
dūn.16

3 Acceptance of the Maghribi tradition in Cairo

Ibn Khaldūn’s isnād was of particular advantage, at least in al-Maghrib. The ques-
tion then arises whether this advantage was accepted as such in Cairo as well.
Unfortunately, I could not identify any specific scholar who attended his lecture
at the Ṣarghitmish madrasa. It is true that some scholars of Cairo, including the
famous historian al-Maqrīzī (766–845 H/1364–1442 CE) and prominent ḥadīth
scholar Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (773–852 H/1372–1449 CE), studied with Ibn Khal-
dūn in Cairo, especially his book on history. Also, Ibn Khaldūn’s entry appears in
the record of Ibn Ḥajar’s learning, al-Majmaʿ al-muʾassas.17 According to that, Ibn
Khaldūn wrote an ijāza for Ibn Ḥajar, mentioning al-Muwaṭṭaʾ transmitted from

||
14 Al-Tujībī, Barnāmaj (1981), 57.
15 Al-Wādī Āshī, Barnāmaj (1980), 188.
16 For example, see Ibn Rushayd, Milʾ al-ʿayba (1981), 144–145; al-Balawī, Tāj al-mafriq (n.d.),
177–178.
17 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Majmaʿ al-muʾassas (1992–94), 3: 159. This work is an adaptation of his record
al-Muʿjam al-mufahras; the former is arranged by teachers from whom he learned while the latter
by books that he studied.
404 | Kentaro Sato

Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām but without further details or isnād. It seems that Ibn Ḥajar did
not really attend any lecture of ḥadīth by Ibn Khaldūn, just received the ijāza.18
Nevertheless, Ibn Ḥajar learned the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ from an-
other teacher with an isnād similar to that of Ibn Khaldūn. He shows his isnād in
detail in the record of his learning, al-Muʿjam al-mufahras and al-Majmaʿ al-
muʾassas (Fig. 2).19 According to that, he learned the Yaḥyā version from scholars
both in Cairo and Damascus. One of his teachers in Cairo, Ibrāhīm al-Tanūkhī
(709–800 H/1309-10–1398 CE), in turn, learned it from al-Wādī Āshī, i.e. one of
Ibn Khaldūn’s teachers in Tunis.20 The isnād continues to al-Wādī Āshī’s teacher,
Ibn Hārūn, and then to the Cordoban Ibn Baqī. Although Ibn Ḥajar did not in-
clude Ibn Khaldūn among his teachers of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, he definitely shared the
isnād with Ibn Khaldūn.
Ibn Ḥajar also recognized the advantage of this isnād. He cites a remark by
al-Wādī Āshī, which was transmitted from his teacher Ibn al-Kharrāṭ: “There are
two advantages (maziyyatān) in the isnād of Ibn Hārūn. One of them is that all the
men in the isnād are Cordobans (Qurṭubiyyūn) until Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā. The other
is that there is no ijāza in it”. He also cites a similar remark by Abū Ḥayyān, which
was transmitted by another teacher of his, al-Tanūkhī.21 Ibn Ḥajar and his teach-
ers in Cairo well understood the advantage of the isnād as the Cordoban tradition.

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18 Al-Sakhāwī records names of some other scholars who learned from Ibn Khaldūn. One of
them, Ibn al-Shammāʿ (791–863 H/1389–1459 CE), learned ḥadīth from him, but al-Sakhāwī does
not detail it. There were others who received an ijāza from Ibn Khaldūn. See al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ
(1353–55 H), 9: 142. See also Rosenthal 2000.
19 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Muʿjam al-mufahras (1998), 36–37; Ibn Ḥajar, al-Majmaʿ al-muʾassas (1992–94),
1: 106–108; 2: 540–542.
20 When al-Sakhāwī described Ibn Ḥajar’s learning of the Yaḥyā version, he mentioned only al-
Tanūkhī as a transmitter. See al-Sakhāwī, al-Jawāhir (1999), 1: 245. This is probably due to the
significance of al-Tanūkhī among the other teachers of Ibn Ḥajar.
21 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Muʿjam al-mufahras (1998), 37.
 Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of Knowledge in Mamlūk Cairo | 405

Fig. 2: Isnād of Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

If scholars in Cairo accepted the Maghribi isnād of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ as worth learning,

how did they learn it? Some Mashriqi scholars might have travelled all the way to
the west and learned it directly from Maghribi scholars. For example, ʿAbd al-
Raḥīm al-ʿIrāqī (725–806 H/1325–1403 CE), who was born in Cairo to a man of
Iraqi origin, travelled to many cities of Egypt, Syria, and Hejaz to learn ḥadīth
from various transmitters. He was very eager to travel even to Tunis so that he
could learn the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ from a khaṭīb at the Zaytūna mosque
in Tunis, although he could not fulfil his wish.22
However, ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-ʿIrāqī’s attempt to travel to Tunis was probably
exceptional. Most scholars in Cairo did not intend to make a long journey to the
west, nor did they need to. Rather, they could learn the Maghribi tradition of
knowledge in the east, because many Maghribi scholars came from the west. As
mentioned above, one of Ibn Ḥajar’s teachers, Ibrāhīm al-Tanūkhī, learned the

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22 Ibn Fahd al-Makkī, Laḥẓ al-alḥāẓ (n.d.), 225. See also Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1986), 5: 171;
al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1353–55 H), 4: 171.
406 | Kentaro Sato

Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ from a Maghribi scholar, al-Wādī Āshī. The latter
was born in Tunis and probably learned the Yaḥyā version in his native town from
two Andalusi scholars, Ibn al-Ghammāz and Ibn Hārūn. Afterwards, he travelled
to the east twice; hence, he was called ṣāḥib al-riḥlatayn, or man of two travels.23
During these travels, he learned from many Mashriqi scholars and brought back
a lot of knowledge to the west as is the usual case with Maghribi scholars, and he
also taught and transmitted the Maghribi tradition of knowledge to Mashriqi
scholars. He transmitted the Yaḥyā version to Ibrāhīm al-Tanūkhī on the occasion
of his second travel, which begins in 734 H/1333-4 CE.24 The other teacher of al-
Tanūkhī, Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī (654–745 H/1256–1344 CE), was a scholar from
the west, too. He is primarily famous as a grammarian but also acquired
knowledge from many other fields, including ḥadīth. Born in Granada, he left al-
Andalus around 679 H/1280 CE and travelled to the east. On his way, he stopped
in Tunis, where he learned the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ from the Cordoban
immigrant Ibn Hārūn. After the pilgrimage to Mecca, he settled in Cairo, where,
seemingly, al-Tanūkhī learned from him.
Of course, these two teachers of al-Tanūkhī were not the first to travel from
the west to the east. Maghribi scholars had come to al-Mashriq in much earlier
periods and transmitted the Maghribi tradition of knowledge. Again, according
to Ibn Ḥajar, his teacher al-Tanūkhī transmitted the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ
to him with a line of isnād which goes back to a 5th/11th-century Andalusi
scholar, al-Ḥumaydī (420–488 H/1029–1095 CE).25 Born in the Majorca island, he
travelled to the east for the pilgrimage in 440 H/1048-9 CE. After visiting Cairo,
Damascus, and other cities, he finally settled in Baghdad. There, he transmitted
the Yaḥyā version to his disciples. Another teacher of Ibn Ḥajar, Najm al-Dīn al-
Bālisī (730–804 H/1329-30–1401 CE) had an isnād that went back to Abū Bakr al-
Ṭurṭūshī (451–520 H/1059?–1126 CE). This prolific Andalusi scholar travelled to
the east in 476 H/1083 CE and established himself in Alexandria. He transmitted
the Yaḥyā version to his pupil Abū Ṭāhir Ibn ʿAwf (485–581 H/1092-3–1185-6 CE),
who was from a famous intellectual family in Alexandria and was related to him
by marriage.26

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23 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 18.
24 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (n.d.), 4: 34. Al-Wādī Āshī also left his traits in other Mashriqi cities be-
sides Cairo. For example, he visited Hejaz and transmitted the Yaḥyā version to Ibn Farḥūn (d.
799 H/1397 CE) in Medina in 746 H/1345-6 CE. See Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (1996), 401.
25 See Adang’s article included in this volume.
26 Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (1996), 155–157.
 Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of Knowledge in Mamlūk Cairo | 407

When the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ was transmitted to the east, a

Mashriqi pupil needed to meet a Maghribi teacher. Such an encounter, however,
always happened in the east, in Alexandria, Medina, Baghdad, and above all in
Cairo. Maghribi scholars had much reason to travel to the east, either for the pil-
grimage or the learning. Therefore, Mashriqi pupils could only expect that their
future instructors would come to their country and bring them the Maghribi tra-
dition of knowledge so that they do not need to take pains to travel to the west.
Ibn Khaldūn was just one of those Maghribi scholars who travelled from the west
to the east.
Finally, to what degree was the Maghribi tradition of knowledge valuable in
Cairo? Ibn Khaldūn often compared knowledge to commodities (baḍāʾiʿ).27 Fol-
lowing his comparison, we may say that the Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ was a
speciality of al-Maghrib, which was not produced in al-Mashriq. Therefore, schol-
ars of Cairo were eager to acquire it and Maghribi scholars could teach it or, we
may say, “sell” it as a Maghribi speciality. When Ibn Khaldūn chose the Yaḥyā
version for his lecture at the Ṣarghitmish madrasa, he probably took this point
into consideration. He knew what students in Cairo expected from a Maghribi
teacher.28
In Cairo, however, scholars could easily acquire specialities from other re-
gions. Ibn Ḥajar learned six more versions of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ besides the Maghribi
Yaḥyā version. One of them, riwāya of Abū Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī (150–242 H/767-8–
857 CE), was transmitted to him by Badr al-Dīn al-Bālisī (721–803 H/1321–1401 CE)
in Ṣāliḥiyya quarter of Damascus’s suburbs. Abū Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī was a disciple
of Mālik ibn Anas, like Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, but unlike Yaḥyā, he was a scholar of
Medina; hence, as a matter of course, Maghribi transmitters’ names do not appear
in its isnād to the Damascene Badr al-Dīn al-Bālisī.29 Ibn Ḥajar did not need any

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27 For example, he described the prosperity of Egypt during the reign of Mamlūk sultan al-Nāṣir
Muḥammad at the beginning of the 8th/14th century, saying: “Holders of the commodities (al-
baḍāʾiʿ), including intellectuals and merchants, travelled to Egypt”. See Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf
(1951), 319.
28 Actually, Mashriqi scholars did not lack interest in Maghribi tradition. They included some
entries of Andalusi traditionists in their biographical works, though the percentage of Andalusis
fluctuates according to the works or the ages. Around one third of the 6th–7th/12th–13th-century
traditionists recorded in Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ by al-Dhahabī are Andalusis, while their percentage
is extremely low in the same compiler’s Mīzān al-iʿtidāl. See Fierro/Zanón 1988; Vizcaíno 1990.
29 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Muʿjam al-mufahras (1998), 37–38.
408 | Kentaro Sato

Maghribi tradition of knowledge for this version although it was transmitted even
in the West, as documented by Ibn ʿAṭiyya (d. 541 H/1147 CE) in his Fihris.30
In this regard, Ibn Khaldūn’s predecessor at Ṣarghitmish madrasa, Naṣr
Allāh al-Baghdādī (733–812 H/1332-3–1409 CE), might be relevant. He was born
in Baghdad, almost a contemporary to Ibn Khaldūn. He studied in his hometown
and became famous particularly for his knowledge of ḥadīth. He was even ap-
pointed as a professor of ḥadīth at the prestigious Mustanṣiriyya madrasa of
Baghdad. Immediately after he emigrated to Cairo in 790 H/1388 CE over fears of
Timur’s invasion, he was successively appointed as a professor of ḥadīth and
Ḥanbalī law at several madrasas, including Ṣarghitmish madrasa.31
Ṣarghitmish madrasa was founded in 757 H/1356 CE by Mamlūk amīr Ṣar-
ghitmish, who was inclined to the Ḥanafī school of law and non-Arab foreigners
(ʿajam). Its endowment deeds (waqfiyya) stipulated clauses fostering the teach-
ings of Ḥanafī school to foreign students. According to Leonor Fernandes, such
learning institutions were founded by sultans and amīrs to attract prominent
scholars from other countries so that Cairo would be the centre of the Muslim
world.32 At present, I am not aware whether such an intention was the case with
the appointments of Ibn Khaldūn and Naṣr Allāh al-Baghdādī, as both taught
ḥadīth not Ḥanafī law and were never ʿajam. Nonetheless, both were foreigners
in Cairo and brought specialities of their own countries. Naṣr Allāh al-Baghdādī
could likely have transmitted the Iraqi tradition of knowledge, just as Ibn Khal-
dūn transmitted the Maghribi tradition of knowledge.
Cairo was certainly an intellectual centre with an extensive array of traditions
of knowledge, which attracted many scholars from various countries. They could
enjoy a wide variety of knowledge there. In turn, they further enriched the intel-
lectual milieu of the Mamlūk capital by carrying with them knowledges that had
been transmitted to them in their own countries. In such a city, the valuable
Yaḥyā version of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, even with the memories of the lost Islamic city of
Córdoba, would be just another speciality.

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30 See Fórneas 1992. The transmission of Abū Muṣʿab’s version in al-Andalus can be found in
Maribel Fierro, dir., Historia de los Autores y Transmisores de al-Andalus (HATA) at
http://kohepocu.cchs.csic.es/. I am much obliged to Maribel Fierro for information on the riwāya
of Abū Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī.
31 Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1986), 6: 196–197; al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 5: 503; al-
Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1353–55 H), 10: 198.
32 Fernandes 1987, 98.
 Isnād of Ibn Khaldūn: Maghribi Tradition of Knowledge in Mamlūk Cairo | 409

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mayn Makka wa-Ṭayba. Al-Juzʾ al-thānī, Tūnis ʿinda al-wurūd, ed. by Muḥammad al-Ḥabīb
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Al-Khushanī (1992), Akhbār al-fuqahāʾ wa-l-muḥaddithīn, ed. by M. Ávila and L. Molina, Ma-
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Jalīlī, 4 vols., Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī.
Al-Maqrīzī (1939–1973), Kitāb al-Sulūk fī maʿrifat duwal al-mulūk, ed. by Muḥammad Muṣṭafā
Ziyāda et al., 4 vols., Cairo: Dār al-Kutub.
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al-nubalāʾ y Taḏkirat al-ḥuffāẓ”, in: Manuela Marín, ed., Estudios onomástico-biográficos
de al-Andalus I, Madrid: CSIC, 183–233.
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ricas “Historia, ciencia y sociedad”. Granada, 6-10 noviembre de 1989, Madrid: AECI, 197–
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lus, 8 vols., Almería: Fundación Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Árabes.
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de al-Tuŷībī”, Al-Qanṭara 7, 107–134.
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Semitic Studies, Leiden: Brill, 40–63.
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Vizcaíno, Juan Manuel (1990), “Andalusíes en Mīzān y Muʿīn de al-Ḏahabī, y Lisān al-Mīzān de
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nada: CSIC, 71–94.
Maribel Fierro
Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-
Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt

Al-Rāʿī al-Gharnāṭī was a grammarian, poet and jurist from Naṣrid Granada who
settled in Egypt, where he died in 853 H/1450 CE,1 one of many Andalusi scholars
who emigrated from their homeland. The riḥla or travel for study had long been
a common practice among Andalusi scholars, and, in the early centuries of al-
Andalus, had in some cases resulted in their permanently settling abroad for a
variety of reasons.2 From the 6th/12th century onwards, however, migration in-
creased alongside rising internal dissension back home. For example, the tradi-
tionist Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. Ibrāhīm Ibn Muzayn al-Qurṭubī (578–
656 H/1182–1258 CE) embarked on the pilgrimage in 618 H/1221 CE, almost ten
years after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 609 H/1212 CE. The landmark bat-
tle, won by the Christians, ushered in the disintegration of Almohad rule in the
Iberian Peninsula, with Ibn Hūd al-Judhāmī rebelling against them in 625 H/1228
CE. Ibn Muzayn al-Qurṭubī eventually settled in Alexandria, never to return, and
complained in his writings about the chaos and violence that reigned inside al-

||
1 Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Rāʿī al-
Gharnāṭī al-Andalusī al-Maghribī al-Qāhirī al-Naḥwī al-Mālikī (ca. 782–853 H/1380–1450 CE).
For more on him, see El Bazi 2012.
2 Gellens 1990; Ávila 2002. The migratory movements of Andalusi scholars can now be studied
thanks to the database “Prosopography of the ʿulamāʾ of al-Andalus (PUA)” (directed by María
Luisa Ávila), accessible online at https://www.eea.csic.es/pua. A partial overview can be found
in Lirola Delgado et al. 2013.
||
Note: This paper was read at the Sixth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies, Waseda
University, Tokyo, 15–17 June 2019. I wish to thank Professor Kentaro Sato for his kind invita-
tion to participate in the panel Intellectual activities across the regions in the Mamluk period:
Views from al-Andalus and Khurasan, in which this paper was included. Research for the paper
has been conducted within the project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the
Maghreb in the Islamic East (FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, UE), which I co-direct alongside
Mayte Penelas with funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
It is part of a wider study on the Mālikī legal school from its origins to the 9th/15th century that
I am currently working on during my stay at the University of Exeter as Visiting al-Qasimi Pro-
fessor in Islamic Studies (2019–2020), this paper being a first overview of the subject. My
thanks to Luis Molina, Yaacov Lev and Víctor de Castro for their help. Nicholas Callaway has
revised the English text.

Open Access. © 2021 Maribel Fierro, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-015
412 | Maribel Fierro

Andalus, with women being raped and many inhabitants murdered.3 It was not
only the internal tensions in the Almohad caliphate, but more importantly, the
growing threat from the Christian kingdoms as their advancing armies conquered
Muslim lands, all of this contributing to an increase in Andalusi scholars emigrat-
ing to settle abroad.4 In 1492, nearly three centuries after Las Navas de Tolosa,
and forty-two years after al-Rāʿī al-Gharnāṭī’s death, the Naṣrid kingdom of Gra-
nada fell, putting an end to Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. But the ‘push’
factor was also combined with a ‘pull’ factor: the job opportunities that scholars
from different Islamic regions found in the Mamlūk sultanate, but also earlier, in
the lands under Ayyūbid rule where a process of ‘Sunnitization’ after the fall of
the Fāṭimids was taking place.5 Many traveling Andalusi and Maghribi scholars
were attracted to stay. Among them, the rate of success in finding employment
was high, especially for those who, trained in Almohad times, had developed spe-
cific skills in writing didactic poems and encyclopaedic works, which effectively
met the needs of the madrasas and the cultivated elites.6 Al-Rāʿī al-Gharnāṭī be-
came a grammar instructor in Cairo, writing pedagogical works on the subject, as
well as a biography of the Andalusi poet Ibn Sahl al-Isrāʾīlī (a Jewish convert to
Islam), whose verses had a profound impact in the East.
Al-Rāʿī al-Gharnāṭī also wrote Intiṣār al-faqīr al-sālik li-tarjīḥ madhhab al-
imām al-kabīr Mālik, a book that accumulates arguments in favor of the Mālikīs’
superiority over the other legal schools.7 He recorded, for example, a Prophetic
ḥadīth stating that the people of the Maghrib would continue on the path of truth
until the coming of the Hour, as ensured by their adoption of Mālikism. He also
praised the merits of the Medinese Mālik b. Anas (d. 179 H/795 CE), considered
the eponymous founder of the school, adding that on his thigh it was written “in
the writing of Divine Power, ‘Mālik is Allāh’s proof against His creation’”, and
that Mālik and God possessed a shared secret.8 Al-Rāʿī’s Intiṣār al-faqīr al-sālik
fits well into what we know about the competition between the legal schools un-
der the Mamlūks, and especially between Mālikīs and Shāfiʿīs, as Shāfiʿism had

||
3 Kaddouri 2005–2006; Belaid/Kaddouri 2012.
4 Pouzet 1975; Romero 1989; Marín 1995.
5 I suggested for the first time this ‘push’ factor in Fierro 1997, 504.
6 I have dealt with these skills in lectures delivered at SOAS (London) in 2011, at the École des
Hautes Études in Sciences Sociales (Paris) in 2012, at the Université Louvaine-la-Neuve in 2013,
and at Pompeu Fabra University and Göttingen University in 2019. My publication on didacticism
and encyclopaedism under the Almohads is forthcoming.
7 Al-Rāʿī, Intiṣār al-faqīr (1981). The English translation by Dutton 2007 has been reviewed by
Maribel Fierro in Islamic Law and Society 16, 2009, 231–233.
8 Al-Rāʿī, Intiṣār al-faqīr (2007), 51, 65.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 413

always represented the main challenge to the foundations of the Mālikī legal
school.9 Al-Rāʿī’s text, like that of Ḥanafī scholar al-Ṭarsūsī (d. 758 H/1357 CE) a
century earlier,10 looked for state support in order to give predominance to a spe-
cific legal school over the rest. In al-Rāʿī’s text, a Mālikī debates with a Shāfiʿī
about the relative merits of their schools. The Mālikī starts by stating that all four
madhāhib are true and good, but that the Shāfiʿī should acknowledge the Mālikī
school’s superiority. Immediately afterwards, al-Rāʿī quotes the story of how the
ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Manṣūr (r. 136–158 H/754–775 CE) intended to write Mālik’s
Muwaṭṭaʾ in gold letters and have it hung on the Kaʿba to make people follow it,
but Mālik refused. Regret was expressed for the missed opportunity, lamenting
that had the caliph carried out his plan, he would have “removed all the confu-
sion and prejudice between people”.11 For all his apparent acknowledgment of
the equal value of the Sunnī legal schools, al-Rāʿī clearly believes that Mālikism
should triumph over the rest – a position unsurprising among Andalusi and Ma-
ghribi Mālikīs given that in North Africa and al-Andalus they had never had to
deal with competition in the legal sphere. There, the other legal schools – con-
trary to the situation in Mamlūk Egypt – were almost completely absent, a preva-
lent position that the Mālikīs had acquired, among other reasons, because of state
support. As Ibn Ḥazm had put it, both Ḥanafīs and Mālikīs had initially prevailed
under the ʿAbbāsids and the Cordoban Umayyads, respectively, because of a
combination of riyāsa and sulṭa.12
The intensity of the competition among the Sunnī legal schools reflected in
writings such as those of al-Ṭarsūsī and al-Rāʿī was linked to the Mamlūk policy
of accommodating all four legal schools in their judicial system – a policy un-
heard of in the Maghrib and al-Andalus. Some two hundred years before al-Rāʿī’s
death, in 665 H/1265 CE, the Mamlūk ruler Baybars had granted representation to
the four Sunnī schools of law, entitling each of them to have their own judge.
Baybars first established this system in Cairo, followed by Damascus, Aleppo,

||
9 Brunschvig 1950; Fierro 2005.
10 Winter 2001.
11 Al-Rāʿī, Intiṣār al faqīr (2007), 72–73.
12 Quotation of Ibn Ḥazm in al-Ḥumaydī’s (d. 488 H/1095 CE) Jadhwat al-muqtabis. See al-
Ḥumaydī, Jadhwat al-muqtabis (1952), no. 908 (biography of Yaḥyā b. Yaḥyā al-Laythī). One ex-
ception occurred under the Fāṭimids: during the Aghlabid period, Ḥanafīs co-existed with
Mālikīs in Ifrīqiya (Tunis), but during the Fāṭimid caliphate, the former disappeared from the
scene; their collaboration with the new Shīʿī/Ismāʿīlī rulers led some to convert to their doc-
trines, while popular support went to the Mālikīs. The Fāṭimids, moreover, renounced imposing
Ismāʿīlī law in its totality on their subjects (cf. below note 14).
414 | Maribel Fierro

Tripoli and Hama.13 A similar system, which some consider to have functioned as
a precedent, had already been established in 525 H/1130 CE during the Fāṭimid
period under the rule of vizier Abū ʿAlī Aḥmad al-Afḍal Kutayfāt (d. 526 H/
1131 CE), although in that case the four sanctioned legal traditions were the
Ismāʿīlī, the Imāmī, the Shāfiʿī and the Mālikī schools.14 After the Fāṭimid case,
the Ṣāliḥiyya madrasa, established in 641 H/1243 CE during the rule of Ayyūbid
sultan al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb, also included representatives of the
four legal schools. In the plural judicial system initiated by Baybars in 665 H/
1265 CE, the Shāfiʿī judge had a more prominent position than the rest, as shown
by the fact that he sat first to the right of the Mamlūk sultan and had sole juris-
diction over such matters as the execution of wills and the management of the
property of orphans.
Baybars’s decision has been subject to different interpretations. Both Es-
covitz and Jackson have pointed out that it could be seen as a further develop-
ment of a prior decision of his in 661 H/1263 CE, when he ordered the Shāfiʿī judge
Tāj al-Dīn Ibn Bint al-Aʿazz – known for his hesitations in executing legal deci-
sions outside his own school – to choose three delegate judges from among the
other legal schools who would help him when dealing with cases that involved
non-Shāfiʿīs. For Yossef Rapoport, the aim was to create a uniform and, at the
same time, flexible legal system.15 On the one hand, the need for predictable and
stable legal rules was addressed by limiting the qāḍīs’ discretion and promoting
taqlīd, that is, adherence to established school doctrine. On the other hand, the
plurality of judges allowed for flexibility and prevented the legal system from be-
coming too rigid. Rapoport indicates how royal deeds of appointments “instruct
Chief Qāḍīs to follow the established doctrines of their schools, as expressed by
the authoritative compilations or mukhtaṣars, and to avoid non-standard inter-
pretations”.16 Thus, for example, one 8th/14th-century scholar indicated that a
Mālikī judge had to follow the opinions attributed to the 2nd/8th-century Egyp-
tian scholar Ibn al-Qāsim (d. 191 H/806 CE), disregarding those espoused by later

||
13 Escovitz 1982; Jackson 1995.
14 Allouche 1985. Al-Afḍal’s appointment of the four judges seems to have been motivated by
the legal disagreements between Ismāʿīlīs, Imāmīs (privileged by the vizier) and the Sunnī legal
schools regarding inheritance matters, with the Sunnīs afterwards being allowed to apply the
norms specific to their own school. The Andalusi jurist al-Ṭurṭūshī (d. 520 H/1126 CE), who had
settled in Alexandria, is said to have gotten the vizier al-Baṭāʾiḥī (515–519 H/1121–1125 CE) to
agree not to have Fāṭimid inheritance laws apply to the Sunnī population, and for the govern-
ment not to seize properties without legal heirs. See Lev 1991, 138 note 21, and 197.
15 Rapoport 2003.
16 Rapoport 2003, 216.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 415

jurists such as the Andalusi Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (368–463 H/978–1071 CE)
or the Egyptian al-Qarāfī (626–684 H/1228–1285 CE).17
The names and number of judges who acted in this manner for each legal
school after Baybars’s innovation have been reconstructed by Kamal S. Salibi.18
However, to my knowledge, there is no monograph on the Mālikī legal school un-
der Mamlūk rule nor on Egyptian Mālikism in general.19 What follows is a sum-
mary of what seems to be the standard understanding.
Mālikīs had been a strong presence in early Islamic Egypt, boasting seminal
scholars such Ibn al-Qāsim and Ibn Wahb (d. 197 H/813 CE), among many others
who had studied with Mālik b. Anas.20 In this early stage, ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAbd al-
Ḥakam (d. 214 H/829 CE) wrote a Mukhtaṣar,21 unusual at the time because of the
effort for systematization, that enjoyed popularity in later times.22 The first judge
identified as a Mālikī was from 184 H/800 CE.23 According to Ahmed El Shamsy,
Egyptian Mālikīs were connected to what he calls the dominant “exclusive class
of Arab notables”. Later, Egyptian Mālikīs faced a growing challenge from the
Ḥanafī school, which prevailed at the ʿAbbāsid court in Baghdad. This was
achieved in particular via Ḥanafī officials dispatched to Egypt by the ʿAbbāsids,
who “particularly when serving as judges, did occasionally attempt to influence
legal practice in Egypt in the direction of Hanafi doctrines. However ... Hanafism
did not initially succeed in gaining a permanent foothold in Egyptian society”.24
Al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 H/820 CE), a former student of Mālik b. Anas, settled in Egypt,
and eventually Shāfiʿism gained more and more adepts in the region.25 According

||
17 Rapoport 2003, 215.
18 Salibi 1957. The figures provided are not absolute, as some of the judges enjoyed multiple
periods in office. Thus, the 90 Shāfiʿīs listed are in reality 55, the 55 Ḥanafīs are 44, the 51 Mālikīs
are 36 and the 25 Ḥanbalīs are 19.
19 It is only addressed by Ahmed Bekir in his Histoire de l’École malikite en Orient jusqu’à la fin
du moyen age, a book that is in many ways unsatisfactory in terms of the information provided,
and should be updated and expanded.
20 Cf. Brockopp 2011, questioning the extent to which such early jurists can appropriately be
labeled as Mālikīs. More generally see Melchert 1997.
21 Studied by Brockopp 2000.
22 For example, in al-Andalus its transmission is attested in the 7th/13th century, having been
studied by Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Raḥīma al-Kinānī al-Shāṭibī (614–
699 H/1217–1299 CE). I have taken this information from the Historia de los Autores y Trans-
misores de al-Andalus (HATA), available online at http://kohepocu.cchs.csic.es/.
23 Al-Kindī, Akhbār (2012), 29.
24 El Shamsy 2017.
25 The complex process that led to this situation has been analyzed more thoroughly in El
Shamsy 2013.
416 | Maribel Fierro

to El Shamsy, the majority of al-Shāfiʿī’s early followers in Egypt would have been
non-Arab clients (mawālī),

who had converted to Islam and been incorporated into the social and cultural network of
an Arab tribe but whose status within the social hierarchy remained largely subordinate.
As a consequence, the clients’ self-image was not as closely wedded to the Maliki notion of
a continuous normative communal tradition, and they were more open to the merits of al-
Shafiʿi’s textualist approach which, in effect, leveled the playing field between Arabs and
non-Arabs.26

In El Shamsy’s view, the eventual loss of power and influence on the part of the
Mālikīs – both to the Ḥanafīs and the Shāfiʿīs – was thus connected to the loss of
power of the old Arab elites. As tribal loyalties dissolved, non-Arabs rose to prom-
inence, and the centralizing ʿAbbāsid policies undermined local autonomy.
Shāfiʿism in particular “offered several advantages in this context: it was allied
with neither the imperial centre nor the old Egyptian social order, and its textu-
alism, which divorced law from particular local settings and located the fount of
normativity in a disembodied corpus of canonical texts, fitted the needs of the
essentially rootless Turkic newcomers”, such as the Ṭūlūnids, who “sought not
only political independence but also an independent basis of Islamic legitimacy,
which was ideally provided by Shafiʿi doctrine”.27
To my knowledge, there is no study comparing the numbers of Mālikī schol-
ars in Egypt with those of Ḥanafīs and Shāfiʿīs for this early period, but I take from
El Shamsy’s study that the Shāfiʿīs began to outnumber the Mālikīs by as early as
the 4th/10th century. If this is correct, Mālikīs’ numbers would have already be-
gun to decline even before the establishment of the Fāṭimid caliphate in Egypt.
However, when Fāṭimid caliph al-Muʿizz moved to Egypt in 362 H/973 CE, the
judge in old Cairo was still a Mālikī, Abū al-Ṭāhir al-Dhuhlī (d. 368 H/978 CE), and
he was left in his post. After his death, the Ismāʿīlī Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān became judge
of Egypt, and there would be no further Mālikī judges in Egypt until the collapse
of the Fāṭimid caliphate, except for the brief initiative by al-Afḍal Kutayfāt men-
tioned above.

||
26 El Shamsy 2017.
27 El Shamsy 2017. The decline of Mālikism in Egypt under the Ṭūlūnids (254–292 H/868–905
CE) was not paralleled in the central lands of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate, as evidenced by the cases
of Mālikī jurists such as the famous Qāḍī Ismāʿīl al-Baghdādī (199–282 H/815–895 CE), al-Abharī
(d. 395 H/1004 CE) and al-Bāqillānī (d. 403 H/1013 CE). Another important figure in Eastern
Mālikism during this period was Ibn al-Jallāb al-Baṣrī (d. 378 H/988 CE).
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 417

During the Fāṭimid period, both Shāfiʿīs and Mālikīs survived, as shown by
the studies of Thierry Bianquis and Delia Cortese.28 Each of these schools boasted
an important non-Egyptian figure, both of whom settled in Alexandria:29 the Ira-
nian Shāfiʿī Abū al-Ṭāhir al-Silafī (d. 576 H/1180 CE),30 and the Andalusi Mālikī
Abū Bakr al-Ṭurṭūshī (d. 520 H/1126 CE). Abū Bakr al-Ṭurṭūshī, as mentioned
above,31 campaigned for the Sunnī population of Fāṭimid Egypt to be allowed to
follow their own inheritance practices, and became a popular teacher credited
with spreading Mālikism in Alexandria. He is moreover said to have merged the
Eastern and Western branches of the Mālikī legal school.32
Mālikism continued to prosper under the Ayyūbids, who ruled Egypt be-
tween 567 H/1171 CE and 648 H/1250 CE.33 Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin) himself visited
Alexandria with his two sons to hear local Mālikī scholar Ibn ʿAwf (d. 581 H/
1185 CE), a student of al-Ṭurṭūshī, who taught and commented on Mālik’s Mu-
waṭṭaʾ. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s famous secretary al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil compared the visit to
Hārūn al-Rashīd’s trip to Medina with his two sons al-Amīn and al-Maʾmūn to
hear the Muwaṭṭaʾ from Mālik himself.34 In this period, an Egyptian scholar, Jalāl
al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh b. Najm al-Dīn Muḥammad Ibn Shāsh al-Judhāmī al-Saʿdī (d.
616 H/1219 CE),35 wrote a work on Mālikī positive law, the Kitāb al-Jawāhir al-
thamīna fī madhhab ʿālim al-madīna. The book drew heavily on Andalusi and Ma-
ghribi Mālikī sources, with which the author was obviously familiar.36 Maghribi
and Andalusi scholars such as the aforementioned Ibn Muzayn al-Qurṭubī37 set-
tled in Egypt at a time when significant numbers of religious figures – not only
jurists but also traditionists, Qurʾānic readers, grammarians and specialists in
other disciplines, as well as Ṣūfīs – were making Egypt their new home.38 As
Denis Gril has stated: “Après avoir beaucoup reçu jadis de l’Orient, al-Andalus et

||
28 Bianquis 1975; Cortese 2012.
29 Leiser 1999; Walker 2014.
30 Ṣāliḥ 1977. Many were the Andalusi and Maghribi scholars who attended his classes, as Al-
exandria was situated along the pilgrimage routes from the Maghrib; see Ibn Azzuz 1432/2011.
31 See note 14.
32 On al-Ṭurṭūshī’s biography see the introductory study in Fierro 1993. On how his tract against
innovations reflects a Mālikī rejection of Fāṭimid practices, see Fierro 2017.
33 El Shamsy 2013, 144.
34 Abū Shāma, al-Rawḍatayn (1956), 1/2: 24; Leiser 1976, 138–140.
35 Ibn Farḥūn (d. 799 H/1397 CE) includes his biography in al-Dībāj al-mudhhab fī maʿrifat aʿyān
ʿulamāʾ al-madhhab. See Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (1972), 1: 290–291; see also Kaḥḥāla 1957–61, 6:
158; Brockelmann 1943–49, SI: 538.
36 As can be corroborated in Ibn Shās, ʿIqd al-jawāhir (1995; repr. 2003).
37 See note 3.
38 Hofer 2015; McGregor 2004; Zouihal 2017.
418 | Maribel Fierro

le Magreb donnent naissance à des foyers de spiritualité qui irradient à leur tour
vers leur origine”.39 Again, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s religious policies were crucial in this
trend.40
Ḥanafīs and Ḥanbalīs were a minority under the Ayyūbids, and the Ḥanbalīs
continued to be under the Mamlūks. However, the numbers of Ḥanafīs increased,
especially after the Mongol conquest of Baghdad (656 H/1258 CE), when many
Eastern refugees fled to Egypt. Mālikīs still outnumbered Ḥanafīs in the early
Baḥrī Mamlūk period, but the numbers of Ḥanafīs increased due to the fact that
the Mamlūks themselves were followers of the school considered to have been
founded by the Iraqi Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150 H/767 CE). For the 9th/15th century, al-
though we do not have statistics that specifically address the representation of
the madhhabs in the Egyptian legal domain,41 the available evidence – such as
Salibi’s study on the affiliation of the chief judges of Mamlūk Egypt – indicates
the predominance of Shāfiʿīs and the growing number of Ḥanafīs. This situation
explains al-Rāʿī’s interest and effort in promoting the Mālikī legal school.
The Ottomans began to rule Egypt in 922 H/1517 CE, sixty-seven years after
al-Rāʿī’s death. According to Michael Winter, the Mālikī madhhab in Egypt was at
that time an extension of North African Mālikism, being largely associated with
populations which were either foreign (the Maghribis)42 or lived in outlying prov-
inces, such as the Saʿīd (Upper Egypt).43
The shifting fortunes of Mālikism in Egypt can be quantitatively traced
through the information provided by two Mālikī ṭabaqāt works:44
– Tartīb al-madārik li-maʿrifat aʿlām madhhab Mālik, by the North African Qāḍī
ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE).45 It records 1569 biographies from the early period
to the time of its author, of which 1149 are from the Maghrib46 and al-Andalus,
and 194 from Egypt.

||
39 Gril 1986, 26–27.
40 Hofer 2017, 53–54.
41 Such representation is absent from Petry 1981.
42 On the long-lasting presence of Maghribis in Egypt see Walker 2008; Ḥanafī 2005; Musʿad
2002.
43 Winter 1992, 110–111.
44 Although it is debatable whether some of the scholars included in the list should rightly be
considered Mālikīs; see above note 20 and below on the case of Ḥumayd.
45 Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-madārik (1403/1983).
46 The Maghrib refers to North Africa, including Ifrīqiya (Tunis), al-Maghrib al-awsaṭ (Algeria)
and al-Maghrib al-aqṣā (Morocco).
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 419

– Al-Dībāj al-mudhhab fī maʿrifat aʿyān ʿulamāʾ al-madhhab by the Medinese

jurist of Maghribi origin Ibn Farḥūn (d. 799 H/1397 CE).47 It records 630 biog-
raphies from the early period to the time of its author,48 of which 62 are Egyp-
tians, and 447 from the Maghrib (125) and al-Andalus (322).

In the case of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, the decline in the number of Mālikīs in Egypt after al-
Shāfiʿī and after the Fāṭimid conquest is very clearly reflected (see Fig. 1 below).49
In the case of Ibn Farḥūn, although he includes a much smaller number of entries
than Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, his results for the period until 470 H are equivalent, with an al-
most complete absence of Mālikīs in Egypt during the pre-Ṭurṭūshī Fāṭimid pe-
riod, and a noticeable increase from the period 530–560 H onwards, with two
peaks: the period 620–650 H (late Ayyūbid) and 680–710 H (under the Baḥrī
Mamlūks) (see Fig. 2 below).50
But who were the Mālikīs active in Egypt after al-Ṭurṭūshī? Were they from
Egypt or did they migrate there? And in the latter case, where did they come from?
I will concentrate here on the information found in Ibn Farḥūn’s work. For the
period between 530 H and 790 H, the total number of Egyptian jurists (scholars
who were born and died in Egypt) is 31.51 They are distributed as follows:
1. Ṭabaqa XIII (6th/12th century, died between 530–560 H) Egypt: 1
2. Ṭabaqa XIV (6th/12th century, died between 560–590 H) Egypt: 1
3. Ṭabaqa XV (6th–7th/12th–13th century, died between 590–620 H) Egypt: 3
4. Ṭabaqa XVI (7th/13th century, died between 620–650 H) Egypt: 5
5. Ṭabaqa XVII (7th/13th century, died between 650–680 H) Egypt: 2
6. Ṭabaqa XVIII (7th–8th/13th–14th century, died between 680–710 H) Egypt: 7
7. Ṭabaqa XIX (8th/14th century, died between 710–740 H) Egypt: 5

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47 Ibn Farḥūn, al-Dībāj (1423/2003). In the following notes I refer to the 1423/2003 edition of Ibn
Farḥūn’s Dībāj as DM.
48 Ibn Farḥūn’s contemporary Ibn Khaldūn (732–808 H/1332–1406 CE) is not included. On Ibn
Khaldūn’s views on the legal situation in Egypt see Morimoto 2002.
49 I wish to thank Luis Molina for his help in preparing the charts. For the early period, the
results offered here can be put into the wider perspective presented by Bernards/Nawas 2003.
50 When referring to the scholars belonging to these ṭabaqāt only Hijri dates are given.
51 DM, 1: 123–124, no. 28; 205–208, no. 123; 209, no. 124; 211–213, no. 126; 213, no. 127; 217, no.
131; 218, no. 132; 224, no. 140; 225–226, no. 141; 253–254, no. 256; 257–259, no. 169; 272–273, no.
184; 291, no. 201; 312–313, no. 223; 349–351, no. 253; 390, no. 283; 394–395, no. 289; 396, no. 290;
DM, 2: 21, no. 333; 40, no. 345; 57–58, no. 358; 68, no. 364; 73–74, no. 368; 77–82, no. 375; 110–
111, no. 407; 111–112, no. 409; 297–298, no. 564; 300, no. 567; 300, no. 568; 302, no. 570; 305–
306, no. 576.
420 | Maribel Fierro

8. Ṭabaqa XX (8th/14th century, died between 740–790 H) Egypt: 7

Of these 31 Egyptian Mālikīs, four of them are of Maghribi origin:52 Ibn al-
Qasṭallānī (d. 636 H),53 al-Qarāfī (d. 684 H),54 Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh b.
Muḥammad al-Masīlī (d. 744 H),55 and ʿĪsā b. Makhlūf b. ʿĪsā al-Maghīlī (d. 746
H).56 Nothing is said about their ancestors who came from the Maghrib, nor the
circumstances that brought them to Egypt and made them settle there. Given the
close connections of the Fāṭimids with North Africa and also the Ayyūbids’ inter-
vention in the area,57 these North African origins are not surprising. More striking
is that none of these Egyptian Mālikīs have Andalusi origins, which seems to in-
dicate that the Andalusis who settled in Egypt did not produce local scholars, at
least not of any renown.58

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52 Perhaps also Idrīs b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-Ṣanhājī, given the fact that his nisba refers to a North
African Berber tribe: DM, 1: 269, no. 180.
53 DM, 1: 209, no. 124. He is not to be confused with the famous author of a commentary on al-
Bukhārī who died in 923 H/1517 CE.
54 DM, 1: 205–208, no. 123. He is one of the most important Mālikī Egyptian scholars of the post-
Fāṭimid period; see al-Sulamī 1990; al-Wakīlī 1996; Jackson 1996. One of his works, al-Iḥkām fī
tamyīz al-Fatāwā ʿan al-aḥkām wa-taṣarrufāt al-qāḍī wa-l-imām, has been translated into English
by Mohammad H. Fadel with the title The Criterion for Distinguishing Legal Opinions from Judicial
Rulings and the Administrative Acts of Judges and Rulers. His ancestors belonged to the Ṣanhāja
Berber tribe and perhaps arrived in Egypt during the period of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s alliance with the
Banū Ghāniya, the Ṣanhāja Almoravids who long held out against the Almohads in southern
Ifrīqiya. Al-Qarāfī attended a Mālikī madrasa in Cairo, studying with Muḥammad b. ʿUmrān b.
Mūsā, known as al-Sharīf al-Karakī (d. 688 H/1289 CE), a Mālikī jurist from Fez who had settled
in Egypt, and ʿUthmān b. Abī Bakr Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646 H/1249 CE) (see on him below note 76).
He also had Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī teachers, the most influential being the Shāfiʿī ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn
ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 660 H/1262 CE), who was from Damascus but settled in Egypt, and wrote a
work on legal canons that was imitated by al-Qarāfī in his Qawāʿid.
55 DM, 1: 396, no. 290.
56 DM, 2: 68, no. 364.
57 On this topic see Baadj 2015, and see also note 42 above. The Ayyūbids’ significant interest
in Maghribi politics involved a number of aspects not limited to economic and military matters
that deserve to be studied.
58 This is striking because in the Andalusi scholarly milieu one finds a large number of ʿulamāʾ
families spanning several generations, indicating entrenched cultural practices that allowed fa-
thers to successfully transmit their cultural and social capital to their descendants. The extent to
which they were able to maintain such practices in a migratory context will be the object of an-
other study.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 421

The number of Maghribis mentioned by Ibn Farḥūn who settled in Egypt in

the period considered here is nine.59 Some among them were particularly produc-
tive and/or influential jurists such as Ibn al-Ḥājj al-ʿAbdarī (d. 737 H/1336 CE), the
author of the famous treatise against innovations, Madkhal al-sharʿ al-sharīf (al-
Madkhal), and al-Rahūnī (d. 775 H), who taught at madrasas in Cairo and wrote
a commentary on Ibn al-Ḥājib’s mukhtaṣar (on which, see below). Ibn Jumayl (d.
715 H), in turn, acted as judge in both Alexandria and Cairo, where he died, while
al-Zawāwī (d. 717 H) lived in Egypt and was later a judge in Damascus. Al-Zawāwī
al-Manklātī, from Tunis (d. 743 H), appears to have been the most successful of
all of them: he was a judge in Damascus and also in Egypt (judge delegate of Zayn
al-Dīn Ibn Makhlūf and Taqī al-Dīn al-Ijnāʾī), wrote several books (a commentary
on Muslim, a commentary on Ibn al-Ḥājib’s mukhtaṣar, a summary of a commen-
tary of the Mudawwana, a work on wathāʾiq, a refutation of Ibn Taymiyya regard-
ing ṭalāq, Manāqib Mālik, and a historical work), and was considered a leader in
issuing fatāwā according to the Mālikī legal school.
Ibn Farḥūn mentions a total of six Andalusis who settled in Egypt.60 While
some are clearly Mālikīs, Ibn Farḥūn’s decision to classify others as Mālikīs can
be challenged, especially those educated under the Almohads (513–667 H/1120–
1269 CE), rulers who had opposed Mālikism and promoted legal alternatives to it.
This is the case of Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Ḥasan al-Anṣārī, known as Ḥumayd
(607–652 H/1210–1254 CE).61 He was the son of a famous traditionist, Abū
Muḥammad Ibn al-Qurṭubī (d. 611 H/1214 CE). Born in Málaga to a family origi-
nally from Córdoba, Ḥumayd studied in al-Andalus with scholars such as Ibn
ʿAskar (584–636 H/1188–1239 CE) and Abū Muḥammad Ibn ʿAṭiyya (573–646 H/
1177–1248 CE), and received his ijāza from scholars in both the Maghrib and the
Mashriq, among them the famous specialist in ḥadīth sciences ʿUthmān b. ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Kurdī al-Shahrazūrī al-Mawṣilī (577–643 H/1181–
1243 CE). Ḥumayd became a Qurʾānic reader, jurist, traditionist, grammarian and

||
59 DM, 1: 216–217, no. 130; 397–398, no. 291; DM, 2: 23, no. 338; 67–68, no. 363; 296, no. 563;
299, no. 566; 301, no. 569; 302, no. 571; 343–344, no. 620. Some Maghribis studied in Egypt and
then returned to North Africa, or settled elsewhere in the East: DM, 1: 223, no. 138; 223–224, no.
139; 271–272, no. 183; DM, 2: 25, no. 340. Salibi mentions a Mālikī judge during the period 794–
801 H/1392–1399 CE who was from Tlemcen, and two brothers born in the Maghrib who held
judicial positions between 861 H/1457 CE and 873 H/1469 CE.
60 DM, 1: 177–191, no. 86; 198, no. 113; 210, no. 125; 215–216, no. 129; DM, 2: 136–138, no. 428;
287–288, no. 547. Ibn Suḥmān (d. 685 H) was both Mālikī and Shāfiʿī (DM, 2: 298–299, no. 565)
and al-Baqūrī (d. 707 H) eventually returned to Marrakesh, where remained until his death (DM,
2: 295, no. 562).
61 DM, 1: 177–179, no. 86. For other references see Rodríguez Figueroa 2006.
422 | Maribel Fierro

litterateur. He also grew famous for his piety and asceticism: he never laughed,
apologized for smiling, and was constantly crying; in his poems dealing with
ḥikam, he never included a nasīb. In the year 649 H/1251 CE, when he was 42 years
old, Ḥumayd left al-Andalus in order to perform the pilgrimage, probably moti-
vated by problems with the post-Almohad ruler Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad I al-
Ghālib bi-Llāh (r. 629–671 H/1232–1273 CE), founder of the Naṣrid dynasty. How-
ever, according to Ibn Farḥūn, once he had arrived in Egypt, his purity, intelli-
gence and many virtues had become so proverbial that he was asked to stay on.62
He accepted, but fell ill in 652 H/1254 CE. He arrived in Egypt shortly after the fall
of the Ayyūbid dynasty and the beginning of the Mamlūk sultanate in 648 H/
1251 CE. It is said that the second Mamlūk sultan, al-Muʿizz ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak al-
Turkmānī al-Ṣāliḥī (r. 648–655 H/1250–1257 CE), tried to visit him in order to ob-
tain his blessing, but Ḥumayd refused. Only after the sultan insisted did Ḥumayd
allow the sultan to visit him, but rejected his gifts. Ḥumayd died shortly after-
wards and his funeral was attended by a great number of people, including the
sultan. He was buried in the rawḍa of Abū Bakr al-Khazrajī.
It is not clear on what basis Ibn Farḥūn decided that Ḥumayd was a Mālikī.
In Ḥumayd’s time Mālikism had been marginalized in the Maghrib, as well as in
al-Andalus after its incorporation into the Almohad empire. More specifically,
Ḥumayd lived under the Almohad/Muʾminid caliphate established by ʿAbd al-
Muʾmin (r. 527–558 H/1133–1163 CE) after he succeeded the Berber Mahdī Ibn
Tūmart (d. 524 H/1130 CE). The Almohad movement that Ibn Tūmart had founded
was, in its early stages, a revolutionary movement that imposed unified belief on
the people living in Almohad territory, where everybody (Jews, Christians and
Muslims) had to follow Ibn Tūmart’s creed. In the legal sphere, the Almohads re-
jected traditional Mālikism, with is strong reliance on casuistry and taqlīd. Even-
tually, a retour aux sources was promoted that privileged the study of Qurʾān and
ḥadīth. The new rulers created the ṭalaba, salaried doctrinarians trained to cater
to the intellectual and religious needs of the Almohad empire, who were closer to
Ismāʿīlī duʿāt than to Sunnī ʿulamāʾ. The Muʾminid caliphs sought alternatives to
Mālikism and, after an initial attraction to Ibn Ḥazm’s Ẓāhirism, they eventually
asked Ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd (Averroes) to collect the existing divergent legal views
on positive law (furūʿ) – regardless of the legal school – the result of which was
his Bidāyat al-mujtahid. This work – as I have argued elsewhere – can be taken
as a first step towards a legal codification that would have been issued by the
third Almohad caliph, as the Fāṭimids had done in the 4th/10th century under al-

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62 Similar situations are recorded regarding other Andalusi and Maghribi travelers, as in the
case of Abū Marwān al-Bājī; see Marín 1994.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 423

Muʿizz. However, this last step never came to pass, due to internal divisions
among the Almohads.63 Thus, it seems that Ibn Farḥūn chose to include Ḥumayd
in his biographical dictionary of Mālikīs based only on the fact that he was an
Andalusi; indeed, nothing in his biography allows us to ascertain his legal affili-
ation. The same can be said of two other, more important scholarly figures, Ibn
Muzayn al-Qurṭubī al-kabīr (578–656 H/1182–1258 CE)64 and Muḥammad b.
Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr b. Farḥ al-Qurṭubī al-ṣaghīr (d. 671 H/1273 CE), author of a
famous Tafsīr.65 These two figures, again, reflect the type of scholars trained in
Almohad times whose education and writings transcended traditional legal affil-
iations.66
I have mentioned above that the Maghribi and Andalusi scholars trained in
Almohad times developed specific skills for writing didactic poems and works of
an encyclopaedic character that helped them negotiate the ‘job market’ once they
emigrated. They also brought with them their knowledge of the local Maghribi
and, especially, Andalusi intellectual production67 in every field, for example:
Qurʾānic readings, as in the case of Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (538–590 H/1143–
1194 CE); history, as in the case of Ibn Khaldūn (732–808 H/1332–1406 CE); and
grammar, as in the case of Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī (654–745 H/1256–1344 CE).68
The commentary on al-Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ by the Andalusi Mālikī Ibn Baṭṭāl (d.

||
63 Fierro 1999; Fierro 2014; Fierro 2018.
64 For more on him, see above note 3, and DM, 1: 210, no. 125. He had written a refutation against
the Christians that he took with him to Egypt and was one of the sources for al-Qarāfī’s polemical
work on Christianity; see Sarrió Cucarella 2015. Ibn Muzayn’s Ikhtiṣār Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and his
Mufhim on Muslim’s ḥadīth collection are quoted by Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (see Khaoula Trad’s
paper in this volume).
65 Arnaldez, “al-Qurṭubī”, EI2; Salmān 1993; Ibn Sharīfa (Bencherifa) 2010; Serrano, “al-
Qurṭubī”, EQ.
66 This was also the type of scholar that the Ayyūbids seem to have favored among the Andalusi
emigrants, as shown, for example, by the cases of al-Yasaʿ b. ʿĪsā b. Ḥazm al-Ghāfiqī (d. 575 H/
1179 CE) and Ibn Diḥya al-Kalbī (d. 633 H/1235 CE). See, respectively, Fierro 1995; Gallega Ortega
2004; Adang 2000, 450–453.
67 I say ‘especially’ because in al-Andalus the political, social and economic context under the
Umayyads had fostered developments in the religious and intellectual domains that had no par-
allel in the Maghrib in the same period. Ifrīqiya under the Aghlabids had known similar devel-
opments, but the Fāṭimid caliphate and the Hilālī invasion had negative consequences.
68 See on this topic the studies by Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf Ḥanafī and Samiya Muṣṭafā Musʿad
quoted in note 42 above, as well as Yukawa 1979 (in Japanese, which I have been unable to read).
Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī’s interest in Turkish and Persian as reflected in his studies on those
languages may be related to the Almohad precedent of privileging the Berber language used in
the call to prayer, in prayer itself, and in the teaching of Ibn Tūmart’s profession of faith.
424 | Maribel Fierro

449 H/1057 CE)69 was quoted by both the Ḥanbalī Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 H/
1328 CE) and the Shāfiʿī Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 777 H/1375 CE), as they read in
it views that they found convincing, and thus privileged over those of other schol-
ars.70 I have already mentioned the case of al-Ṭurṭūshī, whose teaching – along
with that of other scholars with similar backgrounds – helped spread Western
Mālikī works among the Egyptian Mālikīs, and also how the Egyptian Ibn Shāsh
quoted extensively from Western Mālikī sources. Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim’s study
on the legal regulations regarding child custody in Egypt clearly shows the im-
pact of Mālikī doctrines on the rest of the legal schools.71
More research must be done in order to more precisely track the exchange
between the Western Mālikī travelers and migrants and the local Egyptian
Mālikīs. However, for the time being I would like to point out one striking differ-
ence: while in the Maghrib and al-Andalus Mālikīs wrote a great number of col-
lections of legal opinions (fatāwā), to my knowledge none is extant from Egyptian
Mālikī scholars.72 This of course does not mean that they did not formulate legal
opinions,73 but for some reason they did not collect them in compilations as the
Western Mālikīs did.74 Conversely, the Egyptian Mālikīs seem to have specialized
in other genres, and most especially in the writing of mukhtaṣars.
Ibn Farḥūn was a contemporary of the Egyptian Khalīl b. Isḥāq al-Jundī (d.
776 H/1374 CE), who in his Mukhtaṣar offered such a user-friendly synthesis of
Mālikī legal doctrine that he came to enjoy great support among Mālikīs every-
where, which remains true even today.75 Khalīl’s Mukhtaṣar shows a clear influ-
ence of doctrines that had developed mainly in the Maghrib and al-Andalus (for
example, regarding blasphemy). Before him, the Egyptian Mālikī of Kurdish
origin Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646 H/1249 CE) had written a Mukhtaṣar of Mālikī positive
law, entitled Jāmiʿ al-ummahāt. Born in Upper Egypt, after studying with Abū al-
Qāsim al-Shāṭibī, among others, he taught in Cairo before leaving for Damascus
ca. 616 H/1219-20 CE, where he taught in the Mālikī zāwiya of the Great Mosque.

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69 Ibn Baṭṭāl, Sharḥ al-Bukhārī (2003).
70 For the case of Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī see Holtzman 2019, 304–306 (I thank the author for
letting me consult her paper before publication). For the case of Ibn Taymiyya see Holtzman
2016, 577.
71 Ibrahim 2018.
72 Compilations do exist from scholars other than Mālikīs, as in the case of Taqī al-Dīn al-
Subkī’s (d. 756 H/1355 CE) Fatāwā.
73 See above the case of al-Zawāwī al-Manklātī.
74 Fierro 2020. What follows is taken from the last section of this article, with the permission of
the journal.
75 Ben Cheneb, “Khalīl b. Isḥāḳ”, EI2.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 425

A dispute with Ayyūbid ruler Ismāʿīl al-Ṣāliḥ saw him banished from Damascus
in 639 H/1241 CE, whereupon he returned to Cairo, eventually settling in Alexan-
dria till his death. Ibn al-Ḥājib’s work, which combined both grammar and law,
was very similar to the scholarly model found in the Maghrib and al-Andalus dur-
ing Almohad times. As a grammarian, he wrote a very short condensed tract on
morphology, al-Shāfiya, and another on syntax, al-Kāfiya, both of which became
very popular. He also wrote a treatise on the sources of law according to the
Mālikī school, entitled Muntahā al-suʾāl wa-l-amal fī ʿilmay al-uṣūl wa-l-jadal. Its
abridgement or Mukhtaṣar (= al-Mukhtaṣar al-aṣlī) became extremely popular
and was the subject of numerous commentaries, glosses on the commentaries,
and super-glosses. Ibn al-Ḥājib was also the author of a compendium of Mālikī
law, al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-furūʿ or Jāmiʿ al-Ummahāt, also known as al-Mukhtaṣar al-
farʿī, commented among others by Khalīl b. Isḥāq al-Jundī, who used it as a model
for his own Mukhtaṣar.76 One of Ibn al-Ḥājib’s students was the Egyptian jurist of
Maghribi origin mentioned above, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Idrīs b.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Qarāfī al-Ṣanhājī (626–684 H/1228–1285 CE),
who wrote his Tamyīz al-fatāwā ʿan al-aḥkām wa-taṣarrufāt al-qāḍī wa-l-imām to
counteract the policy of the Shāfiʿī judge Ibn Bint al-Aʿazz, who held that no sen-
tence could be implemented if it went against the doctrine of the Shāfiʿī school.77
I have asked elsewhere why the mukhtaṣars were initially written by scholars
from Egypt, where Mālikism was not dominant, and if perhaps the lack of quali-
fied muftīs required such works to be composed as an aid for the Mālikī judges.
Likewise, I have asked what consequences arose from their reception by Maghribi
and Andalusi scholars. It seems clear that the importance acquired by the
mukhtaṣar genre in the Mālikī legal school was an Egyptian phenomenon that
must be closely linked to Baybars’s aforementioned decision in 665 H/1265 CE to
establish four judgeships. As studied by Mohamed Fadel,78 this genre represented
an effort to “formalize” the doctrine of the legal schools by systematically classi-
fying the opinions of each school, clarifying their authoritative rules and offering
a set of formal norms. This was no small task, given the rich and often contradic-
tory legal heritage of the four schools, the Mālikīs included. Especially crucial
was the concept of the mashhūr: confronted with a choice between competing
opinions within the Mālikī legal school, Ibn al-Ḥājib offered the muqallid what
was considered to be the ‘acknowledged’ doctrine of the school so as to save him
the difficulty of extracting it from the school’s primary texts (ummahāt). Ibn al-

||
76 DM, 2: 77–82, no. 375; Fleisch, “Ibn al-Ḥādjib”, EI2.
77 See above note 54.
78 Fadel 1996 and 1997.
426 | Maribel Fierro

Ḥājib also addressed the more advanced jurists who could use non-mashhūr
opinions in their ijtihād, opinions always based on the original texts of the school.
This complex arrangement did not make Ibn al-Ḥājib’s work user-friendly, and
did not resolve the problem of legal indeterminacy. Khalīl b. Isḥāq al-Jundī of-
fered a more univocal expression of Mālikī doctrine in his Mukhtaṣar, i.e. he lim-
ited himself to the mashhūr opinion.
The mukhtaṣars made sense in the Egyptian context, where the Mālikīs had
to compete with other legal schools and where their doctrine likewise needed to
be easily accessible to non-Mālikī judges and jurists. However, they also proved
popular in the Maghrib and al-Andalus after being studied by Maghribi and An-
dalusi travelers, who felt attracted to their systematization and user-friendly or-
ganization of Mālikī doctrines. Upon returning to their homeland, these travelers
took what they had learned with them, and so the mukhtaṣars of Ibn al-Ḥājib and
Khalīl b. Isḥāq soon spread beyond the confines of Egypt.
The scholar from Tlemcen Abū Sālim Ibrāhīm b. Qāsim al-ʿUqbānī (808–
880 H/1405–1475 CE), who wrote a Taʿlīq ʿalā Ibn al-Ḥājib, was once asked if the
jurists and judges could issue fatāwā and rulings on the basis of ‘weak’ opinions
departing from the mashhūr, and his answer was negative (although with some
qualifications). He used the precedent of al-Māzarī (d. 536 H/1141 CE), a mujtahid
who lived till the age of 83 but never issued a single fatwā that departed from the
mashhūr.79 On the other hand, Fadel has also shown that although in 9th/15th-
century Granada around 50% of the fatāwā recorded in al-Ḥadīqa follow the ex-
plicit wording of the Mukhtaṣar, a significant portion of the opinions – approxi-
mately 20–25% – contradict the school’s doctrine as a result of the individual
muftī’s discretion.80 This indicates that Khalīl’s Mukhtaṣar did not really function
as a strict code.81 Jacques Berque has also noted that in the compilation by Yaḥyā
b. Abī ʿImrān al-Maghīlī al-Māzūnī (d. 883 H/1478 CE), Nawāzil Māzūna, Khalīl’s
Mukhtaṣar is scarcely mentioned.82 For all these reasons I have tentatively sug-
gested that the flourishing of fatāwā compilation activities in the 9th/15th cen-
tury was an attempt to deflect the tendency towards ‘codification’ as represented
by the rise of the mukhtaṣar genre in Egypt.83 If we connect the rise of the
mukhtaṣar (in Egypt) with the efforts to compile fatāwā (in the Maghrib and al-
Andalus), the latter can perhaps be understood as a result of the former: against

||
79 Al-Wansharīsī (d. 914 H/1508 CE), al-Miʿyār (1401/1981), 12: 5–7.
80 Fadel 1997, 53.
81 Vikor 2005, 131.
82 Berque 1970.
83 See my article quoted in note 74.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 427

the restrictions proposed by the mukhtaṣars, the fatāwā compilations revealed

the variety of cases in which the interpretative activity of the muftīs continued to
be necessary, and by doing so also exposed the limits of the mukhtaṣars.
Denis Gril, as we have seen,84 has noted that the impact of Maghribi and An-
dalusi Sūfīs in Egypt, and in the East more generally, was not unidirectional, but
a ‘round-trip’ phenomenon. The same can be applied to Mālikism. Andalusi and
Maghribi Mālikī scholars were always in contact with their peers in other Islamic
regions, especially Egypt, which had played a crucial role in the early develop-
ment of Mālikism as evidenced by the role Mālik’s Egyptian students had in the
legal works composed in Ifrīqiya and al-Andalus. Later, in the period considered
here, the teachings of Andalusi and Maghribi jurists were crucial in reviving the
Egyptian Mālikī legal school in ways that are still to be mapped and analyzed.
The Egyptian context, especially Baybars’s legal innovation of the four judge-
ships, determined new developments such as what Mohamed Fadel has termed
“the rise of the mukhtaṣar”. This genre, which had a powerful impact in the Ma-
ghrib and al-Andalus, was inevitably adapted to local contexts, as it seems to
have given ‘rise’ in turn to a striking effort to compile fatāwā materials. It is worth
noting that such innovative trends do not necessarily go hand in hand with the
number of adherents on the ground. For all the flourishing of Mālikism in post-
Fāṭimid Egypt, there were still few Mālikīs as compared to the Islamic West.85
However, the political context in which they operated forced them to think up
new ways of being Mālikī, and thus to re-think their legal tradition. The fact that
their school had to share the legal sphere with others was decisive in this respect.
Although I have so far found no specific comment addressing this fact on the part
of the Mālikīs west of Egypt – for whom this was an unusual feature – al-Rāʿī’s
work quoted at the outset of this chapter bears witness to the extremes they felt
they had to go to in order to substantiate their claims to superiority.86

||
84 See above note 39.
85 However, the Almohad period greatly disrupted the Mālikī legal school in the territories un-
der the control of the Muʾminid caliphs, a process whose extent and ramifications must still be
fully understood.
86 As an Andalusi, al-Rāʿī could rely on precedents in praising the school through the figure of
its eponym; see Turki 1971.
428 | Maribel Fierro

Fig. 1: Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 H/1149 CE), Tartīb al-madārik li-maʿrifat aʿlām madhhab Mālik: a com-
parison of the numbers of Egyptian, Maghribi and Andalusi scholars from ca. 230 H to 470 H.
 Mālikī Jurists from the Maghrib and al-Andalus in Post-Fāṭimid Egypt | 429

Fig. 2: Ibn Farḥūn (d. 799 H/1397 CE), al-Dībāj al-mudhhab fī maʿrifat aʿyān ʿulamāʾ al-madh-
hab: a comparison of the numbers of Egyptian, Maghribi and Andalusi scholars from ca. 230 H
to 740–750 H.

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Adday Hernández López
Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in
Modern East Africa: Andalusi and Maghribi
Works in the Horn of Africa

While the main vehicle for the spread of Andalusi and Maghribi intellectual pro-
duction in space and time was the circulation of books and the mobility of schol-
ars, scholars outside the Maghrib also played an important role by commenting
on, expanding or refuting works produced in the Islamic West. In this paper I will
concentrate on the presence of this sort of intellectual production in the Horn of
Africa, using the materials catalogued for the project Islam in the Horn of Africa:
A Comparative Literary Approach.1 Thousands of Arabic manuscripts and other
types of writings from different locations, mainly produced between the 18th cen-
tury and the 20th century in the Horn, were catalogued between 2014 and 2018,
and have been classified according to genre, content, author, title, place of crea-
tion, etc.2 I already discussed the presence of Andalusi and Maghribi works in the
region in a 2015 paper on the Andalusi texts and authors found in the Arabic col-
lection of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.3 Two years later, I came across a com-
mentary to the work of the Andalusi author Ibn Farḥ/Faraḥ (d. 699 H/1300 CE),
Qaṣīda ghazaliyya fī alqāb al-ḥadīth. The commentary, entitled Zawāl al-taraḥ,
was written by Ibn Jamāʿa (d. 819 H/1416 CE), but in the Ethiopian manuscript it
was attributed to an Ethiopian author.4 Since then I have been able to locate many
more scholars and works from the medieval Islamic West after examining other

||
1 IslHornAfr, European Research Council Advanced Grant no. 322849, 2013–2018, PI Alessandro
Gori, http://www.islhornafr.eu/index.html.
2 The information has been entered into a relational database created by the project’s IT man-
ager, Orhan Toy. At http://islhornafr.tors.sc.ku.dk/ the database can be freely accessed, and can
be searched by author, text or manuscript in order to retrieve all the associated data.
3 Hernández 2015–16, 10–19. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies belongs to Addis Ababa Univer-
sity, and its manuscripts have been digitized by the project EMIP (Ethiopic Manuscript Imaging
Project) directed by professor Steve Delamarter.
4 Hernández 2019, 153–173.
||
Note: This paper was presented at the international conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”,
which took place on 20–21 December 2018. English revision by Nicholas Callaway.

Open Access. © 2021 Adday Hernández López, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-016
436 | Adday Hernández López

collections of manuscripts.5 My aim in this paper is to expand and revise the in-
formation given in previous publications, asking what the particular conditions
were that fostered the spread of such texts, and why they aroused interest within
the Horn of Africa.

1 Transmitters
The main collector of Andalusi texts that I initially found was Shaykh Ḥabīb (d.
1373 H/1953 CE), from Amum Agar, in Wallo,6 who copied Ṣūfī texts originating
from different places across the Islamic world. The jurisprudence-related texts,
in turn, were in many cases found in the Zabī Molla collection, owing to the per-
sonal interest in this genre of its compiler, Badr al-Dīn al-Ubbī (d. 1401 H/1981
CE). This collection contains fiqh works from the different madhāhib in both man-
uscript and printed form.
Despite the relevance of these two individuals’ collections, the bulk of Anda-
lusi and Maghribi works are spread across a number of other private collections
that require a short introduction.
Several fieldwork missions were carried out at different sites in Ethiopia, Dji-
bouti and Somaliland7 in order to locate collections and digitize them. Due to a
popular uprising,8 the team had to change the original plans of some of its mis-
sions in Ethiopia, and the new collections digitized were related to the ṭarīqa
Tijāniyya. This Ṣūfī order was founded by Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Muḥammad
b. al-Mukhtār al-Tijānī (d. 1230 H/1815 CE) in ʿAyn Māḍī, Fez. Soon after its found-
ing, it spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa and was introduced in Ethiopia be-
ginning in the second half of the 19th century.9 This order emerged as a reaction
against Ottoman cultural influence10 and subsequently was keen to preserve its
traditions, cutting itself off from other Ṣūfī orders,11 which explains why they have

||
5 There are around 32 different collections from different provenances. Some of them were al-
ready available, while others have been collected during the course of the project.
6 Hernández 2017, 106–128.
7 The information on the different missions can be found on the project website.
8 In November 2015 there was an uprising in different areas of Ethiopia led by the Oromo ethnic
group, who are not represented in the country’s ruling coalition.
9 For more information about the introduction and spread of the order in Ethiopia see Ishihara
1997, 391–402; Ishihara 2010a, 248–259; Ishihara 2010b; Petrone 2016, 165–187; Seifedin 2006.
10 Diego 2018, 70.
11 Petrone 2016, 165.
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 437

preserved their Maghribi heritage. The Tijānī collections are held in Tije, Wa-
rukko, Agaro, Toba, Haro and Jimata.12

2 Paths of transmission
The main routes for the transmission of Western Islamic works to the Horn of Af-
rica passed through Mecca or Mecca–Yemen, and Egypt or Egypt–Sudan. Until
now there was no evidence of direct contact between East and West Africa, but
the material analyzed in the last stage of our project has brought to light new
information in this sense that requires further analysis. In his study on the Ethio-
pian branch of the Tijāniyya, Michele Petrone states that although at the outset
the Tijāniyya was a localized foreign order whose main representatives entered
the ṭarīqa in Mecca, the manuscripts analyzed show ongoing relations between
the Ethiopian Tijānī scholars and other Tijānī ʿulamāʾ from North and West Af-
rica:

The case of the Tiǧāniyya in Ethiopia, as presented in previous studies, appears to be ana-
lysed mainly as a localized foreign order, following an inward path: Aḥmad b. ʿUmar was
from Bornu and apparently entered the ṭarīqa while he was in Ḥiǧāz to perform Pilgrimage,
as al-Ḥāǧǧ Yūsuf also did. This perfectly represents the beginnings of the order in Ethiopia.
Nonetheless manuscripts collections digitized during recent missions bear evidence that
there have been ongoing relations between Ethiopian masters and other exponents of the
Tiǧāniyya, mainly from North and West Africa.13

That is the case of al-Sharīf al-Fāsī, who the Ethiopian Abbā Jamāl b. Ḥājj Yūsuf
(d. 1406 H/1985 CE), compiler of one of the collections digitized in 2016 in Jimata,
names in a poem as one of his masters.14

||
12 For more information see the report of the Second Mission of the Islam in the Horn of Africa
Project (30 January–4 March 2016), www.islhornafr.eu/Report_Mission_2016_Ethiopia.pdf.
13 Petrone 2016, 171.
14 Michele Petrone will examine the links between the Ethiopian and North African branches
of the Tijāniyya order in the project The Islamic Literary Tradition in Sub-Saharan Africa: A New
Academic Network. This project is a collaboration between Alessandro Gori (University of Copen-
hagen) and Shamil Jeppie (Cape Town University), funded by the Danish Ministry of Higher Ed-
ucation and Science. For more information on the relations between East and West Africa see
Birks 1978; Lecocq 2015, 23–36; Miran 2015, 389–408; Yamba 1995.
438 | Adday Hernández López

3 Classification according to the content of the

texts
If we classify the texts in the corpus written by Andalusi and Maghribi scholars
according to genre, two main categories emerge. The first consists of Ṣūfī poems
and other Ṣūfī works such as collections of prayers. The second includes other
types of texts which can be subdivided into linguistics or grammar, Qurʾānic sci-
ences, and jurisprudence.

3.1 Ṣūfism and theology

Most of the authors from the Islamic West that I first studied (Abū Madyan, al-
Fāzāzī, Ibn ʿArabī, Ibn Masdī al-Muhallabī, Ibn al-Jayyāb, Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-
Maqqarī, Ibn Jābir, and ʿĪsā b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Lakhmī) could be included in this
category, made up mainly of devotional literature.15 Since that time, we have lo-
cated many other texts and scholars from both al-Andalus and the Maghrib that
can be added to this list.
The two most popular works in relation to Ṣūfī devotional literature were
written by ʿulamāʾ from North Africa, and consist of collections of prayers for the
Prophet Muḥammad. The first is Tanbīh al-anām, attributed to ʿAbd al-Jalīl b.
ʿAẓẓūm al-Qayrawānī (d. 960 H/1552 CE) and copied in more than 90 manuscripts
distributed among nearly all of the catalogued collections.
The second is Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, written by the Moroccan Ṣūfī scholar Abū
ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Sulaymān b. Abī Bakr al-Samlālī, known as al-Jazūlī
(d. 869 H/1465 CE), founder of the Jazūliyya, a sub-order of the Shādhiliyya. This
is a work that spread all across the Islamic world16 and is included in at least 21
manuscripts belonging to multiple collections throughout the Horn. It is divided
into parts to be recited during the different days of the week. A commentary by
Muḥammad al-Mahdī al-Fāsī (d. 1109 H/1697 CE), the Maṭāliʿ al-masarrāt bi-jalāʾ
Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, is also quoted in six manuscripts. Thanks to a note that ap-
pears in one of the manuscripts, we know exactly how Dalāʾil al-khayrāt entered
Ethiopia.17 According to the note, Dalāʾil al-khayrāt was transmitted by al-Jazūlī

||
15 Hernández 2015–16, 12–15.
16 On this work see Witkam 2002; Witkam 2007; Daub 2016.
17 This note of transmission appears in a manuscript held in Leiden (MS Drewes - Stroomer
DWL00001, fol. 58v). It belongs to the collection gathered by Abraham J. Drewes. The collection
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 439

to ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Tabbāʿ (d. 914 H/1508 CE), his successor as the head of the
Jazūliyya; from al-Tabbāʿ it was transmitted to Aḥmad b. Abī al-ʿAbbās al-Ṣamʿī
(d. ca. 1050 H/1640 CE); from him to ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Fāsī (d. 1091 H/1680 CE);
then to Aḥmad al-Maqqarī (d. 1041 H/1631 CE),18 Aḥmad b. al-Ḥājj (d. ca. 1080
H/1669 CE), Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Muthannā (d. ca. 1120
H/1708 CE), Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Madgharī al-Ḥasanī (d. ca. 1160 H/1747 CE),
and, finally, to ʿAlī b. Yūsuf al-Madanī (d. ca. 1200 H/1785 CE), who was the one
who transmitted it to an Ethiopian, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Hararī (d. ca.
1240 H/1824 CE). From there, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān transmitted it to Yūsuf
b. ʿUmar al-Tajrāwī al-Hararī, who in 1261 H/1845 CE gave the ijāza for this text to
his pupil ʿAbd al-Qādir b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad ʿUthmān.
A third popular work is Umm al-barāhīn, by the Maghribi Ṣūfī theologian al-
Sanūsī, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. ʿUmar b. Shuʿayb (d. 895 H/1490 CE). His text,
also known as al-ʿAqīda al-ṣughrā or the Sanūsiyya, is a text that was traditionally
employed in Fez for the basic teaching of theology, and spread in the 11th/17th
century through West Africa to the Niger, after which numerous commentaries
and glosses began to appear.19 It is found in five manuscripts held in four different
Ethiopian collections. Apart from the main text by al-Sanūsī, four works based on
the Umm al-barāhīn have been also found in the corpus:
– Sharḥ Umm al-barāhīn: al-Sanūsī, two printed books in Ethiopia.
– Sharḥ al-Ṣughrā: Aḥmad b. Aḥmad al-Burnusī al-Fāsī known as Zarrūq (d.
899 H/1494 CE), one manuscript in Ethiopia.20
– Sharḥ al-Hudhudī ʿalā al-Sanūsiyya: Muḥammad b. Manṣūr al-Hudhudī, one
printed book in Ethiopia.
– Ḥāshiyat al-Sharqāwī ʿalā sharḥ al-Hudhudī ʿalā al-Sanūsiyya: the same
printed book.
– Taʿlīq ʿalā Muqaddimat al-Sanūsī: Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Akaddāwī al-
Qināwī al-Miṣrī, known as al-Muḍawwī (d. 1095 H/1684 CE), a Sudanese
scholar; one manuscript in Ethiopia.21

||
is now preserved by Prof. Harry Stroomer, and it was digitized by Dr. Michele Petrone and Prof.
Alessandro Gori in September 2016.
18 This transmission is theoretically possible, yet the dates indicate that there could be a mis-
take in the chain, since al-Maqqarī appears to have died fifty years before his alleged pupil, ʿAbd
al-Qādir al-Fāsī. There could also be a mistake in the order of the names.
19 Bencheneb, “al-Sanūsī”, EI2.
20 Limmu Ghannat, MS Limmu - Muḥammad b. Abbā Ruksī LMG00012, fols. 4r–49r.
21 Warukko, MS Warukko WRK00009, fols. 1v–42v.
440 | Adday Hernández López

– Al-Durr al-thamīn fī naẓm Umm al-barāhīn (versification): Qāsim b. Muḥyī al-

Dīn al-Qādirī al-Barāwī (d. 1340 H/1922 CE), a renowned scholar from Har-
geisa; one manuscript in Hargeisa, Somaliland.22

Aḥmad al-Badawī (d. 675 H/1276 CE), the founder of another Ṣūfī order, the
Badawiyya, who was also from the Maghrib, is mentioned in several manuscripts,
and we find two poems dedicated to him, one of them in ʿAfar ʿajamī.23 However,
his own writing appears in just one manuscript, via a single fragment of one of
his works.24
Apart from these works, various poems attributed to Andalusi and Maghribi
scholars have been found, such as Ibn Shihāb al-Andalusī’s (d. 393 H/1003 CE)
Qaṣīda li-arbaʿa ḥaqq ʿalā al-ghayr lāzim; a poem attributed to Abū Muḥammad
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-ʿIẓm b. Arqam al-Numayrī al-Wādī Āshī (d. 749 H/1348 CE);25
Ibn al-Naḥwī’s (d. 513 H/1119 CE) al-Qaṣīda al-munfarija;26 al-Suhaylī’s (d. 581
H/1185 CE) al-Qaṣīda al-ʿayniyya fī al-munājāt;27 and al-Ḥaẓīra fī naẓm muhimm
al-sīra, by ʿAbd al-Salām b. al-Ṭayyib al-Qādirī al-Fāsī (d. 1110 H/1698 CE), who
was a pupil of Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Maʿn al-Andalusī al-Fāsī (d.
1120 H/1708 CE). In addition to these texts, one of the most widespread poems for
the celebration of the mawlid found in the Ethiopian collections is the poem start-
ing with the verse “Mā arsala al-Raḥmān”, which is attributed to two different
authors: one of them is Muḥammad al-Bakrī al-Ṣiddīqī (d. 994 H/1586 CE), from
Egypt, and the other is Muḥammad al-Fāṭimī al-Idrīsī (d. 1295 H/1878 CE), from
the Maghrib.

||
22 MS Hargeisa Cultural Center - Jama Musse Jama HCC00021, fols. 1v–8v.
23 This means that it is written in the local ʿAfar language but employing the Arabic script: Ta-
wassul bi-l-ʿAfariyya “Yā Rabb irḥamhu raḥmat al-abrār”, by Ḥājj Ḥamza b. Maḥmūd b. Kabīr
Ḥamza b. Kabīr Maḥmūd (d. 1341 H/1923 CE). Found on a loose folio in a manuscript from Bal-
bala, Djibouti (MS Kabirto - ʿAlawī b. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad b. ʿAbd al-Qādir b. Ḥājj Ḥamza DJKH00022).
24 Ṣīghat kayfiyyat al-ṣalāt. Kept in a manuscript in Pavia (Biblioteca civica “Carlo Bonetta” MS
Pavia - Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti PAV00003, fol. 72r).
25 A quotation from his naẓm “Taʿālū nuʿāṭī-hā muqaddasa ṣirfā” appears on a loose folio inside
the manuscript at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, MS Arabic collection IES05517, fols. 138r–
141v.
26 This poem is found in three manuscripts, and its commentary, Fatḥ mufarrij al-kurūb, by the
famous Zakariyyāʾ al-Anṣārī (d. 926 H/1520 CE), is found in two more. The complete references
can be found in the database of the project IslHornAfr.
27 Among the texts there is an anonymous takhmīs of this poem which is copied in at least six
manuscripts and a printed book. Another of al-Suhaylī’s works, al-Rawḍ al-unuf fī sharḥ al-Sīra
al-nabawiyya, is mentioned in a manuscript from Haro (MS Abbā Durā HRDVar03, fol. 2r).
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 441

The text Ghayth al-mawāhib al-ʿaliyya bi-sharḥ al-Ḥikam al-ʿAṭāʾiyya, by

Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī (d. 792 H/1390 CE), is a commentary
to al-Ḥikam, by Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Iskandarī al-Shādhilī (d.
709 H/1309 CE). A copy of this work is found in a manuscript of the ʿAbd Allāh
Sharif collection in Harar,28 and two printed books of the same work were found
in Zabī Molla, probably because of the presence of the ṭarīqa Shādhiliyya at both
sites.
Another Maghribi author is Ibrāhīm b. Idrīs al-Sanūsī al-Ḥasanī al-Fāsī (d.
1304 H/1887 CE). His Sayf al-Naṣr bi-l-Sāda al-Kirām Ahl Badr is copied in a man-
uscript from Warukko,29 one of the Tijānī collections. The presence of this text
reflects modern Ethiopian scholars’ active involvement in the reception and
transmission of the texts, and shows they stayed abreast of the latest works writ-
ten in the Maghrib.
The list of Maghribi authors is completed with two scholars from Kairouan,
for whom we have neither dates nor any other information. They are ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq
al-Qayrawānī,30 author of the qaṣīda “ʿAqīdat al-tawḥīd”,31 and al-Shihāb Aḥmad
b. Khalūf al-Qayrawānī, who wrote a poem in praise of the Prophet (madḥ al-
Nabī).32

3.2 Linguistics
In a previous paper, I already indicated that grammar is a widely cultivated genre
in the Horn.33 Ibn Mālik’s (d. 672 H/1273 CE) Alfiyya is known all over the Islamic
world and is also found in one of the manuscripts analyzed here. It is also repre-
sented in three printed books, and four different commentaries are to be found as
well. The commentary that appears most frequently is Sharḥ Ibn ʿAqīl ʿalā Alfiyyat
Ibn Mālik, of which we find three manuscripts and six printed books, followed by

||
28 Museum of Harar MS Abdallah Sharif ASH00217, fols. 46r–103v.
29 MS Warukko WRK00041, fols. 1v–28r.
30 He could plausibly be identified with ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ṣāliḥ b. ʿĪsā al-Qay-
rawānī al-Qurašī (known as Sayyidī ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Qayrawānī), whose zāwiya is located in the
Tunisian village of Ḥidāʾ wādī al-ʿabīd.
31 There is no available information on this author. His ʿAqīda is found in three manuscripts
from different collections (Warukko, MS Warukko WRK00022, fols. 6r–7r; Suuse, MS Suuse
SSE00032, fols. 27v–29r; Balbala, MS Kabirto - ʿAlawī b. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad b. ʿAbd al-Qādir b. Ḥājj
Ḥamza DJKH00021, fols. Ar-Bv).
32 Institute of Ethiopian Studies MS Arabic collection IES05517, fols. 158v–158v.
33 Hernández 2015–16, 11–12.
442 | Adday Hernández López

Sharḥ al-Ushmūnī li-Alfiyyat Ibn Mālik, found in five printed books. We also find
quotations from two other texts based on Ibn Mālik’s Alfiyya: al-Azharī’s (d.
905 H/1499 CE) Tamrīn al-ṭullāb fī ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb, and al-Fatḥ al-wudūdī ʿalā
sharḥ al-Makkūdī ʿalā Alfiyyat Ibn Mālik, by the aforementioned Aḥmad b. al-Ḥājj,
pupil of al-Maqqarī and transmitter of Dalāʾil al-khayrāt.
In addition, two new manuscripts containing Ibn Mālik’s other work, Lāmiy-
yat al-afʿāl, must be added to the manuscript from Suuse that I previously identi-
fied in another paper.34 Also to be added are two commentaries by the Ethiopian
scholar Muḥammad al-Amīn b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al-Hararī al-Buwayṭī (alive in
1398 H/1978 CE), Taḥnīk al-aṭfāl ʿalā Lāmiyyat al-afʿāl, and Manāhil al-rijāl wa-
marāḍiʿ al-aṭfāl bi-libān maʿānī Lāmiyyat al-afʿāl, both in printed form.
The other noteworthy presence is that of the Moroccan grammarian Ibn
Ājurrūm (d. 723 H/1323 CE). His work al-Muqaddima al-Ājurrūmiyya is well known
in the Horn of Africa. Until now we have found six manuscripts and three printed
books, but the number of commentaries is far more abundant than the commen-
taries to Ibn Mālik’s Alfiyya, with at least 11 texts in the corpus deriving from the
Ājurrūmiyya:35
– Sharḥ al-Azharī ʿalā al-Muqaddima al-Ājurrūmiyya, by Khālid b. ʿAbd Allāh b.
Abī Bakr al-Azharī (d. 905 H/1499 CE).
– Ḥāshiyat Abī al-Najā ʿalā Sharḥ al-Azharī li-l-Ājurrūmiyya, by Abū al-Najā
Muḥammad Mujāhid al-Ṭantidāʾī (d. 1270 H/1853 CE).
– Mutammimat al-Ājurrūmiyya, by Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ruʿaynī al-
Ḥaṭṭāb (d. 954 H/1547 CE).
– Al-Fawākih al-janiyya ʿalā Mutammimat al-Ājurrūmiyya, by ʿAbd Allāh b.
Aḥmad al-Fākihī (d. 972 H/1564 CE).
– Al-Kawākib al-durriyya sharḥ Mutammimat al-Ājurrūmiyya, by Muḥammad b.
Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Bārī al-Ahdal (d. 1298 H/1880 CE).
– Al-Kharīda al-bahiyya fī iʿrāb alfāẓ al-Ājurrūmiyya, by ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUthmān
b. Aḥmad al-ʿUjaymī (d. 1307 H/1889 CE).
– Hidāyat al-ṭālibiyya, unknown author.
– Iʿrāb al-Ājurrūmiyya, by Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Kafrāwī (d. 1202 H/1787 CE).
– Sharḥ al-Ājurrūmiyya fī al-naḥw, by Aḥmad b. Zaynī Daḥlān (d. 1304 H/
1886 CE).
– Ḥāshiyat al-Ājurrūmiyya, unknown author.

||
34 Hernández 2015–16, 12.
35 Furthermore, numerous commentaries and glosses to these 11 texts based on the Ājurrūmiyya
have been found in their margins.
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 443

– Al-Maqāṣid al-wafiyya fī sharḥ al-muqaddima al-Ājurrūmiyya, by Ethiopian

author Muḥammad Amān, from Dawway, in Wallo.
– Al-Bākūra al-janniyya min qaṭāf Iʿrāb al-Ājurrūmiyya, by Muḥammad al-Amīn
b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al-Hararī al-Buwayṭī al-Shāfiʿī al-Urumī al-ʿAlawī (b.
1348 H/1930 CE), who commented on Ibn Mālik’s Lāmiyyat al-afʿāl as well.
– Al-Durar al-bahiyya fī iʿrāb amthilat al-Ājurrūmiyya wa-fakk maʿānīhā wa-
bayā ḍawābiṭihā wa-ʿilalihā, by Muḥammad al-Amīn b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf
al-Hararī al-Buwayṭī.
– Al-Futūḥāt al-Qayyūmiyya fī ḥall wa-fakk maʿānī wa-mabānī matn al-
Ājurrūmiyya, by Muḥammad al-Amīn b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al-Hararī al-Bu-
wayṭī.

As can be seen, Muḥammad al-Amīn b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al-Hararī al-Buwayṭī,

who lived in the 20th century, is the most prolific Ethiopian commentator, and
thus transmitter, of Maghribi works on Arabic Grammar.36 His production has
been mainly found in printed books, and he has also commented on other famous
grammar works such as al-Ḥarīrī’s Mulḥat al-iʿrāb.

3.3 Qurʾānic sciences

In general, the Qurʾānic sciences are not as well represented as writings in praise
of the prophet Muḥammad, grammar books or Shāfiʿī jurisprudence. However,
some Andalusi works that are well known throughout the Islamic world are also
represented in the Ethiopian manuscripts. For example, we find the exegetical
work of Ibn Farḥ al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 H/1273 CE), but only as a pair of references in
the marginal notes to manuscripts from different collections. An edition of the
abridgement by al-Shaʿrānī (d. 973 H/1565 CE) to Ibn Farḥ al-Qurṭubī’s eschato-
logical treatise Tadhkira bi-aḥwāl al-mawtā wa-umūr al-ākhira can be also
found.37
In the latest collections analyzed, Ḥirz al-amānī wa-wajh al-tahānī – a versi-
fication of al-Dānī’s al-Taysīr fī al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, also known as al-Shāṭibiyya in
reference to its author, Abū al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (d. 590 H/1193 CE) – has been
found in four different collections: Agaro-Shaykh Kemal, Jimata-Mukhtār, Haro,

||
36 I have no information about his date of death.
37 Collection Jimata-Mukhtār (Jimata, MS Jimata - Mukhtār b. Abbā Jihād JMK00174).
444 | Adday Hernández López

and Zabī Molla.38 In addition, three printed commentaries to al-Shāṭibī’s work can
be found in Zabī Molla:
– Kanz al-maʿānī fī sharḥ Ḥirz al-amānī, by Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b.
Muḥammad al-Mawṣilī al-Ḥanbalī, known as Shuʿla (d. 656 H/1258 CE).
– Ibrāz al-maʿānī min Ḥirz al-amānī, by Abū Shāma ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ismāʿīl
(d. 665 H/1268 CE).
– Irshād al-murīd ilā maqṣūd al-qaṣīd, by ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. Ḥasan b. Ibrā-
hīm al-Ḍabbāʿ (d. 781 H/1380 CE).

Another work by al-Shāṭibī, Matn ʿaqīlat atrāb al-qāṣaʾid fī al-rasm, is found in a

printed book held in the Jimata-Mukhtār collection.

3.4 Jurisprudence
The predominant school of law in the Horn is the Shāfiʿī madhhab, but the Ḥanafī
school is also well represented. While the Mālikī doctrine also boasts some fol-
lowers, especially in the areas of Ethiopia bordering on Sudan, our study does
not include any manuscripts from this area. As such, owing to the predominance
of the Mālikī doctrine in the Islamic West, few works of fiqh from al-Andalus and
the Maghrib are found in the corpus. However, in spite of this general lack of in-
terest in the Mālikī intellectual tradition, some of its most representative works
are indeed represented. This is the case of Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī’s (d. 386 H/
996 CE) Risāla fī al-fiqh,39 and Bidāyat al-mujtahid wa-nihāyat al-muqtaṣid, by
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Ibn Rushd (d. 595 H/1198 CE).40 The edition
of another work by a famous Andalusi Mālikī scholar, al-Iʿtiṣām, by Naṣrid jurist
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā al-Lakhmī al-Shāṭibī (d. 790 H/1388 CE), is found in
the collection preserved in Zabī Molla. The only complete Mālikī work copied in
manuscript form is al-Murshid al-muʿīn ʿalā al-ḍarūrī min ʿulūm al-dīn, by ʿAbd al-
Wāḥid b. al-ʿĀshir (alive in 1008–1040 H/1599–1630 CE).41
There is also a reference to Kitāb al-Bidaʿ, by Muḥammad b. Waḍḍaḥ al-
Qurṭubī al-Andalusī (d. 289 H/902 CE), in a quotation extracted from al-

||
38 This is the only non-Tijānī collection of the four containing the Shāṭibiyya.
39 A printed book in the collection Jimata-Mukhtār.
40 Two fragments copied in two manuscripts from Zabī Molla and a printed book in the collec-
tion Jimata-Mukhtār.
41 Copied in a manuscript from the collection Jimata-Mukhtār (Jimata, MS Mukhtār b. Abbā Ji-
hād JMK00169, fols.1v–11v).
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 445

Ghumārī’s Muṭābaqa,42 but upon closer examination of the note we find that it is
related to Judgment Day, not to legal issues. The quotation appears in a marginal
note to a codex preserved in the Jimata-Mukhtār collection that contains Tijānī
texts such as Shurūṭ al-tarbiya bi-l-ṭarīqa al-tijāniyya, by Muḥammad al-Fāsī
(alive after 1193 H/1780 CE), and Bulūgh al-amānī bi-l-ijāza li-murīd al-wird al-
tijānī, by Moroccan Tijānī Aḥmad Sukayrij (d. 1363 H/1944 CE).43
Ibn Waḍḍāḥ’s Kitāb al-Bidaʿ is one of the few extant Andalusi works com-
posed in the 3rd/9th century. It is a religious treatise against innovations based
on Prophetic traditions that reflects Muslim ascetic concerns in the first period of
Islam, and continues to appeal to Muslim audiences today:

Kitāb al-Bidaʿ ... by Muḥammad b. Waḍḍāḥ al-Qurṭubī, is one of the few works written in al-
Andalus in the 3rd/9th century that has come down to us. But this is not the only reason it
deserves to be brought back into focus, as it constitutes an interesting document on medie-
val misoneism from an Islamic perspective (it is the oldest preserved treatise against inno-
vation). It also sheds light on the formation of Muslim practices of ritual and devotion, re-
flecting the ascetic concerns of the period and the fear that the End was fast approaching.
Likewise, it is representative of one of the periods in the introduction of the traditions of the
Prophet (ḥadīth) in al-Andalus. ... For non-specialists, the translation of Ibn Waḍḍāḥ’s work
is an occasion to enter into contact with an example of early Islamic religious literature,
whose content continues to resonate with Muslim believers today.44

Al-Ghumārī was a late ḥadīth scholar from Morocco and leader of the Ṣiddīqiyya
Ṣūfī order45 who was very critical with the eastern Ṣūfī orders, especially the
Naqshbandiyya, so it is not unusual to find references to his work in the Tijānī
manuscripts. Al-Ghumārī studied at al-Azhar, and his Muṭābaqa could have been
discovered there by a Tijānī scholar from Jimata, since in the collection digitized
at this site, we also find an edition of the Muṭābaqa printed in Cairo.46
Finally, there are also two works by al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (Abū al-Faḍl ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā
b. ʿIyāḍ b. ʿAmrūn al-Yaḥṣubī al-Sabtī, d. 544 H/1149 CE), considered a central
figure of Mālikism in the Islamic West,47 although the works in question are not
strictly related to legal matters.48 Al-Shifāʾ bi-taʿrīf ḥuqūq al-Muṣṭafā and

||
42 Muṭābaqat al-ikhtirāʿāt al-ʿaṣriyya li-mā akhbara bi-hi sayyid al-barriyya, by Aḥmad b.
Muḥammad b. al-Ṣiddīq al-Ḥasanī al-Ghumārī (d. 1381 H/1962 CE).
43 Jimata, MS Mukhtār b. Abbā Jihād JMK00164, fol. 17v.
44 See Fierro 1998, 7; translation mine.
45 It is a branch of the Shādhiliyya.
46 Al-Ghumārī 1960.
47 Talbi, “ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā”, EI2.
48 Al-Shifāʾ, whose full title could be translated as “Healing by the Recognition of the Rights of
the Chosen One”, is a work on the Prophet, and Mashāriq al-anwār deals with ḥadīth.
446 | Adday Hernández López

Mashāriq al-anwār ʿalā ṣiḥāḥ al-āthār are both quoted in marginal notes to other
manuscripts. Considering that more manuscripts of al-Shifāʾ have been preserved
than of over any other work by an author linked to al-Andalus,49 one might expect
to find more copies in these Tijānī collections, but only two printed books were
found, and no manuscripts.50
In the traditional Islamic schools, a common practice was to compare the
Shāfiʿī fiqh texts with others produced by Ḥanafī or Mālikī scholars, and this
could explain the existence of mixed texts from the three schools of law. How-
ever, it is more likely that the presence of Mālikī works among the Tijānī manu-
scripts has to do with the fact that Aḥmad al-Tijānī, founder of the ṭarīqa, was
himself a Mālikī.

3.5 Other references

There are a number of texts that do not fit easily into any of the other sections.
For example, in the Agaro-Shaykh Kemal collection we found a printed copy of
ʿAyn al-adab wa-l-siyāsa wa-zayn al-ḥasab wa-l-riyāsa written by ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-
Raḥmān Ibn Hudhayl al-Fazārī (d. after 812 H/1409 CE), an Andalusi man of let-
ters, poet, and faqīh who, according to Francisco Vidal Castro, wrote several mis-
cellaneous works of “moralizing entertainment”.51
Two texts on medicine have appeared in the Ethiopian manuscripts of the
Bruce collection, held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The codices containing
these texts constitute the only example to date of Islamic manuscripts written on
parchment.52 Both manuscripts look very similar, and thanks to the information
provided in one of them, we know that they were copied around 1770 CE. One of
them is Faṣl min al-dawā wa-l-ṭibb. According to Sara Fani, cataloguer of these
items, the name of the author is given sometimes as al-Ḥakīm Hirmūs and other
times as Hirmīs b. al-Bayṭār, apparently a mixture between the Andalusi botanist
Ibn al-Bayṭār (Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad al-Mālaqī, d. 646 H/1248 CE)
– whose work is one of the most widespread Andalusi texts in the Islamic

||
49 Al-Shifāʾ is the most widely disseminated Andalusi text, as measured by the number of pre-
served manuscripts worldwide. See Fierro (in press).
50 One of them in the Jimata-Mukhtār collection and the other in the Agaro-Muḥammad Sayf
collection.
51 Vidal-Castro, “Ibn Hudhayl al-Fazārī”, EI3.
52 Anne Regourd has studied the physical features of the manuscripts in Gori 2014, xlvii–xcii.
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 447

world53 – and Hermes Trismegistus, who is often invoked for magical and occult
medical remedies.54
The other text is a compound of fragments on medicine attributed to Cordo-
ban scholar Ibn ʿAzrūn (Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. Isḥāq al-Isrāʾīlī, alive in 494 H/
1101 CE).55
An edition of Ṭawq al-ḥamāma, by Andalusi author Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/
1064 CE),56 is held in the collection digitized at the Tijānī site in Haro.57 While it is
not a Ṣūfī work, the reason behind its inclusion must respond to its analysis of
love, and the importance given by Ṣūfī scholars to this concept in its divine form.
Preserved in a codex unicus, Ibn Ḥazm’s Ṭawq al-ḥamāma was not a popular work
in the pre-modern period. Rather, it was the attention devoted to it by modern
Western scholars, who translated it into different European languages, that has
made it famous today, in turn generating interest in the text in the Arab world as
well.

4 Concluding remarks
In my previous piece on this subject, I concluded that specific local ʿulamāʾ who
were interested in certain subjects, such as jurisprudence or Ṣūfī poetry in praise
of the Prophet, collected Andalusi and Maghribi works on account of their fame
in the broader Islamic world. Although in general terms the genres remain the
same – that is, mainly grammar and Ṣūfī texts – the examination of the Tijānī
collections has revealed more titles and authors, especially in light of the collec-
tion compiled by Abbā Jihād al-Tijānī (alive in 1382 H/1962 CE) in Jimata, and
preserved today by his son, Mukhtār b. Abbā Jihād. The main vehicle for the
transmission of the Western Islamic production has thus been Ṣūfism, especially
the Tijāniyya, and the main channels through which the transmission took place
are still Mecca–Yemen and secondly Egypt–Sudan. However, it has now been
proven that direct scholarly relations between Western and Eastern Africa did in-

||
53 Maribel Fierro has found that Ibn al-Bayṭār’s Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ li-mufradāt al-adwiya wa-l-agh-
dhiya is the fourth most widely disseminated Andalusi work. See Fierro (in press).
54 Bodleian MS Bruce 50.
55 Bodleian MS Bruce 45.
56 Ibn Ḥazm, Ṭawq al-ḥamāma (n.d.).
57 MS Abbā Durā HRD00046.
448 | Adday Hernández López

deed exist. Ṣūfī networks and practices are behind the choice not only of devo-
tional texts, but also of texts such as Ibn Farḥ’s poem on ʿilm al-ḥadīth, written in
the form of a Ṣūfī love poem, and perhaps also of the Shāṭibiyya.58
An additional reason for the presence of some of the works seems to be the
Ethiopian Muslim communities’ need for basic summarized and easy-to-memo-
rize texts on a range of Islamic subjects. For instance, Ibn Farḥ’s poem, the
Shāṭibiyya, or Ibn Mālik’s Alfiyya, are all versified didactic works, which – to-
gether with the migration of their authors to the East – has certainly been a deci-
sive factor in their spread not only in the Horn of Africa, but throughout the whole
Islamic world as well.59 Another example of the usage of works intended for basic-
level teaching is Umm al-barāhīn.60
The two most popular works throughout the Horn, Dalāʾil al-khayrāt and
Tanbīh al-anām, are of Maghribi origin. The case of Tanbīh al-anām is of special
interest. It probably travelled from Mecca to Yemen and from there to both the
Horn and Southwest Asia, where it is also extremely popular,61 in contrast to its
relative lack of popularity in the Arab world. Likewise, Umm al-barāhīn also
spread to Malaysia and Indonesia, becoming the most popular of the “works ex-
plaining the Ashʿarī doctrine on the divine and prophetal attributes (ṣifāt)”.62
Although as compared to the situation in West Africa63 the percentage of
works originating from the Islamic West is small, it is nonetheless significant, as
they represent around ten percent of the catalogued manuscripts, that is some
200 codices out of the more than 2000 analyzed.

||
58 Zohra Azgal discusses the legend of holiness developed around this work and its author in
her contribution to this volume.
59 The origin and the reception of these didactic poems have been analyzed by Maribel Fierro.
See Fierro (in press).
60 Bencheneb points out that al-Sanūsī’s three ʿaqāʾid marked the grades of primary, middle
and advanced studies, with the Ṣughrā al-ṣughrā sometimes replacing the Ṣughrā in the first
grade. See Bencheneb, “al-Sanūsī”, EI2.
61 These transnational scholarly networks have been studied by Abdul Sheriff and Anne Bang.
See Sheriff 2010; Bang 2014.
62 See Bencheneb, “al-Sanūsī”, EI2.
63 For the case of West Africa, see http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/arbmss/histori-
cal.html.
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 449

Appendix I: Chronological list of Andalusi

scholars
– Muḥammad b. Waḍḍaḥ al-Qurṭubī al-Andalusī (d. 289 H/902 CE).
– Ibn Shihāb al-Andalusī, ʿAbd al-Mālik b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b.
Shahīd al-Qurṭubī (d. 393 H/1003 CE).
– Al-Dānī, Abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān b. Saʿīd b. ʿUmar al-Umawī al-Mālikī (d. 444 H/
1053 CE).
– Ibn ʿAzrūn, Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. Isḥāq al-Isrāʾīlī (alive in 494 H/1101 CE).
– ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā b. ʿIyāḍ b. ʿAmrūn al-Yaḥṣubī al-Sabtī, Abū al-Faḍl (d. 544 H/
1149 CE).
– Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456 H/1064 CE).
– Al-Shāṭibī, Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh b. Khalaf (d. 590 H/1193 CE).
– Abū Madyan Shuʿayb b. al-Ḥusayn al-Andalusī (d. 590 H/1193 CE).
– Ibn Rushd, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad (d. 595 H/1198 CE).
– ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. Yakhlaftan al-Fāzāzī (d. 627 H/1230 CE).
– Muḥyī al-Dīn b. al-ʿArabī (d. 638 H/1240 CE).
– Ibn al-Bayṭār, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Mālaqī
(d. 646 H/1248 CE).
– Al-Qurṭubī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr b. Farḥ/Faraḥ al-Anṣārī al-
Khazrajī (d. 671 H/1273 CE).
– Ibn Mālik (d. 672 H/1273 CE).
– Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. Masdī al-Muhallabī (d. 673 H/1274 CE).
– Aḥmad b. Faraḥ b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Faraḥ, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Ishbīlī
al-Lakhmī al-Khawlānī al-Shāfiʿī, Shihāb al-Dīn (d. 699 H/1300 CE).
– Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-ʿIẓm b. Arqam al-Numayrī al-Andalusī
al-Wādī Āshī (d. 749 H/1348 CE).
– Ibn al-Jayyāb ʿAlī al-Anṣārī al-Andalusī al-Gharnāṭī (d. 749 H/1348 CE).
– Ibn Hudhayl, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Hudhayl al-Fazārī (alive in 763 H/
1362 CE).
– Lisān al-Dīn Ibn al-Khaṭīb (d. 776 H/1375 CE).
– Ibn Jābir al-Hawwārī al-Aʿmā (d. 780 H/1378 CE).
– Al-Shāṭibī, Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā al-Lakhmī (d. 790 H/1388 CE).
– Ibn ʿAbbād, Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Rundī (d. 792 H/1390 CE).
450 | Adday Hernández López

Appendix II: Chronological list of Maghribi

scholars
– Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī (d. 386 H/996 CE).
– Ibn al-Naḥwī, Yūsuf b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf Abū al-Faḍl al-Tawzarī (d. 513 H/
1119 CE).
– ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-Khayyāṭ al-Hārūshī al-Fāsī al-Tūnisī (d. 570 H/
1175 CE).
– Al-Suhaylī, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd Allāh (d. 581 H/1185 CE).
– Aḥmad al-Badawī (d. 675 H/1277 CE).
– Ibn Ājurrūm (d. 723 H/1323 CE).
– Al-Jazūlī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Sulaymān b. Abī Bakr al-Samlālī
(d. 869 H/1465 CE).
– Al-Sanūsī, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. ʿUmar b. Shuʿayb (d. 895 H/1490 CE).
– Zarrūq, Aḥmad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-Burnusī al-Fāsī (d. 899 H/
1494 CE).
– Al-Tabbāʿ, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 914 H/1508 CE).
– ʿAbd al-Jalīl b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Ibn ʿAẓẓūm al-Qayrawānī (d. 960 H/
1552 CE).
– ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. al-ʿĀshir (alive in 1008–1040 H/1599–1630 CE).
– ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Fāsī (11th/17th c.): master of al-Maqqarī.
– Al-Maqqarī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Andalusī al-Tilimsānī
(d. 1041 H/1631 CE).
– Muḥammad al-Mahdī b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf al-Fāsī (d. 1109 H/1697 CE).
– ʿAbd al-Salām b. al-Ṭayyib al-Qādirī al-Fāsī (d. 1110 H/1698 CE).
– Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Maʿn al-Andalusī al-Fāsī (d. 1120 H/
1708 CE): master of ʿAbd al-Salām b. al-Ṭayyib al-Qādirī al-Fāsī.
– Aḥmad al-Tijānī, Abū al-ʿAbbās b. Muḥammad b. al-Mukhtār (d. 1230 H/
1815 CE).
– Al-Idrīsī, Muḥammad al-Fāṭimī (d. 1295 H/1878 CE).
– Muḥammad al-Fāsī (alive after 1193 H/1780 CE).
– Ibrāhīm b. Idrīs al-Sanūsī al-Ḥasanī al-Fāsī (d. 1304 H/1887 CE).
– Aḥmad Sukayrij (d. 1363 H/1944 CE).
– Al-Ghumārī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṣiddīq al-Ḥasanī (d. 1381 H/1962 CE).
– Al-Sharīf al-Fāsī (master of Abbā Jamāl b. Ḥājj Yūsuf, Aḥmad al-Nūr b. ʿAlī
al-Faḍl al-Tijānī [d. 1406 H/1985 CE]).
– Al-Shihāb Aḥmad b. Khalūf al-Qayrawānī (n.d.).
– ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Qayrawānī (n.d.).
 Traces of the Medieval Islamic West in Modern East Africa | 451

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|
Part V: Remaining Maghribi while in the Mashriq
Umberto Bongianino
Vehicles of Cultural Identity: Some
Thoughts on Maghribi Scripts and
Manuscripts in the Mashriq

Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf Ibn al-Shaykh al-Balawī (527–604 H/1132–1208 CE) was one
of the most respected scholars from Almohad Málaga: a prolific author of prose
and poetry, a renowned teacher of Arabic literature, grammar, and Islamic juris-
prudence, and imām at the congregational mosque of the city. He was also a
wealthy and vigorous man: he is recorded to have paid for, and physically con-
tributed to, the erection of 25 mosques and the digging of more than 50 wells in
Málaga, in service to the urban community. Before becoming established as a no-
table in his hometown, however, Ibn al-Shaykh was one of the many Andalusi
intellectuals who had travelled to the Mashriq to perform the ḥajj and study under
the most prominent scholars of Egypt, Iraq, and Greater Syria. Being a man of
action as well as intellect, he fought as a ghāzī against the Castilians under the
Almohad caliph al-Manṣūr, and against the Crusaders under Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Sala-
din), thus playing an active role on the two major jihād fronts of the 12th-century
Mediterranean.1
During most of the year 562 H/1166-7 CE, Ibn al-Shaykh resided in Alexandria
and became a close disciple of the local traditionist Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī (d. 576 H/
1180 CE). In his partly autobiographical treatise Kitāb Alif bāʾ li-l-alibbāʾ (“The
Book of Alif and Bāʾ for the Discerning”), a pedagogical work completed shortly
before his death and dedicated to his son, the Malagan scholar recounts the fol-
lowing anecdote:

I was in Alexandria, reading to the ḥāfiẓ al-Silafī (may God have mercy upon him and pro-
tect the city) a passage of his own work, when I got to a ḥadīth transmitted by his masters
on the authority of al-Shāfiʿī (may God be pleased with them). The ḥadīth read: “Broad
beans [fūl] strengthen the brain, and a bigger brain increases the intelligence”. However,
the people of those lands mark the letter fāʾ with one dot above it, and qāf with two dots
also above it, and because of a distraction, I mistook the fāʾ for a qāf and read instead:
“Speech [qawl] strengthens the brain”. The ḥāfiẓ burst into laughter (he was an amiable and
witty man, may God have mercy upon him) and declared: “Speech exhausts the brain!” or
something to that effect. I replied that the word ‘speech’ was in my book, but he corrected

||
1 For a complete biography of Ibn al-Shaykh and a discussion of his works, see Peña Martín
2007.

Open Access. © 2021 Umberto Bongianino, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-017
456 | Umberto Bongianino

me: “It’s broad beans!”, enlightening me about their way of dotting letters. Then I asked
him: “How can beans strengthen the brain? In my country we say the exact contrary!”. He
laughed and replied: “I posed the very same question to my master so-and-so (I forgot his
name). I asked him: ‘How can Tabaristan be the greatest producer of broad beans in the
whole world, while its inhabitants are the most empty-headed?’. He replied: ‘Were it not for
their beans, they would all be flying!’”.2

In this humorous passage, Ibn al-Shaykh refers to the well-known Maghribi prac-
tice of dotting the letter fāʾ with one dot below it, and qāf with one dot above it,
attested in virtually all the manuscripts copied in the Islamic West from the
3rd/9th century onwards. This apparently insignificant difference in writing con-
ventions is what caused the author’s misunderstanding and al-Silafī’s amused
reaction. As one of the distinctive features of Maghribi scripts, the idiosyncratic
way of dotting fāʾ and qāf was a trait that travelling Andalusi intellectuals such
as Ibn al-Shaykh carried with them as part of their cultural background, and con-
fusions of this kind must have been a natural consequence of the encounter be-
tween scholars born and trained at the two extremes of the Arabic-speaking Med-
iterranean. Because of the many differences between Maghribi and Mashriqi
scribal practices, similar misunderstandings were arguably commonplace, and
must have given rise to a variety of responses spanning from harmless jokes to
diplomatic incidents, evidence of which is yet to emerge from the scrutiny of me-
dieval Arabic sources. Among the possible triggers, one should imagine not only
the differences in letter shapes (e.g. the final dāl and dhāl of Maghribi scripts re-
sembling the final rāʾ and zāy of eastern scripts), but also the disparity between
the eastern and western alphanumerical systems (e.g. the letter ṣād expressing
the number 60 in the Maghrib, but the number 90 in the Mashriq), the distinctive
mise-en-page of Maghribi diplomatic correspondence, the discrepancies between
the formulae and terminology employed in both manuscripts and notarial docu-
ments, and so forth.3
Although never really considered in this light by modern cultural historians,
it is becoming increasingly evident that the use of Maghribi scripts represented a
key factor in the creation and promulgation of the Andalusi identity throughout
the Islamic world, at least from the 6th/12th century. The distinctive round
bookhands originated in al-Andalus during the Umayyad period were introduced
in Northwest Africa under the Almoravids and Almohads – Berber dynasties from

||
2 Ibn al-Shaykh, Alif bāʾ (1870), 1: 159–160. The passage is also mentioned in Ibn Sharīfa 1994,
75–76.
3 Gacek 2012, 11–12 (“Arabic alpha-numerical notation”), 147–150 (“Maghribī script”), 82–89
(“Dates and dating”).
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 457

the Sahara and the Atlas Mountains who unified the two sides of the Strait of Gi-
braltar and employed Andalusi secretaries and calligraphers as instruments of
legitimation and propaganda.4 This political and cultural coalescence was ac-
companied by an increased socio-economic interconnection between the two
shores of the Alboran Sea, which led to a surge in the circulation and re-settling
of Andalusi intellectuals and merchant-scholars in present-day Morocco, Algeria,
and Tunisia. Further to the East, the presence of Andalusi and Maghribi expatri-
ates is attested well before this period, and it is a known fact that cities like Alex-
andria, Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad were all home to significant Maghribi
communities whose members, although occasionally marginalised, made im-
portant contributions to the local intellectual debates and the transmission of
knowledge.5 This constant presence is certainly attested in the written sources
(travelogues, historiography, biographical dictionaries, etc.), but, from the
6th/12th century, it becomes all the more visible thanks to a different and more
concrete type of evidence, namely manuscripts copied in the Mashriq by Ma-
ghribi scholars who proudly clung to the writing practices of their homeland. In
the next pages, I shall present a brief overview of some of these important vehi-
cles of cultural identity, which deserve to be studied and understood as part of a
much larger and still unidentified corpus of Maghribi manuscripts produced,
read, annotated, and deposited in the mosques and madrasas of the eastern Is-
lamic Mediterranean.

1 Alexandria: the frontier at sea

It was in the fortified port city of Alexandria that the vast majority of Maghribi
pilgrims, merchants, and scholars journeying by sea had their first encounter
with the Mashriq. This typically happened under the towering height of the fa-
mous lighthouse, a monument so vividly described by Ibn al-Shaykh and several
other Andalusi travellers.6 By the time of Ibn al-Shaykh’s sojourn in 562 H/1166-7
CE, the political decline of the Fāṭimids, once rivals of the Almoravids and largely
opposed to the Maghribi presence in Egypt, had allowed the establishment in Al-
exandria of Ṣūfī circles animated by disciples of the Andalusi mystic Abū Madyan

||
4 Al-ʿAllaoui/Buresi 2005; Lagardère 1993–94; al-Manūnī 1991, 21–42.
5 On Greater Syria, see Aḥmad 1989; on Damascus in particular, see Pouzet 1975; on Baghdad,
see Fierro 2009, 75–90; on Alexandria, see Geoffroy 2002; on Egypt in general, see Ḥanafī 2006.
6 Asín Palacios 1933. For the description of the Pharos given by Abū Ḥāmid al-Gharnāṭī, who
visited Alexandria in the year 512 H/1118 CE, see Bejarano Escanilla 1995.
458 | Umberto Bongianino

(d. 594 H/1198 CE), as well as of scholars of Mālikī jurisprudence.7 In fact, the first
Sunnī madrasa established in Fāṭimid Egypt – the Ḥāfiẓiyya – was directed by
the Mālikī imām Ibn ʿAwf al-Zuhrī, and opened in Alexandria in 532 H/1137-8.8
Among the most ancient manuscripts once in the Municipal Library of the city
and now incorporated in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, are four volumes of a
parchment copy of Saḥnūn’s Mudawwana, one of the founding texts of the Mālikī
madhhab, penned in an elegant Maghribi script in Calatrava la Vieja (in present-
day Castile-La Mancha), between 506 H/1112 CE and 510 H/1116 CE.9 Although
there is no conclusive evidence to prove it, one is tempted to imagine that these
precious codices were brought to Egypt by Andalusi scholars fleeing from the
Castilian conquest of Calatrava in 1147.10
In the same way as Calatrava and the other towns of the northern Andalusi
marches, 12th-century Alexandria was also organized and perceived as a frontier
city. It attracted militant intellectuals and saintly warriors from all over the Mus-
lim world, desirous to defend the Nile delta from the raids of the Crusader armies
and armadas.11 It is likely that Ibn al-Shaykh gained his own experience of jihād
here, since in the very year 562 H/1167 CE Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn valiantly held the city dur-
ing a four-month siege laid by King Amalric of Jerusalem and the Fāṭimid vizier
Shāwar b. Mujīr.12 A certain fascination with the figure of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn and his
image of heroic champion of Sunnism was a quality shared by many Maghribi
scholars, including the Valencian traveller Ibn Jubayr, who visited Alexandria in
578 H/1183 CE.13 As recently pointed out by Maribel Fierro, the Andalusi historian
al-Yasaʿ al-Ghāfiqī (d. 575 H/1179 CE), after re-settling in Egypt and becoming an
esteemed member of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s entourage, wrote one of the first accounts of

||
7 Geoffroy 2002, 171. For the persecution of Maghribi pilgrims in Egypt under the Fāṭimid vizier
Badr al-Jamalī (r. 466–487 H/1073–1094 CE), mentioned by the historian Ibn al-Athīr, see Vajda
1968, 4.
8 Sayyid 1992, 117–118. In his unpublished doctoral thesis, Gary Leiser argues that before the
foundation of the Ḥāfiẓiyya by the Fāṭimid vizier Riḍwān b. Walkhashī, there were already three
‘madrasas’ in Alexandria: one in the house of the Andalusi Mālikī jurist Abū Bakr al-Ṭurṭūshī (d.
520 H/1126 CE), one erected by the Mālikī judge of the city Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Majīd b. Ḥadīd and
named Makīniyya, and one established by the Shāfiʿī judge Abū al-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā al-Maqdisī.
See Leiser 1976, 115–131.
9 MS 532/B; see Ziedan 2003, 8–11. Part of the same manuscript is in Dublin, Chester Beatty Li-
brary MSS Ar. 3006 and Ar. 4835; see Arberry 1955–66, 6: 113.
10 This manuscript was already in Alexandria in the 16th century, as it bears a number of anno-
tations by the Egyptian scholar and mystic ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Shaʿrānī (d. 973 H/1565 CE).
11 Geoffroy 2002, 169–170.
12 Omran 1985.
13 Phillips 2013.
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 459

the Maghrib specifically intended for a Mashriqi audience, aiming to elicit his pa-
tron’s military intervention in the western Mediterranean as well.14
Three decades before Ibn al-Shaykh’s journey, the famous jurist of Dénia Ibn
Ghulām al-Faras (d. 547 H/1152 CE) also visited Alexandria on his way to Mecca,
and attended the lectures of Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī.15 While in the city, in 528 H/1133
CE, he transcribed a work on the variant readings of the Qurʾān by Ibn Jinnī al-
Mawṣilī (320–392 H/932–1002 CE), in a manuscript now held in the National Li-
brary of Cairo.16
This precious codex – possibly the oldest and most accurate copy of Ibn
Jinnī’s treatise to have survived – confirms and adds to the little we know of Ibn
Ghulām from the biographical dictionaries: he was clearly a keen scholar of the
Qurʾān and its recitation, gifted with a fine handwriting and skilled at compiling
and binding books (“kāna […] ḥasan al-khaṭṭ, anīq al-wirāqa”).17 He signed the
manuscript’s final colophon with the title of muqriʾ (“Qurʾānic reader”) and the
nisba al-Andalusī, arguably the two personal qualities he was most proud of, add-
ing that he completed the book’s copying “in the frontier town of Alexandria (bi-
thaghr al-Iskandariyya)”, which is indicative of how the city was perceived by
newly-arrived travellers. Ibn Ghulām must have been particularly excited about
the variety of books available within the learned circles of Alexandria, as he in-
cluded after the colophon of his manuscript a detailed description of the exem-
plar he transcribed, a book copied by the muqriʾ Abū al-Husayn Naṣr al-Shīrāzī,
read to a certain ʿAlī b. Zayd al-Qasānī (i.e. from Kāshān) in 411 H/1021 CE, and
carefully checked against the autograph of Ibn Jinnī. Had he never embarked on
his journey eastwards, it would have been very difficult for Ibn Ghulām to come
across a manuscript with such a remarkable and ‘exotic’ line of transmission in
his hometown of Dénia.

||
14 PUA, id. 2583; Fierro 2018, 356.
15 PUA, id. 8633; Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1887–89), 1: 193–195, no. 669.
16 MS 78 qirāʾāt; see Ibn Jinnī, al-Muḥtasab (1998), 1: 72, 97–99; Moritz 1905, pl. 177a.
17 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1887–89), 1: 194.
460 | Umberto Bongianino

Fig. 1: Cairo, Egyptian National Library MS 78 qirāʾāt, fol. 169r. Final colophon of a copy of Ibn
Jinnī’s treatise on the variant readings of the Qurʾān, titled al-Muḥtasib fī tabyīn wujūh
shawādhdh al-qirāʾāt. The manuscript was copied by Ibn Ghulām al-Faras in Alexandria, in
582 H/1133 CE (image from Moritz 1905)
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 461

It was also customary for travelling scholars such as Ibn Ghulām to carry with
them manuscripts written in the Maghrib, with a view to collating them with east-
ern copies of the same works, or reading them in the presence of Mashriqi spe-
cialists. A perfect witness to this practice is a codex now in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, containing the second volume of a 12th-century copy of Abū Dāwūd al-
Sijistānī’s Kitāb al-Sunan, one of the most important ḥadīth collections ever com-
piled (the original work dates from the 3rd/9th century).18 The manuscript is in
Maghribi script, undated, and it was left unsigned by its copyist. The date 12
Ramaḍān 585 (24 October 1189), found in a collation note at the end of the work
(fol. 207r), is written in a different hand from the main text, and can only provide
a terminus ante quem for the production of this copy. As for the origin of the man-
uscript, the presence of zigzag marks along the central fold of numerous bifolia
leaves no doubt that it was originally transcribed in al-Andalus, on locally pro-
duced paper.19
However, three notes added after the final colophon indicate that, by the be-
ginning of the following century, the book had been brought to Alexandria: the
first note, dated 604 H/1207-8 CE, is a reading certificate written in Mashriqi script
by a certain Ibn Yāqūt al-Iskandarī al-Muqriʾ al-Mālikī, clearly a local exponent
of the Mālikī school of jurisprudence; the second annotation, this time in Ma-
ghribi script, is a hearing certificate penned by a scholar from Málaga – Ibn
Ḥarīra al-Mālaqī – who attended a joint reading of this work given by a shaykh
from Ceuta – Ibn Abī Zayd al-Sabtī – and a second shaykh from Béjaïa – Ibn Abī
Naṣr al-Bijāʾī – in the hall of one their homes (“fī dihlīz dār al-shaykh”), at the end
of a series of sessions (“majālis”) on 5 Ramaḍān 605 (13 March 1209); on the next
page (fol. 207v), another hearing certificate in Maghribi script was added by a
student from Valencia – Ibn al-Walī al-Balansī –who attended the reading ses-
sions of Ibn Abī Zayd al-Sabtī’s son Muḥammad, and of a second shaykh from
Algeciras – Ibn Jābir al-Jazīrī al-Khaḍrāʾī – on 10 Rabīʿ I 607 (1 September 1210),
always “in the frontier town of Alexandria (bi-thaghr al-Iskandariyya)”. It is diffi-
cult to overstate the historical importance of annotations such as these, docu-
menting the breadth and vitality of the Maghribi scholarly circles of Alexandria,
whose members copied, read, and gathered around manuscripts that, in both
their aspect and content, reflected the intellectual pursuits and identity of an en-
tire community.

||
18 Bodleian Library MS Marsh 292; see Uri 1787, 75, no. CCVII.
19 On the zigzag marks found in Andalusi paper and their possible function, see Estève 2001.
462 | Umberto Bongianino

Fig. 2: Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Marsh 292, fol. 207r. Final page of an Andalusi copy of Abū
Dāwūd’s collection of ḥadīth, titled al-Sunan wa-l-āthār ʿan rasūl Allāh. Besides the original
colophon, the image also shows a collation note dated 585 H/1189 CE, as well as a reading cer-
tificate and a hearing certificate, both written in Alexandria (photo by the author)
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 463

2 Mecca and Jerusalem: scholarship and piety

As the ultimate destination of virtually all Maghribi pilgrims and travellers, the
holy cities of Mecca and Medina were bustling centres of learning, where scholars
from all over the Islamic world met and exchanged ideas, and where the activities
of trading, studying, and copying books were fuelled by the relentless coming
and going of people. An acephalous manuscript of al-Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ completed
in Mecca, in Maghribi script, and dated Ramaḍān 578 (29 December 1182–27 Jan-
uary 1183), auctioned in 2001 and currently in an unknown collection, attests to
the presence of Maghribi scholars who resided in the Hejaz and transcribed im-
portant religious works not just as an erudite endeavour, but probably also as an
act of devotion during the holy month of Ramaḍān.20 The copyist of this particular
manuscript was a certain Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Aghmātī, namely from
the town of Aghmat, an important mercantile centre of Almohad Morocco, 30 km
southeast of Marrakesh. Two centuries after its production, the manuscript came
into the possession of the Rasūlid sultan of Yemen, al-Ashraf Ismāʿīl b. al-ʿAbbās
(r. 778–803 H/1377–1400 CE), as suggested by a hearing certificate written in his
name that was added to the right of the original colophon.
An important Meccan manuscript revealing the presence of Andalusi schol-
ars in the city during the 6th/12th century is a copy of al-Tirmidhī’s ḥadīth collec-
tion, al-Jāmiʿ al-kabīr, today in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.21 The book
was transcribed by the Afghan traditionist ʿAbd al-Mālik b. Abī al-Qāsim al-
Qazzāz al-Harawī al-Kurūkhī in 547 H/1153 CE, one year before his death. It was
then given by him to Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad Ibn Kawthar al-Muḥāribī, a pilgrim from
Granada who resided and studied in Mecca for six years with his son ʿAlī.22 After
his father’s death in 550 H/1155 CE, ʿAlī returned to al-Andalus with al-Kurūkhī’s
gift, and rose to become the most authoritative transmitter of al-Tirmidhī’s work
in the whole Maghrib.23 The circulation of this manuscript within the Andalusi
community in Mecca first, and then within the scholarly circles of Almohad Ibe-
ria, is demonstrated by a series of hearing and reading certificates written in Ma-
ghribi scripts on its first and last folios, published by Georges Vajda in 1957.24

||
20 Islamic Art and Manuscripts 16/10/2001, lot 28. See also https://www.christies.com/lot-
finder/Lot/muhammad-ibn-ismail-al-bukhari-d-ah-256870-3052204-details.aspx (accessed Mar.
2020).
21 MS arabe 709. See https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b110003844 (accessed Mar. 2020).
22 PUA, id. 1640.
23 PUA, id. 6366.
24 Vajda 1957, 13–15.
464 | Umberto Bongianino

Framing al-Kurūkhī’s swift Mashriqi handwriting on all sides, these marginalia

illustrate vividly the reception process of a classical eastern work of ḥadīth within
the Maghribi tradition: perhaps the most important note was added in Ramaḍān
640 (22 February–23 March 1243) in Granada, during a session attended by the
city’s qāḍī. Interestingly, this manuscript was brought back to the Mashriq in the
following century, as shown by one final hearing certificate on its last page, writ-
ten in the Great Mosque of Damascus in 788 H/1386 CE.25 It is probably in Syria
that the book was rebound in a beautiful leather cover decorated with blind and
gold tooling, a fitting new look for a manuscript with such an important history.26
The scribal activities of the Maghribi population of Mecca, however, were not
limited to copying books. Thanks to Dominique and Janine Sourdel’s edition of
147 original pilgrimage scrolls dating from the Ayyūbid period, originally stored
in the Great Mosque of Damascus and now in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic
Arts in Istanbul, evidence has emerged of ḥajj and ʿumra certificates written in
Maghribi scripts, possibly catering to a Maghribi clientele, the earliest of which
dates from the year 596 H/1200 CE.27 The symbolic weight of employing Maghribi
scripts in a Mashriqi context is hinted at in the biographical dictionary of Meccan
personages authored by Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Fāsī al-Mālikī (775–832 H/
1373–1429 CE), historian and Mālikī judge of the city, himself a descendant of Ma-
ghribi immigrants. In his biography of Ibn Masdī al-Gharnāṭī (d. 663 H/1265 CE),
an Andalusi preacher and imām who had settled in Mecca two centuries earlier,
al-Fāsī praises him by saying that he could write beautifully in both Maghribi and
Mashriqi scripts (“wa-kāna yaktub bi-l-khaṭṭ al-Maghribī wa-l-Mashriqī khaṭṭan
ḥasanan”).28 One is left wondering why the Meccan historian deemed it important
to include such a minor detail of Ibn Masdī’s curriculum in his account, if not to
highlight his mastery of – and integration into – both the Maghribi and Mashriqi
scholarly traditions, and possibly also his ability to copy books for his native com-
munity as well as for other Meccan circles and institutions.

||
25 Vajda 1954, 371–375.
26 Guesdon/Vernay-Nouri 2001, 148, n. 108.
27 Sourdel/Sourdel-Thomine 2006, 22, n. 16, pls. V–VI.
28 PUA, id. 10808; al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1959–69), 2: 403–410, no. 493, mentioned in Juvin 2013, 155.
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 465

Fig. 3: Dublin, Chester Beatty Library MS Ar. 3016, fols. 86v–87r. Last page spread and final
colophon of Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʿāfirī’s autograph work on famous women, written in Damascus
in 581 H/1185-6 CE (photo by the author)

In Jerusalem, the third holiest city of Islam recaptured from the Crusaders in
583 H/1187 CE, an Andalusi expatriate had risen to unprecedented fame by the
end of the 6th/12th century. The man was Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʿāfirī al-Mālaqī (d.
605 H/1208-9 CE), renowned for his wisdom and asceticism, whom the victorious
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn appointed imām and preacher of the prestigious Aqṣā Mosque, after
restoring the site to Muslim worship. A spiritual leader to the local Maghribi com-
munity, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʿāfirī was revered as a saint by the time of his death,
and his funeral was an event that stirred the entire city deeply, with Christians
also paying their last respects to his coffin.29 The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin
houses a unique autograph by al-Maʿāfirī, which he wrote in Damascus in 581 H/

||
29 PUA id. 6675. For a complete biography of ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Maʿāfirī and a discussion of
his works, see Navarro i Ortiz 2012b.
466 | Umberto Bongianino

1185-6 CE, two years before taking up his new position in Jerusalem.30 The manu-
script comprises a series of biographies and anecdotes relating to famous Muslim
women who lived in the early Islamic period, as well as Qurʾānic figures such as
Eve, Job’s wife, and the Queen of Sheba.31
Interestingly, these accounts are grouped in what appears to be the draft of a
work that al-Maʿāfirī never completed. Six of the eleven chapters begin with a list
of transmitters from whom al-Maʿāfirī received the text and to whom he read it
back, and end with a signed and dated colophon. Among these transmitters were
important Damascene intellectuals – including Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Qāsim, the son of
the famous historian Ibn ʿAsākir – who held their scholarly gatherings in the
Great Umayyad Mosque.32 Despite the manuscript being just a preliminary draft,
its neat Maghribi script and tidy page layout reveal al-Maʿāfirī’s penmanship and
meticulousness, which are among the many qualities attributed to him by the
sources.33 Curiously, he dotted fāʾ and qāf according to the Mashriqi system, a
sign perhaps of his high degree of acculturation. This codex is certainly remark-
able because of the light it sheds on transmission practices and the compositional
stages of Arabic prosopographic works; however, it also shows the breadth of in-
terests and the intellectual vivacity of one of the most successful Andalusi emi-
grants in the medieval Mashriq, as well as his repeated and fertile interactions
with the local scholarly elites.

3 Damascus: the Maghrib in the Mashriq

At the time when al-Maʿāfirī was gathering material for his book on famous
women in the Great Umayyad Mosque, Damascus was already home to one of the
largest and most prosperous Maghribi communities of the eastern Mediterra-
nean, whose members played a salient role in the city’s scholarly life. As recently
shown by Konrad Hirschler in his study of the 7th/13th-century catalogue of the
Ashrafiyya Library, books from the western Islamic world constituted a notewor-
thy group within the original collection, and many of them had probably been
brought to Damascus by Maghribi travellers, or transcribed in Syria by Maghribi

||
30 Chester Beatty MS Ar. 3016; see Arberry 1955–66, 1: 6, pl. 2.
31 Kilpatrick 2005, 57–64.
32 Navarro i Ortiz 2012b, 485.
33 Al-Marrākushī, al-Dhayl (1965), 314–316, no. 627.
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 467

expatriates.34 Most of these books are now lost or dispersed, but others have sur-
vived in the libraries of the city. Among the most interesting and puzzling exam-
ples of Maghribi manuscripts in the National Library of Damascus is a corpus of
parchment folios containing texts of Mālikī jurisprudence, originally copied in
Kairouan between the 4th/10th century and the early 5th/11th century, and then
recycled in 7th/13th-century Syria as binding material for locally-produced paper
books.35 These fragments, currently under study by Hirschler as part of his re-
search project on document reuse in medieval Arabic manuscripts, seem to attest
to the presence in Damascus of a group of North African refugees who had fled
the destruction of Kairouan by the Banū Hilāl in 449 H/1057 CE, carrying away
with them some precious parchment codices from the city’s libraries.36
As already mentioned, one way of understanding the contribution made by
Maghribi scholars to the written culture of the Mashriq is through the study of the
notes they added in the margins and at the end of certain manuscripts, providing
unique insight into the micro-history of the reading sessions they attended.37 The
Damascene corpus of reading and hearing certificates (samāʿāt, sing. samāʿ)
from the manuscripts of the Ẓāhiriyya Library, published in 1996 and mostly cov-
ering readings of ḥadīth works between 550 H/1155 CE and 750 H/1349 CE, in-
cludes dozens of names of Andalusi and Maghribi religious scholars.38 When their
task was also to write down the actual samāʿāt, their Maghribi handwriting im-
mediately stands out among the certificates penned by their eastern colleagues.
This important corpus, however, is only part of a much greater body of evidence
lying dormant in many more libraries and collections around the world, still
awaiting systematic research. For example, a voluminous codex in the Escorial
Library containing the whole of Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ, transcribed in Damascus on 28
Ramaḍān 559 (19 August 1164), presents a series of interesting reading certificates
clearly belonging to the same milieu as those of the Ẓāhiriyya manuscripts.39

||
34 Hirschler 2016, 38.
35 See, for instance, MSS 3829, 3841, 3847, 3850. I would like to thank Professor Konrad Hirsch-
ler for having shared with me some images of these manuscripts (see also Hirschler [forthcom-
ing]).
36 Hirschler 2017, 37. On the fragmentary manuscripts of Mālikī fiqh from Kairouan found in the
Qubbat al-Khazna of the Great Mosque of Damascus, see Sourdel-Thomine/Sourdel 1964, 7–8,
15–20; Sourdel-Thomine/Sourdel 1965, 79, pl. IV a.
37 Hirschler 2012, 33.
38 Leder et al. 1996–2000.
39 Escorial MS D. 1007; see Vajda 1963, 76–79.
468 | Umberto Bongianino

Fig. 4: Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial MS árabe 1007, fol. 2v.
Opening page of a copy of Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ written in Damascus, in 559 H/1164 CE, by ʿAbd
Allāh al-Murādī al-Ishbīlī (© Patrimonio Nacional).

The book was copied, in Maghribi script but with fāʾ and qāf dotted according to
the Mashriqi system, by a certain ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĪsā b. ʿUbayd Allāh b. ʿĪsā al-
Murādī al-Andalusī al-Ishbīlī. The name of this scholar is not recorded in the
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 469

available biographical dictionaries, nor does it appear in any of the published

Damascene samāʿāt of the period. All we know is what this manuscript and its
certificates (fol. 294r) tell us: al-Murādī read the whole volume to a shaykh from
Badajoz – Abū ʿAlī al-Anṣārī al-Baṭalyawsī – in the Great Mosque of Damascus,
during a series of sessions ended on 3 Ṣafar 560 H (20 December 1164). Then, he
collated it a second time during a public reading given by the famous Damascene
historian and ḥadīth transmitter Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571 H/1176 CE). It is possible to
identify the copyist of this manuscript with the Sevillian faqīh named al-Murādī
that Ibn Jubayr met in the Great Umayyad Mosque twenty years later, in 580
H/1184 CE, standing by a column to which “a special endowment is attached, a
benefit that can be acquired by whoever leans against it to study and give lec-
tures”.40 Interestingly, the Valencian traveller includes this passage immediately
after his mention of the Mālikī sector of the mosque, abutting the western wall,
where the city’s Maghribi students gathered and were taught according to their
special curriculum.41
In one of the most important sources for reconstructing the history and soci-
ety of Islamic Syria, the monumental Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq (“History of Da-
mascus”) by Ibn ʿAsākir, Maghribi and Andalusi expatriates occasionally feature
as real protagonists. To give just one example, the North African Mālikī jurist
Yūsuf b. Dūnās al-Findalāwī lived and taught in Damascus during the second
quarter of the 6th/12th century, and there he became revered not only as a “zeal-
ous defender the sunna”, but also as a miracle-worker and a saint-like figure. As-
piring to martyrdom, he joined the warriors who fought the Crusaders outside the
walls of Damascus in Rabīʿ I 543 (20 July–18 August 1148). Despite his old age, he
could not be persuaded to desist from taking part in the battle, and “before the
day was over, he attained the martyrdom which he had longed for as the greatest
happiness of all”.42
Perhaps less known is the fact that one of the earliest surviving manuscripts
of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh was copied by an Andalusi Damascene scholar, Abū ʿAbd
Allāh Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Birzālī al-Ishbīlī (577–636 H/1181–1239 CE). Al-Bir-
zālī had left his hometown of Seville in 602 H/1205-6 CE, and before settling down
in Syria, he had resided for a few years in Alexandria, Cairo, Mecca, and travelled

||
40 Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla (1964), 245.
41 Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla (1964), 245: “li-l-Mālikiyya zāwiya li-l-tadrīs fī al-jānib al-maghribī, yujtamiʿ
fīhā ṭalabat al-Maghāriba, wa-lahum ijrāʾ maʿlūm”.
42 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh (1995–2001), 74: 234–236. See also Mourad/Lindsay 2013, 36–37.
470 | Umberto Bongianino

extensively across Iran and Khorasan; he died in Hama in 636 H/1239 CE.43 As one
of the most highly esteemed traditionists of Greater Syria, he was appointed head
professor of ḥadīth at the Ibn ʿUrwa madrasa (Dār al-ḥadīth al-ʿUrwiyya), located
just outside the eastern gate of the Great Mosque of Damascus. In the corpus of
reading and hearing certificates of the Ẓāhiriyya Library, his names appear 41
times as an attendee, reader, or teacher at various scholarly gatherings held be-
tween 614 H/1217 CE and 635 H/1235 CE.44 What is particularly interesting about
al-Birzālī’s activity, however, is his incessant dedication to copying books for his
own use and for the benefit of his colleagues and pupils in an elegant Maghribi
script, a quality for which he was renowned and praised by his biographers in
both the Islamic East and West.45 The surviving parts of al-Birzālī’s copy of Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh, originally in 80 volumes, are now dispersed in several libraries
around the world, including the Azhariyya Library in Cairo and the Khuda
Bakhsh Library in Patna, India, and indeed show al-Birzālī’s superior penman-
ship as well as his painstaking attention to the correct transmission of the text.46
The Khuda Bakhsh volumes, for instance, contain four colophons and 20 mar-
ginal notes stating that they were copied in 614 H/1217 CE and 615 H/1218 CE in
the Muʿīniyya madrasa, collated with a manuscript of Ibn ʿAsākir’s son Bahāʾ al-
Dīn al-Qāsim (d. 600 H/1203-4 CE), and read by al-Birzālī in the presence of sev-
eral disciples of Ibn ʿAsākir, between 617 H/1220 CE and 619 H/1222 CE.47 At the
same time, al-Birzālī’s assiduous study of the original manuscript that belonged
to Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Qāsim is demonstrated by the hearing certificates left by the
Andalusi scholar on its folios, 70 of which are now part of the collection of the
Leiden University Library.48 It is also worth remembering that, thanks to al-Bir-
zālī’s alacrity as a copyist, another important work by Ibn ʿAsākir has come down
to us: entitled Arbaʿūn ḥadīth li-l-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihād (“Forty Ḥadīth for Inciting
Jihād”), its only surviving manuscript, copied and annotated by al-Birzālī with
his characteristic accuracy, is today kept in the Damascene Ẓāhiriyya Library.49

||
43 PUA, id. 10797. For a complete biography of Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Birzālī al-Ishbīlī, see Navarro
i Ortiz 2012a.
44 Leder et al. 1996–2000, 1: 575–576.
45 Ibn al-Abbār, al-Takmila (1887–89), 1: 349–350, no. 1012; al-Dhahabī, Siyar (2004), 3779–
3780, no. 6006: “wa-nasakha kathīran li-nafsihi wa-li-l-nās bi-khaṭṭ ḥalw Maghribī”.
46 Cairo, Azhariyya Library MS 452 taʾrīkh; see al-Maktaba al-Azhariyya 1945–78, 5: 379. Patna,
Khuda Bakhsh Library MSS 800 (vols. 31–32) and 801 (vols. 51–52); see Catalogue 1908–1970, 12:
144–148, http://kblibrary.bih.nic.in (accessed Mar. 2020).
47 Navarro i Ortiz 2012a, 254–255.
48 MS Or. 12644; see Witkam 2002, 602–603.
49 MS 1592/3; see Mourad/Lindsay 2013, 82–99; Leder et al. 1996–2000, 2: 226–233.
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 471

Fig. 5: Patna, Khuda Bakhsh Library MS 800, fols. 1v–2r. Beginning of the 31st volume of Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq. It was copied in Damascus by Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Birzālī al-
Ishbīlī, in 614 H/1217 CE (© Khuda Bakhsh Library)

4 Conclusion
It would exceed the scope of this brief overview – and tax the reader’s patience
unnecessarily – to introduce yet more manuscripts copied in the Islamic East by
Maghribi scholars, in Maghribi scripts, between the 6th/12th century and the
7th/13th century.50 Hopefully, the few examples here presented will suffice to
stimulate a reflection on the cultural and aesthetic impact that the production

||
50 At least two other manuscripts could be mentioned, both copied in Damascus in 632 H/1234-
5 CE: MS Şehit Ali Paşa 2499 of the Süleymaniye Library, containing a large portion of Sībawayh’s
Kitāb, signed by Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Anṣārī al-Mayūrqī (see Humbert 1995, 279–281); and
MS arabe 610 of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, containing a work by Abū al-Ḥasan al-
Sakhāwī titled al-Wasīla ilā kashf al-ʿaqīla, transcribed by ʿAbd Allāh b. Mālik b. Mawhab al-
Andalusī; see https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b11004247t.r=Arabe%20610?rk=214593;2
(accessed Mar. 2020).
472 | Umberto Bongianino

and circulation of such books had on their readership. The scholarly world of me-
dieval Islam was a place of plurality and constant encounter between different
schools of religious and philosophical thought, textual traditions, literary genres,
lines of transmissions, and intellectuals acting as highly mobile nodes within an
incredibly interconnected network. While it is true that these men of letters were
principally defined by the masters they had studied with, the travels they had
made in pursuit of knowledge, the works they had transmitted, and sometimes
by their engagement with jihād in its many forms and geopolitical manifesta-
tions, it is equally clear that their lineage and origins continued to play an im-
portant role in the way they perceived and presented themselves in such a diverse
arena.
The use of Maghribi scripts was a significant aspect of the activity and aca-
demic output of expatriate scholars from the western Islamic world, being the
visible expression of a cultural background shared by individuals who, through
their travels and experiences, had all acquired multiple identities. Occasionally,
their handwriting suggests a certain degree of acculturation: a case in point are
the above-mentioned manuscripts copied by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʿāfirī and ʿAbd
Allāh al-Murādī, where fāʾ and qāf are dotted according to the Mashriqi system,
but the autographs of the famous Murcian mystic Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī (d.
638 H/1240 CE) could also be mentioned here, as they include in their script and
layout a few Mashriqi features, owing to the influence of the milieux in which
they were written (primarily Mecca, Damascus, and eastern Anatolia).51 Still,
most Maghribi scholars proudly upheld and cultivated the calligraphic norms
and scribal conventions they had learned in their homeland even after leaving it,
and the societies of their adoptive countries perceived them as a cohesive group
also because of the distinctive appearance of the books they transcribed. In light
of the evidence here discussed, it would seem worthwhile to engage with the
manuscript production of these expatriate communities on a more direct and in-
timate level, interrogating its visual qualities and material aspects as well as its
contents. Perhaps this field of research will prove a suitable testing ground for
new methodological approaches to Arabic manuscripts, at the intersection be-
tween intellectual history, palaeography, and social anthropology.

||
51 See, for instance, the autograph manuscript of Ibn ʿArabī’s Dīwān now in the Khalili Collec-
tion (MS 225), written in Damascus before the year 634 H/1237 CE, discussed in Hirtenstein 2006.
One of the earliest dated manuscripts containing some of Ibn ʿArabī’s treatises was copied by
one of his pupils in Malatya in 602 H/1205 CE, in Maghribi script (Islamic Art and Manuscripts
1/5/2001, lot 57).
 Vehicles of Cultural Identity | 473

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Josef Ženka
A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript
of the Former Marīnid Chancellor
Muḥammad Ibn Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī
(d. 788 H/1386 CE)

A large corpus of manuscripts created by Andalusis living in Mamlūk lands have

survived, tracing the new lives that they built far away from their birthplaces.
These documents illustrate interests, scholarly and professional activities, and,
in those cases where a scholar had not attracted the attention of Mamlūk authors,
also provide exceptional sources for reconstructing their fate, as well their own
expression, and perception, of themselves. It is clear that the Andalusis used
these manuscripts for private study, for the education of their children, as a
means of transmission of their own knowledge, as well as a source of income. In
some cases, the manuscripts enable readers to clearly establish the context in
which they were created. How a specific volume was used over time and how its
meaning changed through the generations can also often be ascertained. Thus,
these manuscripts allow one to look beyond the factual depiction of the presence
of the Maghrib in the Mashriq, as it was shaped by Mamlūk authors, and offer a
unique opportunity to assess their author’s identity and cultural acts of expres-
sion.1 Biographical sketches in Western sources often end at the moment of their
departure from the Maghrib, while Eastern ones start with their arrival in the East.

||
1 In this paper the words Maghrib/Maghribi and West and Western are used to denote the Is-
lamic West as a whole. For the specific regions terms such as al-Andalus, Granada, Fez, and
Tunis or their dynastic equivalents are used. The terms Mashriq and the East are used to denote
everything eastwards of Ḥafṣid Tripolis.
||
Note: The work for this paper was carried out during my research stay at the Annemarie Schim-
mel Kolleg in Bonn. I would like to thank Stephan Conermann and Bethany Walker for giving
me the opportunity to develop this line of research. The first version of this paper was pre-
sented in Bonn in September 2018 and a second version at the Madrid workshop, “The Ma-
ghrib in the Mashriq” in December 2018. I am grateful to Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas for
inviting me. To my colleague, Pavel Sládek, I am grateful for his support. Anna Gilliland’s lin-
guistic revision made the publication of this paper possible. Without her effort, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh
would have stayed buried in history. Research for this article was supported in part by the pro-
ject La Granada nazarí en el siglo XV: microhistoria de una entidad islámica en Occidente
(FFI2016-79252-P AEI/FEDER,UE), co-directed by Ana M.ª Carballeira and Amalia Zomeño.

Open Access. © 2021 Josef Ženka, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-018
478 | Josef Ženka

Their previously acquired identity and skills clearly helped these scholars to
adapt to this new Mashriq life, and this ‘dual reality’ is worthy of exploration.
In such a context, and within the framework of this volume, this paper aims
to analyze three holograph ijāzas (permission for transmission), with a fragment
of a previously unknown Riḥla, given by Muḥammad Ibn Ḥizb Allāh al-Ṭāʾī al-
Wādī Āshī (712–788 H/1312-3–1386 CE), a former Marīnid chancellor, to Burhān
al-Dīn Ibrāhīm Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī (753–841 H/1352–1438 CE), a muḥaddith
(scholar of ḥadīth) from Aleppo. These ijāzas were given in Damascus in 784 H/
1382 CE and provide evidence of how an Andalusi scholar living in Mamlūk lands
created and passed on an ego-document to a local scholar, as well as how this
document transformed in meaning over the next 55 years of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s
life.2 This change in meaning of the manuscript suggests that the understanding
and reception of an ego-document depends on the “symbolic universe” current
in the society at that particular moment in time, and how it can be enhanced by
the presence of other scholars, in this case from the West.3 Specifically, it points
to the personal contacts Andalusis made between themselves in Mamlūk territory
and the use of a certain Mamlūk-Andalusi manuscript among Mamlūk scholars.
Available evidence permits an analysis of the use to which this particular
manuscript was put on various occasions, from its creation until the death of its
owner, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī. It forms part of his extensive Thabat (a scholar’s study
diary) that accompanied him his whole life.4 The ijāzas were written in either the
handwriting of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh or that of his and Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s friend, Abū
al-Ḥasan/Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, who was also Andalusi. They
are Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s expressions of his personal cultural identity and are part po-
etry and part travelogue. In composition they differ from the rest of Sibṭ Ibn al-
ʿAjamī’s Thabat, rather, reflecting the form similar to other ijāzas given in al-An-
dalus at that time. To consider them as ego-documents, and not just another sam-
ple of his wider works, we must look “at not what is represented but how this
representation has been interpreted and perceived”.5 As Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s texts

||
2 On “ego-documents” see Frenkel 2018, 29–31; on holograph manuscripts see Bau-
den/Franssen 2019, 1–37.
3 Confino 1997, 1391.
4 Kristina Richardson translates the word thabat as a scholarly autobiography (Richardson
2016, 31). Although thabat represents a type of autobiographical expression, it is not a coherent
narrative of its author’s life. Thus, I opted for the term a ‘scholar’s study diary’ since that is more
related to one’s everyday activities than to the expression of self. Likewise, Reynolds et al. trans-
late thabat as a catalog of teachers, which clearly does not apply to the Thabat of Sibṭ Ibn al-
ʿAjamī. See Reynolds 2001, 42.
5 Confino 1997, 1392.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 479

can only be understood through intermediaries who interacted with them, it is

their relationship to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s Thabat, its readers and users, which is
crucial for the confirmation of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s presence in Mamlūk territory after
he met Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī.

1 The Thabat of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and his History

with the Andalusis
The manuscript of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s Thabat is now held in the Jafet Library of
the American University of Beirut.6 It is part of a large, dispersed, corpus of sur-
viving manuscripts produced, owned, or used by Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī throughout
his life. Although one of many thabats from Aleppo, it is certainly the most fa-
mous. It comprises 722 pages, of which 721 are paginated, and 361 folios. How-
ever, it appears to be incomplete at the end.7 It spans the period from 776 H/
1375 CE to 810 H/1408 CE and is composed of samāʿāt and qirāʾāt (listening and
reading certificates), ijāzas, excerpts of poetry, historical records, an autobio-
graphical sketch of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, travel and study notes, the birth dates of
his sons, and other information he considered worthy of recording. It was Sibṭ
Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s constant companion on the travels he undertook in the pursuit of
knowledge, journeys that took him from Aleppo to Damascus, Cairo, Alexandria
and other Mamlūk cities. In addition, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī was assiduous in collect-
ing autographs of his teachers. Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s text fits into this category, al-
though his is only one of three Andalusi/Maghribi scholars collected by Sibṭ Ibn
al-ʿAjamī.
It was Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s previous experience and interaction with Andalu-
sis that ultimately led to his encounter with Ibn Ḥizb Allāh. During his early years
in Aleppo, he studied with two close friends, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad Ibn Mālik al-
Ruʿaynī (708 or 709–779 H/1308-10–1378 CE) and Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad Ibn
Jābir al-Hawwārī (698–780 H/1298-9–1378 CE).8 A part of what looks like a

||
6 For Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī see Wādiʿ al-Thabītī 1418/1997-8.
7 Ibn Ḥajar’s biography of a kātib of Granada, Sahl b. Mālik (d. after 821 H/1418-9 CE), suggests
that Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī continued to collect similar material well after the year 810 H/1407 CE.
See Ibn Ḥajar, al-Majmaʿ (1994), 3: 119.
8 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī also noted their dates of birth and death (Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB
MS:297.124:S941tA, 184). Both of them are mentioned as his teachers but Ibn Mālik is more prev-
alent. Interestingly, they wrote together another currently lost Riḥla produced by Mamlūk-An-
dalusis. Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s son Abū Dharr mentions that it was a one-volume work. See Sibṭ Ibn
480 | Josef Ženka

barnāmaj of Ibn Mālik al-Ruʿaynī was even copied into his Thabat.9 We can but
speculate if their influence played any role in his future interest in meeting Ibn
Ḥizb Allāh. However, we do know that another Andalusi, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī
(ca. 750–792 H/ca. 1350–1389-90 CE) did play a major role in his life, and also in
his Thabat.
In all likelihood Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī were intro-
duced sometime in Ramaḍān 776 (February 1375), when Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī
came to Aleppo to read ḥadīth in the madrasa al-Sharafiyya.10 In 780 H/1378 CE
they met again in Jabal Qāsiyūn next to Damascus.11 From Muḥarram to Rabīʿ al-
Thānī 780 (Apr.-Aug. 1378), they studied together in Damascus, and later in Cairo
in 780–782 H/1379-80 CE.12 Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī copied the samāʿāt and qirāʾāt
certificates from Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s Thabat and penned some of the certificates
in his own handwriting, including two ijāzas.13 Likewise, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī cop-
ied some of the thoughts of Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī.14 After a break of several
years, their paths crossed again, in Damascus in 784 H/1382 CE during an encoun-
ter with Ibn Ḥizb Allāh. In 785 H/1383 CE, in Cairo, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī took some
classes with Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, and he finally included him on the list of his
teachers at the beginning of his Thabat.15 They parted ways in 785 H/1383 CE,
when Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī left for Mecca, and never saw each other again.16
There is no other scholar from this period with whom Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī
shared his Thabat so extensively, nor any other with whom he interacted so

||
al-ʿAjamī, Kunūz al-dhahab (1996), 1: 473. For Ibn Mālik al-Ruʿaynī, see Navarro i Ortiz/Lirola
Delgado 2012; for Ibn Jābir al-Hawwārī, Lirola Delgado/Ferrando 2009.
9 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 557–560. It consists of a long list of
Mālikī works with isnāds copied before Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s second trip to Cairo from Ibn Mālik’s
own handwritten notes.
10 Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, “Ijāza”, Dār al-Kutub MS majmūʿa 135, fols. 98v and 103v. There are
two manuscripts that Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī created during his journey to Aleppo. One is an
excerpt of al-Būnī’s work (Berlin MS Mq 123, fols. 76r–81v) and the other is his 20 page long hol-
ograph ijāza to transmit Qurʾānic readings on his authority (Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, “Ijāza”, Dār
al-Kutub MS majmūʿa 135, fols. 94r–103v). The latter text I prepared for an edition with an intro-
ductory study.
11 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 189.
12 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 186, 206, 226, 246, 266, 286, 324, 404,
470.
13 See especially Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 9, 12, 212–213, 593–596.
14 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 286.
15 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 40, 599–600.
16 Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī died in Yemen in 792 H/1389-90 CE. See Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-
nihāya (1933), 2: 255; Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1993), 4: 232; al-Burayhī, Ṭabaqāt (1994), 253; Ibn Qāḍī
Shuhba, Taʾrīkh (1988), 3: 413.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 481

closely over such a long period of time. Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī was probably
around the same age as Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī. They also had similar interests in read-
ing ḥadīth which, no doubt, brought them closer to each other and allowed them
to pursue their studies together. Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī arrived in Damascus in
772 H/1370-1 CE from Tunis, after having left Granada a year earlier.17 He had
never met Ibn Ḥizb Allāh but on the list of his Granada teachers are found schol-
ars who certainly had.18 For about 13 years he wandered between Damascus,
Aleppo and Cairo, studying and teaching ḥadīth and qirāʾāt. Similarly to Sibṭ Ibn
al-ʿAjamī, he carried with him a holograph ijāzas, from his Andalusi teachers,
which he showed to his Mamlūk colleagues.19 It would be more speculation to
suggest that this might have played any role in Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s desire to have
a similar holograph ijāza by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh. However, what is more certain is that
it had to have been Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī who introduced him to Ibn Ḥizb Allāh
in 784 H/1382 CE, when the two old friends ran into each other in Damascus.

2 Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s meeting with Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī

and Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī in Damascus
Despite Ibn Ḥizb Allāh being a relatively unknown scholar, he is arguably one of
the most curious Andalusis one could have encountered in Damascus.20 He was
a former member of the chancery of the Marīnid sultans, a veteran of one of the
largest battles of the 14th century, the Battle of Tarifa (741 H/1340 CE), and he is
known to have participated in the Marīnid conquest of Qusanṭīna in 758 H/
1357 CE. He was probably born in Wādī Āsh (Guadix) in 712 H/1312-3 CE where his
father worked as an ʿadl (notary).21 After a long period of service in al-Andalus
and Maghrib, he left on pilgrimage and settled in Jerusalem for almost 30 years.

||
17 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (1933), 2: 29, 210
18 Namely Aḥmad Ibn Khātima, Abū al-Barakāt al-Balafīqī or Faraj Ibn Lubb.
19 It is Ibn al-Jazarī who mentioned that al-Balawī had brought the ijāzas of some scholars with
him, such as Ibn Lubb or Ibn Qāsim al-Ghassānī. These ijāzas were clearly his cultural capital in
the Mamlūk territory. See Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (1933), 1: 97; 2: 8
20 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Awṣāf al-nās (2002), 143; Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāta (2001), 2: 367–370. For correc-
tions see Ibn Tāwīt al-Ṭanjī 1979, 343–344; al-Bishtakī, “Markaz al-Iḥāta”, BnF Arabe 3347, fol.
27r–27v; al-ʿUlaymī, al-Uns (1999), 2: 362–363; Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1972), 1: 328; Ibn Ḥajar,
al-Durar (1993), 4: 199–200; Ibn al-Ḥājj, Fayḍ al-ʿubāb (1990), 322; Ibn al-Aḥmar, Nathīr al-jumān
(1987), 426; Damaj 2004, 160.
21 Espinar Moreno 2019, 87–88.
482 | Josef Ženka

He died in Damascus in 788 H/1386 CE. History has largely forgotten him now but
during the three days of Shaʿbān 784/October 1382 in Damascus he created an
extraordinary document when he met Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī and Sibṭ Ibn al-
ʿAjamī.
The story of how these three men met can be reconstructed based on seven
pages of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s Thabat (pages 568–574) written either in the hand-
writing of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh or at his request by Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī.22 The whole
sojourn of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī in Damascus covers 16 pages (pages 564–579), which
means that Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s text occupies half of this juzʾ. Page 564 is the front-
page of his arrival in Damascus in which Ibn Ḥizb Allāh is listed as a teacher.
Pages 565 to 567 contain samāʿāt, qirāʾāt and inshādāt from 28 Rajab 784/7 Octo-
ber 1382 (page 565), the end of Rajab 784/October 1382 (from pages 565–567) and
the first day of Shaʿbān 784/10 October 1382 (page 567). One folio follows up with
an excerpt from Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s Riḥla, written in the handwriting of Ibn Maymūn
al-Balawī (pages 568–569), confirmed at the bottom of the second page (page 569)
by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh with an ijāza dated on 5 Shaʿbān 784/14 October 1382. The pa-
per of this folio appears to be a bit smaller than the rest of this section of the Tha-
bat and the ink and pen seems to be different from the ones used for the ijāzas on
pages 570 to 573, granted by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh one day earlier on Shaʿbān 4, 784/Oc-
tober 13, 1382.23 On page 574 there is a third ijāza given by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh to Sibṭ
Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s friend, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Bahrām al-Ḥalabī, dated 6 Shaʿbān
784/15 October 1382. The pen used by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh differs from the one used in
the main body of the text of the first ijāza. Page 575 is blank. The following three
folios (pages 576 to 579) contain samāʿāt and qirāʾāt dated 4 Shaʿbān 784/13 Oc-
tober 1382 (page 576) or 6 Shaʿbān 784/15 October 1382 (pages 577–578), as well
as the list of works included in this juzʾ along with two long notes.
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh informs us that he came to Damascus, most likely from Jeru-
salem (nazīl Bayt al-Muqaddas) where he lived.24 In the span of three days, he met
with Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī at least three times. He does not mention where in Damas-
cus the meetings occurred, nor can it be inferred from Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s ses-
sions with other scholars in the same period. On 4 Shaʿbān Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī had

||
22 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 568–574. For the edition see
Appendix I.
23 Ibn Ḥizb Allāh used the same pen and ink to correct the first ijāza.
24 See Appendix I.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 483

a session in the private house of one of his teachers in Darb al-Sharīf at the great
market and on 6 Shaʿbān he is found at the madrasa al-Iqbāliyya.25
In the introduction to the first ijāza (on 4 Shaʿbān), Ibn Ḥizb Allāh discussed
the reasons why he was not able to fulfill Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s wish to obtain some
of his work written in his handwriting. He implies that he did not have his papers
with him, and there was not enough time, therefore, he could not satisfy the
wishes of the Aleppan scholar. Instead, he recited from memory some of his po-
etry included in his Riḥla, covering his travels from the Maghrib to Damascus.
Then he asked his companion in God, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, to collect some-
thing from his writings for Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, thus revealing that there was a pre-
vious relationship of some kind between the two Andalusi scholars. In this ijāza,
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh gave Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī permission to transmit, on his authority,
his Riḥla.
The following day, he granted Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī another ijāza written at the
bottom of the folio along with a chapter from Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s Riḥla on Cairo. Ibn
Maymūn al-Balawī copied it from some papers but it is unclear whether they were
his own or belonging to Ibn Ḥizb Allāh. He used his typical “adapted” Andalusi
handwriting with fāʾ with one dot above the letter and the qāf with two as in the
eastern scripts, and reveals its title: al-Rawḍa al-arīḍa al-ḥizbiyya wa-l-riḥla al-
gharbiyya al-gharība wa-tatlūhā al-ḥijāziyya wa-l-shāmiyya. The introduction is
full of praise for its author and there had to be a session in which Ibn Ḥizb Allāh
read some of the Riḥla since the author made addenda to the first ijāza in his own
handwriting on the second day.26
After the second day, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī showed two ijāzas, or at least men-
tioned them to his Aleppan companion on this journey, one Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn
Bahrām al-Ḥalabī. On the following, third, day, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh granted another
ijāza to this Abū al-Ḥasan and gave him permission to transmit the chapter in the
description of Miṣr27 taken from al-Riḥla al-ḥizbiyya. However, he was silent about
reading the work with Abū al-Ḥasan or even meeting him in person.28
This chance encounter of these three men resulted in a lively interaction be-
tween Andalusi and Mamlūk scholars and led to the creation of an extraordinary
historical source. Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī knew both of them and it was he who

||
25 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 576 (Darb al-Sharīf; for its location see
Ibn Ḥijjī, Taʾrīkh [2003], 1: 105); 577 (al-madrasa al-Iqbāliyya; see Miura 2016, Table I-9, 40).
26 See Appendix I for the emendations.
27 Ibn Ḥizb Allāh distinguishes between al-Qāhira (Cairo) and Miṣr (the city founded by ʿAmr).
He did not mention al-Qāhira in this ijāza (nor in his confirmation at the bottom of the chapter
copied by Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī).
28 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 574.
484 | Josef Ženka

was responsible for introducing them to each other. This is clear from some ad-
denda to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s name by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh later on the second day,
demonstrating his unfamiliarity with his first name.29 Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī
seems to be very proud of his much older and (once) much more important com-
patriot. Granting Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s request for an ijāza provided the oppor-
tunity to pass on some Western culture to him and Ibn Ḥizb Allāh took his chance
to show to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī who he once was before he had come to the East.

3 Ibn Ḥizb Allāh as pictured by himself and by Ibn

Maymūn al-Balawī
The earliest fragment of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh, given to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī on 4 Shaʿbān
784/13 October 1382 should be considered above all as an ego-document in which
he was given a forum to present a picture of himself to his student, Sibṭ Ibn al-
ʿAjamī, and in front of a scholar, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, who was familiar with
the environment in which he had acquired and practiced his skills. Its importance
is as much visual as textual since Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī wished to have it written in
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s own handwriting. After all, he was a former Marīnid kātib. In this
profession, the form, the expression, and the visual aspect went hand in hand.
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s handwriting had already acquired great fame in the West, as at-
tested by Ibn al-Khaṭīb in his biographical sketch of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh. Certainly, the
Granadan polymath and raʾīs al-kuttāb (chief of the royal chancellery) could eas-
ily evaluate this particular skill of his friend as his familiarity with the contempo-
rary hands of the Western chancery scribes was immense.30 The introduction to
the first two verses in which Ibn Ḥizb Allāh made a claim to be the kātib al-sirr
(the personal chancellor) to the Marīnid sultan, Abū ʿInān Fāris (r. 749–759 H/
1348–1358 CE), clearly points to this group identity of the Maghribi kātibs.
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s self-designation as an important member of the sultan’s
chancery forms one of the two main recurring themes introduced in his texts.31
The second is the reason why, and how, he left this office and established himself
in the East. While the former is not confirmed by any other source, he is only one
of many kātibs of the Marīnid court, this latter point is proven by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s

||
29 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 570.
30 I have already discussed this issue in my previous article. See Ženka 2018, 352–353. For Ibn
al-Khaṭīb see Lirola Delgado et al. 2004.
31 Megill 2007, 44–46.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 485

life in the East, as well as by Ibn al-Khaṭīb.32 In these two subjects Ibn Ḥizb Allāh
defines what he was, and still is, and how it happened that he found himself
where he was, using his past to describe his present by means Ibn Maymūn al-
Balawī would certainly expect from a scholar of his training and experience.
Regarding the first theme, the four poems (out of a total of seven), with their
introductions, tackle his intimate relationship with sultan Abū ʿInān Fāris. The
first is Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s statement about his motives in leaving the sultan’s ser-
vices. He elaborates on his role at the court in the fifth, sixth, and seventh poems.
The fifth poem narrates the story of Abū ʿInān Fāris killing a lion and how other
poets composed verses in praise of the sultan. Ibn Ḥizb Allāh recited his only after
the sultan asked him to do so. The story in the two following is intertwined. Ibn
Ḥizb Allāh starts with two verses recited by another Marīnid kātib, Abū ʿAbd Allāh
al-ʿAzafī (699–768 H/1300–1366 CE).33 He describes how he told Abū ʿAbd Allāh
al-ʿAzafī that the recitation of the two verses in the presence of the sultan was
inappropriate and that they had omitted important topics. He was asked to recite
better ones, which he did, and all who heard him, including the sultan, were
pleased. By quoting conversations between the sultan and himself, Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh shows the intimate nature of his relationship with the ruler and his im-
portance at the court. Indeed, Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Numayrī (712–ca. 785 H/1312-3–ca.
1383 CE) places Ibn Ḥizb Allāh among other members of the chancery who also
were involved in the recitation of poetry after the conquest of Qusanṭīna, not long
before Ibn Ḥizb Allāh left for the East.34
The second theme is his travel to, and establishment in, Jerusalem. In the first
poem he alludes to the desire to devote his life to God as the reason why he had
left. However, the introduction to the third poem is the only place where he men-
tions ḥajj (pilgrimage) and ziyāra (visit to Medina) as the excuse for leaving Ma-
ghrib. Other Marīnid and Naṣrid officials, such as Ibn Marzūq (710 or 711–781 H/
1310-2–1379-80 CE),35 Ibn Kumāsha (d. after 787 H/1385 CE),36 Ibn al-Khaṭīb (713–
776 H/1313–1374 CE),37 and Ibn Khaldūn (732–808 H/1332–1406 CE)38 used the
same rationale for removing themselves from the dangers of political life in Ma-
ghribi courts. In a fragment of the Riḥla, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh dated his arrival in Cairo
and Egypt as 15 Shawwāl 760/9 September 1359. This and his quotation of a very

||
32 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Katība (1983), 274–275.
33 For Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAzafī see Rodríguez Figueroa 2012.
34 Ibn al-Ḥājj, Fayḍ al-ʿubāb (1990), 322; Ibn al-Aḥmar, Nathīr al-jumān (1987), 426.
35 For Ibn Marzūq see Peláez Rovira 2006.
36 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāta (2001), 4: 75–76.
37 Calero Secall/Roser Nebot 2001, 422–423.
38 Manzano Rodríguez 2004, 584–585.
486 | Josef Ženka

specific Qurʾānic verse (12.99) in Riḥla provide a hint that his withdrawal from the
Marīnid court and the Maghrib might have been caused by the political turbu-
lence that followed the death of sultan Abū ʿInān Fāris in 759 H/1358 CE.39 Like
Ibn Khaldūn and Ibn Marzūq, he never returned.
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh, however, remains silent about his situation after the murder
of the sultan. Nor does he give much detail about his life in the East, his prior
education or teachers. He states that he settled in Jerusalem (nazīl Bayt al-Muqad-
das) and was only on a visit to Damascus (called here Jilliq). In the early 770s H/
1370s CE, Ibn al-Khaṭīb, then exiled in Fez, knew that he lived peacefully in the
Mashriq but at a distance from politics and without any connection to the ruling
dynasty. This means that someone from the West had to have visited Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh and brought the news back to the Marīnid court.40 His relationship with Ibn
Maymūn al-Balawī, referred to previously, also suggests that he did maintain ties
with some scholars from the West.
Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī’s involvement in the ijāzas, as well as in selecting a
specific fragment of the Riḥla, emphasizes the Andalusi connection, the meaning
of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s texts, and demonstrates his reception of this text. By giving
the full title of the work, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī confirms that the travelogue cov-
ered Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s journeys not only in the East, but also in the West. Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh himself pointed this out in his first ijāza, saying that it ends in Damascus
and contains all the fragments recited by him to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and is com-
prised of poetry, stories, and quotations of other works. Thus, its contents resem-
ble the travelogue of his contemporary, Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Numayrī41, or another
younger colleague, Ibn Khaldūn, yet its literary form is closer to that of Ibn al-
Khaṭīb’s Khaṭrat al-ṭayf.42 Again, the language used by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh demon-
strates his excellent qualities as a kātib and his mastery of ornate vocabulary and
rhyming prose.
In his introduction to the selected chapter of Riḥla, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī
attributes the name Ibn Ḥizb Allāh al-Andalusī al-Wādī Āshī al-Ṭāʾī, in contrast
to Ibn Ḥizb Allāhʾs own self-designation as Ibn Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī al-Ṭāʾī

||
39 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 568. Either Ibn Ḥizb Allāh or Ibn May-
mūn al-Balawī corrected in the manuscript the Qurāʾnic quotation from a verse 2.61 (ihbiṭū
miṣran - Get you down to Egypt; translations follow A. J. Arberry) to 12.99 (idkhulū miṣr - Enter
you into Egypt). I would argue that there might be some paralles between the story developed
around the latter and Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s own.
40 “He established himself in the Mashriq, unpledged to anyone, not bounded to the power nor
tied to the ruling dynasty” (Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Katība [1983], 274–275).
41 On Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Numayrī see Lirola Delgado/López y López 2004.
42 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Khaṭrat al-ṭayf (2016).
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 487

only.43 Clearly, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī was aware that this text belonging to the
Mamlūk scholar, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, would travel with him. By adding ‘al-Anda-
lusī’ he clarified for other readers that Wādī Āsh (Guadix) was in al-Andalus. The
selection of the chapter on Cairo and Miṣr was also not a coincidence. Both Ibn
Maymūn al-Balawī and Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī were on their way to this city and one
might reasonably assume that Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī hoped that, as with his pre-
vious browsing and use of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s Thabat, other local Mamlūk schol-
ars would benefit from it. This would also explain the use of so many honorific
titles by Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī to describe Ibn Ḥizb Allāh; to help the Mamlūk
audience truly appreciate his qualities as a scholar and literary figure. The re-
quest of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī can be seen as the reason why Ibn Ḥizb Allāh added
his date of birth (712 H/1312-3 CE) at the end of the first ijāza. This type of infor-
mation was often requested by Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī from his teachers and, later, in
some cases but not in Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s, amended with the date of their death.
In short, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī not only understood Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s past
but he also connected it to the present. On the other hand, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh used
his skills to write exclusively about his past that he saw as defining him. He cre-
ated an image of himself for Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī by employing another strategy,
used by many Maghribi kātibs, in writing history and deciding how people should
be remembered and viewed. In the second half of the 8th/14th century, it was
kātibs at different Maghribi courts who authored chronicles and biographical dic-
tionaries. They played a key role in creating and shaping an image of their con-
temporaries for the future. Ibn Ḥizb Allāh grew up and worked with many of
them, and clearly he was capable of doing the same.44 The resulting work circu-
lated in the Mashriq, and it was Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī who played such a major role
in how Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s reception and understanding changed over the remain-
ing part of his life.

||
43 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 568 and 570.
44 For instance, he served with Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad Ibn Juzayy (721–757 H/1321–
1356 CE) who started to write a history of al-Andalus (Velázquez Basanta 2009a; Molina 2015), or
with Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Numayrī who narrated the history of the Marīnid conquest of North Africa
during the reign of sultan Abū ʿInān Fāris. See Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Numayrī, Fayḍ al-ʿubāb (1990).
488 | Josef Ženka

4 Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s ijāzas in Aleppo

After a significant stay in Cairo, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī returned to Aleppo on 26 Shaw-
wāl 786/11 December 1384.45 Over the years, his Thabat had become very well-
known. As one of the most renowned muḥaddith of his times, and certainly as the
most pursued ḥadīth teacher of Aleppo, he used his manuscript constantly during
his classes and allowed his students to copy its contents directly. A closer inspec-
tion of the thabats of four of his disciples reveals that he taught and transmitted
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s work, or parts of it, at least twice: once to Abū al-Faḍl
Muḥammad Ibn al-Shiḥna (804–890 H/1402–1485 CE) in 828 H/1425 CE, and an-
other time to Ibn al-Naṣībī’s brothers, Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar (823–873 H/1420-1–
1469 CE) and Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh (824–893 H/1421–1488 CE), in 839 H/1436 CE.46
The detailed information noted by his disciples in their manuscripts facilitates a
reconstruction of the ways in which his work was transmitted in its horizontal
context. This, consequently, enables the exploration of the changing perceptions
and meanings of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s text and the possible reasons that led Sibṭ Ibn
al-ʿAjamī to transmit the work at that particular moment.
The earliest recorded transmission of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s texts occurred on 24
Ramaḍān 828/9 August 1425 in the madrasa al-Sharafiyya of Aleppo.47 The ses-
sion consisted of several parts, and Ibn al-Shiḥna gives full details of the group
of students meeting with Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī. Besides Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and Ibn al-
Shiḥna, there were local judges, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū Jaʿfar al-ʿAjamī (775–857 H/
1373–1457 CE) and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Ibn al-Naṣībī (781–857 H/1380–1453 CE), the lat-
ter accompanied by his son, Kamāl al-Dīn Aḥmad, a certain Saʿd al-Dīn Saʿīd and
a scholar from Tunis, Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad
b. ʿAzūz al-Anṣārī al-Tūnisī al-Maghribī (d. 873 H/1468-9 CE).48 In the first part,
Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī informed his students about Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s Riḥla.49 In the
next, he recited poetical fragments by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh.50 Ibn al-Shiḥna introduced
the first poem with the words anshadanā shaykhunā, whereas the remaining ones
only had wa-bihi qāla, making it impossible to distinguish whether Sibṭ Ibn al-

||
45 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 612.
46 The other two thabats examined for this study belonged to Muḥammad al-Salāmī (Universi-
tätsbibliothek Leipzig MS Vollers 721) and Ibn Zurayq (Princeton Garrett MS 178B). For the latter
see Richardson 2016.
47 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fols. 87r, 88r, 88v and 89v.
48 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fol. 87r–v.
49 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fols. 86r–87v.
50 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fols. 87v–88r
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 489

ʿAjamī recited everything, or just the first poem and then let Ibn al-Shiḥna copy
the rest from his Thabat. A note in the bottom left margin (fol. 88r), right after the
conclusion of this part of the session, gives the following testimony to the copying
process: “I transcribed everything from the handwriting of the aforementioned
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh except the part describing Miṣr. I copied it from the handwriting
of al-Balawī”.51 Further evidence for the process of transmission of Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh’s text appears in the penultimate line in folio 88r when Ibn al-Shiḥna
started to copy the concluding remarks of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh (fa-sarra al-jamīʿu bi-
dhālika fa-nqaṭiʿu) before crossing it out after writing fa-sarra al-j only.52 Like-
wise, he ignored all three of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s confirmations and his introduction
that described the circumstances of his meeting with Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī.
Apparently only the literary texts, the fragment of Riḥla, and the poetry, with
its introductions, had any importance for Ibn al-Shiḥna, thus changing consider-
ably not only the length of the text but also the ego-expression of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh.
His access to the holograph text of this Thabat points to the possibility of Sibṭ Ibn
al-ʿAjamī recounting to his audience details about the encounter with Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh many years previously. However, in the text copied by Ibn al-Shiḥna, the
Andalusi kātib loses the sense of being a real person with a story behind him,
including that of the transmission of his work in Damascus, thus, becoming only
an author of poetry and riḥla in rhymed prose. This was the only part valued by
the students and, as might be implied, was the subject of this scholarly session.
In addition, further contents of this majlis (session) reveals a certain pattern
in which Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī taught Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s work in conjunction with
other Andalusi material. This can be confirmed by several other poetical frag-
ments recited by Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī during other parts of the same session, trans-
mitted to him by another Andalusi scholar, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Abī Mahdī ʿĪsā b.
Muḥammad al-Fihrī al-Basṭī al-Yumnālī (d. 819 H/1416-7 CE).53 Six of them were
composed by this scholar himself and two separate poetical fragments by Abū
Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Juzayy (731–810 H/1331–1407 CE).54 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī

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51 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fol. 88r.
52 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fol. 88r.
53 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fols. 88v–89v.
54 I quote the word al-Yumnālī as given by Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī. See Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”,
AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 626 (for the name) and 627 (for Ibn Juzayy). For al-Fihrī al-Basṭī see Sibṭ
Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 626-627; Ibn Ḥajar, Dhayl al-Durar (1992), 247;
Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1993), 3: 92–93; Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1972), 3: 112; al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ
(1992), 5: 283–284; Ibn Khaṭīb al-Nāṣiriyya, “Al-Durr al-muntakhab”, BnF Arabe 2139, fols. 44b-
45a; al-Suyūṭī, Bughyat al-wuʿāt (1979), 2: 182. Al-Fihrī al-Basṭī authored a work named Zahrat
al-ādāb wa-tuḥfat ūlā al-albāb (Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 892.7). As far as I know, only
490 | Josef Ženka

met al-Fihrī al-Basṭī in 790 H/1388 CE and learned these verses and several others
by his Andalusi teachers Abū al-Barakāt al-Balafīqī (680–771 H/1281-2–1370 CE)
and Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn al-Jayyāb (673–749 H/1274–1349 CE).55 Ibn al-Shiḥna had
already heard of al-Fihrī al-Basṭī when on 27 Dhū al-Ḥijja 826/1 December 1423,
Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī recited to him a poem by the raʾīs al-kuttāb of Granada Ibn al-
Jayyāb.56 The question is why Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī decided to teach and recite from
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh and al-Fihrī al-Basṭī in Ramaḍān 828/August 1425. The answer
seems to lie in the presence of a Maghribi scholar, Abū al-Barakāt Ibn ʿAzūz al-
Anṣārī al-Tūnisī.57
In a page inserted between the tenth and eleventh parts of the Thabat that
has a sample of Ibn ʿAzūz’s handwriting, alongside a long accompanying note,
Ibn al-Shiḥna demonstrated how the distinctive handwriting of a Western trav-
eler appealed to an Aleppan scholar and how the presence of a strange guest led
to intellectual exchanges between him and local scholars.58 Ibn ʿAzūz clearly
came to the city at the beginning of Ramaḍān to study with local scholars such as
Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and Ibn Khaṭīb al-Nāṣiriyya (774–843 H/1372–1440 CE). Ibn al-
Shiḥna narrates how they attended various sessions together and how Ibn ʿAzūz
asked for some of his father’s works,59 as well as other texts, to be written in Ibn
al-Shiḥna’s own handwriting into his Thabat.60 In exchange, the Tunisian scholar
reciprocated with three verses by Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd (625–702 H/1228–
1302 CE) accompanied with isnād (chain of transmitters). Furthermore, Ibn al-
Shiḥna supplies two important pieces to the puzzle; he records Ibn ʿAzūz’s lodg-
ing as being in the madrasa al-Sharafiyya and provides the date of his departure
from Aleppo as 26 Ramaḍān 828/11 August 1425, two days after Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s
and al-Fihrī al-Basṭī’s texts/transmission were discussed in the same madrasa. In

||
Thomas Bauer used it in one of his articles. See Bauer 2007, 303–304. See also Brockelmann 2017,
13. For Ibn Juzayy see Velázquez Basanta 2009b.
55 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 626–627.
56 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fols. 25v and 26r. On Ibn al-Jayyāb see
Rubiera Mata/Kalaitzidou 2009.
57 Al-Sakhāwī wrote several biographical sketeches of Ibn ʿAzūz. See al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ
(1992), 10: 16; al-Sakhāwī, al-Dhayl (1992), 2: 224; al-Sakhāwī, Wajīz al-kalām (1995), 2: 804.
58 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fol. 83v. Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī followed the
same practice, although without including a specimen of handwriting, when al-Fihrī al-Basṭī
came to Aleppo. In the page with his transmission he added a long note detailing his visit to
Aleppo, later wanderings, and fate in the East until the year 817 H/1414-5 CE. See Sibṭ Ibn al-
ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 626–627.
59 Ibn al-Shiḥna’s father, Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad (749–815 H/1348–1412 CE), was an im-
portant local scholar and author.
60 Ibn al-Shiḥna, “Thabat”, Jāmiʿat al-imām MS 7235, fol. 83v.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 491

other words, Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī presented his knowledge of some Maghribi poetry
and, in a moment reminiscent of what Ibn Ḥizb Allāh did for him many years pre-
viously, passed on the work to Ibn ʿAzūz.
The argument for Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s works being used by Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī
when Maghribi scholars visited him in Aleppo is strengthened by the second
case, the only surviving juzʾ (al-juzʾ al-thālith min masmūʾ Ḥalab) of the Thabat
written in the handwriting of Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Ibn al-Naṣībī, who makes the point
perfectly clear.61 It covers the end of Shawwāl and the month of Dhū al-Qaʿda
839/May-June 1436, when the incumbent Mālikī chief judge of Ḥamā,
Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī (806–840 H/1403-4–1437 CE),62 paid a visit to Aleppo to
read ḥadīth with Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī.63 Al-Ḥakamī was originally from Labasa (La
Peza) in al-Andalus, a castle lying very close to the city of Wādī Āsh (Guadix), the
native city of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh.64 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s son, Abū Dharr Aḥmad (818–
884 H/1415–1480 CE), accommodated him in his house in the madrasa al-
Sharafiyya. Later, he authored a large biographical sketch of this Andalusi
scholar, providing the necessary background material for an understanding of
the third documented transmission of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s work.65
In the Masmūʿ of Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Ibn al-Naṣībī, a poem of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh is
found among other Andalusi poetry recited by Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī.66 He says
that the Shaykh Ibrāhīm (i.e. Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī) recited a poem to him, later add-
ing his full name above the word. He then wrote down the fifth poem of Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh’s fragment and stated that this recitation occurred on 8 Dhū al-Qaʿda

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61 This Thabat was penned by Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Ibn al-Naṣībī, but the listening and reading cer-
tificates also belonged to his brother, Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh. Both of them were sons of the judge,
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Ibn al-Naṣībī, who attended Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s session in 828 H/1424 CE where he
transmitted the works of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh.
62 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Kunūz al-dhahab (1996), 1: 484–486; al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1992), 10: 26–
27 (biography), see also 4: 205–206 and 7: 235; al-Sakhāwī, al-Dhayl (1992), 1: 603.
63 Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124. The earliest majlis in-
cluded in this juzʾ dates to the last ten days of Shawwāl 839/May 1436 (fol. 1v). Muḥammad al-
Ḥakamī was the reader. The last one dates from 20 Dhū al-Qaʿda 839/5 June 1436 (fol. 12v). The
listening and reading certificates are not bound by chronological order.
64 According to Abū Dharr Aḥmad, al-Ḥakamī stayed in Aleppo from 16 Shawwāl to 17 Dhū al-
Qaʿda 839/3 May–2 June 1436 (Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Kunūz al-dhahab [1996], 1: 484, 486). Ibn al-
Naṣībī’s Masmūʿ Ḥalab, however, situate him in Aleppo until at least the 20th of that month. See
Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124, fol. 12v.
65 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Kunūz al-dhahab (1996), 1: 484–486.
66 Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124, fols. 7b–8r. See Appen-
dix II.
492 | Josef Ženka

839/24 May 1436.67 Later, he added below this text and to the facing page some
other Andalusi poems recited to him by Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī with the follow-
ing note:68

He recited all the poetry quoted here during his travel to Aleppo in my very presence. The
motive of his mentioned travel from Hama was to study with al-imām al-ḥāfiẓ Burhān al-
Dīn Ibrāhīm al-Ḥalabī Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī.69

It is clear that the recitation of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s poem formed part of the poetical
exchanges in which Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī were involved
in the presence of their students, Ibn al-Naṣībī and Abū Dharr Aḥmad.70 Secondly,
the corrigenda of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s name in Masmūʿ, where Ibn al-Naṣībī corrected
it from Shams al-Dīn b. Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī to Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b.
Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī by writing the missing nasab above
the word “al-dīn”, indicates that the Thabat with the original version was present
during the sessions and was at the disposal of the participants. Thirdly, by omit-
ting the introduction to the poem, opting for a simple “wa-anshadanā al-shaykh
Ibrāhīm al-madhkūr qāla anshadanā al-shaykh Shams al-Dīn / Muḥammad b.
Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī li-nafsihi” (the mentioned shaykh
Ibrāhīm said: Ibn Ḥizb Allāh recited us by himself), Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s ego-identity
disappeared, and for Ibn al-Naṣībī he remained only a name introducing two
verses of poetry. This brevity is similar to that employed by Abū Dharr Aḥmad
Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī in Kunūz al-dhahab for the introduction to other poems recited
by Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī during his visit to Aleppo.71
On the other hand, for Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī the importance and identity of
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh had to be perfectly clear, even at first glance. Given that he was
trained in al-Andalus by the most renowned teachers of the time, he must have
known that he was looking at a handwriting of a scholar trained in dīwān al-in-
shāʾ with close ties to the palace. In contrast to his Mashriqi friends, Muḥammad
al-Ḥakamī was the only person present in Aleppo in a position to be able to fully

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67 Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124, fol. 8r.
68 Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī recited a verse attributed by Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Ibn al-Naṣībī to Abū ʿAlī
al-Thaʿlabī (in fact, it was written by Abū Bakr Yaḥyā Ibn Hudhayl) and one verse of the reply by
Ibn al-Qūṭiyya. There are also two verses by an unknown author (Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”,
Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124, fol. 7v). Below Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s verses, Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Ibn
al-Naṣībī wrote down a poetical exchange, recited to him by Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī, between a
man and a judge of Loja. See Appendix II.
69 Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124, fol. 7v.
70 Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124, fol. 7v.
71 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Kunūz al-dhahab (1996), 1: 485–486.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 493

recognize and understand who Ibn Ḥizb Allāh was and what his life and position
in Maghrib, as described in the Thabat, really meant. It should also not be forgot-
ten that Muḥammad al-Ḥakamī was born in a town not far from the birthplace of
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh and this certainly had to have invoked curious feelings from en-
countering someone from his native land.72
Other Mamlūk scholars browsed the Thabat and studied Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s
fragment but without any Andalusi or Maghribi scholars being present. One who
left traces of this use was the well-known scholar, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (773–
852 H/1372–1449 CE) who stayed in Aleppo in Ramaḍān and Dhū al-Ḥijja 836
(Apr.-May and July-Aug. 1433) while accompanying sultan al-Ashraf Barsbāy (r.
825–841 H/1422–1437 CE) on his northern campaign.73 Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī allowed
him to copy from his Thabat and the entry on Ibn Ḥizb Allāh in al-Durar al-kāmina
is proof that Ibn Ḥajar read Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s holograph.74 The biographical sketch
is composed of a shortened version of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s biography, taken from Ibn
al-Khaṭīb’s Egyptian copy of al-Iḥāta fī taʾrīkh Gharnāṭa, which ends at the point
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh leaves service in the Marīnid chancery, and the data taken from
Thabat.75 Ibn Ḥajar’s “addenda” says that Ibn Ḥizb Allāh traveled to the Mashriq,
performed the pilgrimage, visited Jerusalem, and established himself there. He
then adds that Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī met him and transmitted his work in verse and
prose.76 While in previous cases the Andalusi/Maghribi context was added by a
scholar visiting Aleppo, Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāta served the same purpose and
helped Ibn Ḥajar understand who Ibn Ḥizb Allāh was.
This can be corroborated by a second biographical sketch that Ibn Ḥajar in-
cluded in his chronicle Inbāʾ al-ghumr. Radically differing from the first, this il-
lustrates how a Mamlūk author could understand an Andalusi scholar without

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72 In the 15th century, members of Ḥizb Allāh family still lived in Wādī Āsh (Guadix). Archivo
Histórico de la Nobleza, Cenete, box 330, doc. 14, 15 and 16; Osuna, box 1890, doc. 3, fol. 11v.
73 See al-Sakhāwī, al-Jawāhir (1999), 183–190. Another Mamlūk author who worked extensively
with the Thabat was Ibn Fahd al-Makkī but he did not mention Ibn Ḥizb Allāh in any of his sur-
viving works. See al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1992), 1: 140; see also Ibn Fahd, Muʿjam al-shuyūkh
(1982), 48; Ibn Ṭūlūn, “Kitāb al-arbaʿīn ʿan arbaʿīn shaykh”, Damascus Asad Library MS 958, fol.
22v. In 838 H/1434-5 CE, he left a reading note in Thabat. See Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB
MS:297.124:S941tA, 2.
74 For instance, he mentioned in Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1993), 1: 127–128 that he copied a poem
written in the handwriting of Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī. This is found in Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”,
AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 177–178. See also al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1992), 1: 143.
75 For the presence of Ibn al-Khaṭīb in the Mashriq see Castro León (in press).
76 Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1993), 4: 200.
494 | Josef Ženka

having access to any source produced by him, or anyone that had actual experi-
ence of Western reality. The source for this second biography was the former chief
Shāfiʿī judge, Burhān al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa (725–790 H/1324-5–1388 CE), who be-
came acquainted with Ibn Ḥizb Allāh in Damascus. Later, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh dedi-
cated a work called ʿArf al-ṭīb fī waṣf al-khaṭīb to him (“A fragrant perfume about
the description of the khaṭīb”).77 Whether Ibn Ḥajar knew this work or based his
own work only on notes is not clear. However, he adds a verse from a qaṣīda not
found in any other source. It is very likely that Ibn Ḥajar accessed this information
through some of the manuscripts belonging to the famous library of Burhān al-
Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa, which was accessible thanks to Maḥmūd al-Ustādār (d. 799 H/
1396 CE), the majordomo of Sultān Barqūq, who bought and endowed it to his
funerary madrasa.78 Burhān al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa considered Ibn Ḥizb Allāh to be an
excellent kātib and ordinary poet who authored a number of works on the reli-
gious merits of specific individuals.79 It is also striking that the only nisba of Ibn
Ḥizb Allāh mentioned in the biography is al-Maghribī. Clearly, this points to the
perception of the group’s cultural identity from a Mamlūk author’s perspective.
This third-hand understanding of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh is also attested in al-
ʿUlaymī’s (860–928 H/1456–1522 CE) chronicle of Jerusalem.80 He included Ibn
Ḥizb Allāh in the section on the Mālikī judges of Jerusalem after he came across
notary documents verified by him in Ṣafar 781/May-June 1379.81 Only the word
ʿallāma suggests that he had any idea of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s skills and knowledge as
only two other Mālikīs are introduced using the same honorific title.82 Unlike in
the cases of other Mālikī scholars mentioned in that chapter, al-ʿUlaymī omits his
Western origins (al-Maghribī) giving him another nisba, al-Mālikī, applied fre-
quently to Maghribi scholars by Mamlūk authors.
Indeed, the evidence of al-ʿUlaymī and Ibn Ḥajar’s Inbāʾ al-ghumr indicates
how difficult it was to interpret a Mamlūk-Andalusi scholar without having ac-
cess to Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s holograph. On the other hand, the existence of Sibṭ Ibn

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77 My thanks go to Teresa Garulo for helping me to understand the correct rhyme in the title of
this work.
78 Behrens Abouseif 2019, 25. The story is mentioned by Ibn Ḥajar in the obituary of Burhān al-
Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa. See Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1972), 1: 355.
79 Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1972), 1: 328.
80 Al-ʿUlaymī, al-Uns (1999), 2: 362–363.
81 Little 1995, 245.
82 The other two being a Mālikī chief judge of Jerusalem, Ibn ʿAwjān (763–838 H/1361-2–
1434 CE) and Yaḥyā al-Anṣārī al-Andalusī (856–895 H/1451-2–1490 CE) who was of Andalusi
origin and served as the Mālikī chief judge of the city (al-ʿUlaymī, al-Uns [1999], 2: 366 and 374).
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 495

al-ʿAjamī’s Thabat reveals not only the process of transmission, but also the fur-
ther use of this material and confirms Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s intent to have it studied
and copied by others in the future. One other example of this same approach is
that of another Andalusi scholar, Abū ʿAmr Muḥammad Ibn al-Murābiṭ (680–
752 H/1281-2–1351 CE), who lived in Damascus in the first half of the 8th/14th cen-
tury. This son of kātib al-sirr (private chancellor) to the Naṣrid sultan
Muḥammad II (r. 672–702 H/1273–1302 CE) became famous in Damascus for his
teaching of Sunan al-Nasāʾī and his ijāza granted in 743 H/1342 CE passed into
the manuscript tradition of this work.83 Likewise, the holograph samāʿāt with Ibn
al-Murābiṭ’s chain of transmission to this work was circulated in the Thabat of
Ibn al-Faṣīḥ al-Hamadhānī (d. 795 H/1392 CE), which was read by Ibn Ḥajar.84 Abū
al-Hasan Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī’s exceptionally long holograph ijāza circulated
in Mamlūk territory but I have not found any evidence for it being copied or used
for writing his biography by Mamlūk authors.85

5 Conclusions
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s holograph ijāzas are not the only surviving Andalusi manu-
scripts created in Mamlūk territory. There are many others. However, it is the
unique traceable creation and the history of use by their owner, Sibṭ Ibn al-
ʿAjamī, which illuminates the different levels of understanding and reception of
this one particular Andalusi scholar. Ibn Ḥizb Allāh wanted to be known, and
remembered, as a kātib with close ties to the “King of the Maghrib”, the Marīnid
sultan Abū ʿInān Fāris. His friend, a much younger Andalusi scholar, Ibn May-
mūn al-Balawī, helped him to adapt his image to be more comprehensible to
Mamlūk scholars and, indeed, for Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī himself. However, in the ab-
sence of the direct involvement of its two creators, and their familiarity with the

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83 Al-Nasāʾī, Sunan al-kubrā (1991), 1: 61; al-Nasāʾī, Sunan al-kubrā (2001), 1: 64 and 67. Ibn al-
Murābiṭ transmitted the work on the authority of Ibn al-Zubayr al-Thaqafī. Ibn al-Zubayr and his
works were well known in Damascus. At least one other Andalusi scholar, Abū al-Qāsim Ibn
Sahl, brought to the city his holograph ijāza. See al-Dhahabī, Tadhkira al-ḥuffāẓ (1955), 4: 1484.
Abū ʿAmr Muḥammad Ibn al-Murābiṭ authored several works that circulated in holograph man-
uscripts in the Mashriq. See Ibn Ḥajar, al-Durar (1993), 4: 45.
84 Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1972), 1: 461 (biog. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. Aḥmad Ibn al-Faṣīḥ). See also
the biography of his son Aḥmad (d. 828 H/1424 CE). Ibn Ḥajar, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1972), 1: 352. An-
other student of Ibn al-Murābiṭ with whom Ibn Ḥajar studied was Ibn Kuwayk (737–821 H/1337–
1418 CE). See Ibn Ḥajar, al-Majmaʿ (1994), 2: 477.
85 Dār al-Kutub MS majmūʿa 135, fol. 98v.
496 | Josef Ženka

symbolic world of the profession of the Maghribi chancellors, this image inevita-
bly changed with the passage of time and, as such, so, too, did the identity of Ibn
Ḥizb Allāh.
Two later cases of the interpretation of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh demonstrate that after
many years, in the absence of any first-hand personal contact, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s
texts as an ego-document became incomprehensible to Mamlūk scholars. Exactly
as Assmann pointed out, later readers were only able to reconstruct the text
within their own contemporary frames of reference.86 While they had the skills to
evaluate literary texts, they were ignorant of the role of a Maghribi kātib. On the
other hand, Sibt Ibn al-ʿAjamī used Ibn Ḥizb Allāh in the presence of other West-
ern scholars. This distant connection between Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s literary works col-
lected in the past and other Maghribi scholars in the present revealed how a Mam-
lūk scholar could use texts to link himself to them. Although these scholars might
have been unfamiliar with Ibn Ḥizb Allāh, they were able to recognize his im-
portance and his use of symbolic language at the court of Marīnid sultans.
Ibn Ḥajar and al-ʿUlaymī were the only later biographers to mention Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh, and were unaware of who he was. He existed only as a name in texts they
came upon. In the case of Ibn Ḥajar, the reading of an Andalusi biographical dic-
tionary and browsing the ijāzas given to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī enabled him to recre-
ate a biographical sketch of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh. However, after one studies it, it is
hard to recognize in its depiction an important kātib. It is a very different Ibn Ḥizb
Allāh who is being presented here. In this regard, the holograph manuscript il-
lustrates how our understanding of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s presence in the Mashriq
could be more elaborated, or change completely, if we use this type of material.
It also shows the simplistic interpretations of his life in the East that would result
if researchers based themselves only on the available material produced by Mam-
lūk scholars. However, no generalization should be based on one isolated case,
even if it is as detailed as Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s. Other manuscripts can clarify details
about those who produced them, even if very few are accompanied by details re-
lating to their history.
Finally, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s manuscript is one of very few texts where an Anda-
lusi scholar mentioned his ties and contacts with other Andalusi scholars living
in Mamlūk lands.87 The relationship between Andalusis is, for Ibn Ḥizb Allāh,
also attested to by Ibn al-Khaṭīb in Fez, who knew that his former colleague and
friend was living quietly in the East. Ibn al-Khaṭīb articulated this information in
his final biographical dictionary when he sought to follow a similar path, to save

||
86 Assmann/Czaplicka 1995, 130.
87 In this case, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī.
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 497

his life by fleeing East. Could Ibn Ḥizb Allāh have set the example for future Ma-
ghribi exiles such as Ibn Marzūq and Ibn Khaldūn, and could he have been the
one to have shown them that it was possible to distance themselves from the dan-
gerous political situations they faced and, instead, be able to live peacefully in
the Mashriq? Regardless of whether a conclusive answer is possible or not, the
question itself is evidence of the importance of the study of the manuscripts of
Mamlūk-Andalusis.

Appendix I: Edition of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s ijāzas

The current order of the three ijāzas in the manuscript, including the fragment of
Riḥla, reflects Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī’s thematic approach towards the texts. I reor-
dered them in chronological order as they were produced by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh and
Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī. I have adapted the text to some modern standard Arabic
ortographic conventions, adding dots, and medial and final hamzas, when nec-
essary. The edition follows the use of the vocalization marks and initial hamza by
Ibn Ḥizb Allāh and Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī as much as possible.88

1. Ijāza given by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh to Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, 4 Shaʿbān

784/13 October 1382 (Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB
MS:297.124:S941tA, 570–573)
‫ﺣﺰﺏ ﷲ ْﺍﻟ َﻮﺍﺩﻱ ﺍﺷﻲ ﻧَﺰﻳﻞ ﺑﻴﺖ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪﺱ ﺯﺍﺩﻩ ﷲ ﺷﺮﻓﺎ‬ ْ ‫ﻣﻮﻻﻩ ُﻣﺤ ّﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
َ ‫ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺟﻲ ﻣ ْﻐﻔﺮﺓ‬ ‫ﺤﻤﺪ َ ﻳﻘُﻮ ُﻝ ْﺍﻟﻌَﺒﺪ ﱠ‬ ْ ‫[ ْﺍﻟ‬570]
.‫ﻟَﻄﻒ ﱠ ﺑِﻪ‬
‫ﺑﺮﻫﺎﻥ‬ْ ‫ﺍﻟﺮﺣﺎﻝ‬‫ﺻﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺮﺍﻭﻳﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺘﻬﺪ ْﺍﻟﺤﺴِﻴﺐ ﱠ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻭﺭﺩ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﻔﻘﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﺠﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻤ َﺤﺪﺙ ﺍﻷ‬ َ ‫ﻠﻖ‬ ‫ﺑﺠ‬ِ ‫ﻟﻤﺎ ﺣﻠﻠﺖ‬
‫ﺳﻠِﻴﻞ ﺍﻷ َ ْﻣﺠﺎ ِﺩ ﺍﻟﺒُﻠﻐﺎءِ ﻭﻣﻼﺯﻡ ﺫﻭﻯ ﺍﻻﺩﺍﺏ َﻭﺍﻟﺬﻛﺎء ِﺳﺒْﻂ ﺑﻦ ْﺍﻟﻌ َﺠﻤِ ﻲ ﺃَﻋﺰﻩ ﱠ‬ َ ‫ﺧﻠﻴﻞ‬ ‫ﺑﻦ‬ ‫ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬ 89
[ ‫ﺑﻦ‬ ‫ﺍﺑﺮﻫﻴﻢ‬ ] ‫ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ‬
‫ﻓﻮﺟﺪَﻧﻲ ﺗ َﺎﺭﻛﺎ ﻟﺬﻟﻚ ﻭﻣ ْﻌﺮﺿًﺎ ﻋﻤﺎ ﻫَﻨﺎﻟﻚ‬ َ ‫ﺸ ْﻌ ِﺮﻳﺔ ﻣﻜﺘﻮﺑﺔ ﺑﺨَﻄﻲ‬ ‫ﺴﺎﻝ ﻣﻨﻲ ﺑﻌﺾ ﻣﺎ ﻧﻈﻤﺘﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﻄﻌَﺎﺕ ﺍﻟ ﱠ‬ َ ‫ﺗﻌَﺎﻟﻰ ﻓ‬
‫ﻻﻛﻦ ﻭﺟﻪ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺍ ْﺳﻌَﺎﻓﻪ ﻓﻴﻤﺎ ﺗﻴﺴّﺮ ﻓﻲ ْﺍﻟﻮﻗﺖ َﻭﻟَﻪ ْﺍﻟﻔَﻀﻞ ﻓﻲ ﻗﺒُﻮﻝ ْﺍﻟﻌﺬﺭ ﻭﻋﺪﻡ ﺍﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺒﺨﻞ ﻭﺍﻟﻤﻘﺖ ﻭﻟﻮ ﻁﺎﻟﺖ‬
‫ﺳﺎﺑﻐﺔ ﻭﻷَﺟﺮﻳﺖ ﻣﻦ ﺗﻠﻘﺎﺋﻪ ﺑﺤﻮﺭﺍ ﻋﺬﺑﺔ ﺳﺎﺋﻐﺔ ﻓﺄَﺷﺮﺕ ﻋﻠﻰ َﺭﻓﻴﻘﻲ ﻓﻲ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﻔﻘﻴﻪ‬ َ ‫ﺑﺮﻭﺩﺍ‬
ُ ‫ﺍﻗﺎﻣﺘﻪ ﻟﺤﺒ َﱠﺮﺕ ﻓﻲ ﻟﻘﺂﺋﻪ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﺳﻤﺢ ﺑﻬﺎ‬ َ ‫ﻛﺎﻥ‬ ‫ﺷﻌﺮﻳﺔ‬ ‫ﺎﺕ‬ ‫ﻄﻌ‬ َ ‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺾ‬ ‫ﻌ‬
ْ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﻠﺘﻲ‬ ْ‫ﺭﺣ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﻟﻪ‬ ‫ﻳﺠﻤﻊ‬ ‫ﺍﻥ‬ ‫ﷲ‬ ‫ﺍﻋﺰﻩ‬ ‫ﻣﻴﻤﻮﻥ‬ ‫ﺑﻦ‬ ‫ﷲ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺠﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺮﺉ ﺍﺑﻲ ﻋﺒﺪ‬

||
88 My thanks to Luis Molina for helping me to fully understand Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s language and
his figurative forms of expression.
89 The words in brackets are inserted above the words “al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Khalīl” and with
a different, thicker, pen.
‫‪498 | Josef Ženka‬‬

‫ﺍﺭﺗﺠﺎﻻ ﻓﻲ ﻛﻮﺍﺋﻦ ﺷﺘﻰ‪ .‬ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻣﺎ ﻗﻠﺘﻪ ﺣِ ﻴﻦ ﺗﺮﻛﺖ ﻣﻠﻚ ﺍﻟﻤ ْﻐﺮﺏ ﻗﺪﺱ ﷲ ﺭﻭﺣﻪ ﺍﺑﺎ ﻋﻨﺎﻥ ﺑﺒﻼﺩ ﺍﻟﺠﺮﻳﺪ ﻭﻓَﺮﺭﺕ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺳﺮﻩ‪ 90‬ﺍﻟﻰ ﷲ ﻭﻗﺪ ﺍﻏﻔﺎﺕ ﺍﻏﻔﺎءﺓ ﻓﺎﻓﻘﺖ ﻭﺍﻧﺎ ﺍﻧﺸﺪ‪:‬‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺔ ِ ّ‬
‫ﻭﻏﺮﺑﻮﺍ‬
‫ّ‬ ‫ﺍﻹﻟﻪ‬‫ﺕ ِ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻓﺮﺭﺕ ﻣﻦَ ﺍﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﻭﺣﺒﱠﻮﺍ ﺑﻼﺋﻬﺎ ﻓﺸﺮﻗﺖ ﻓﻲ ﺫﺍ ِ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻓَﺎﺑﻮﺍ ﻟﻸ ْﻫﻮﺍﻝ َﻭﺑﺆﺕ ﺑﺘﻮﺑﺔ ﻓﻠَ ْﻢ ﻳَﻚ ّﺍﻻ ﺃَﻥ ﻅﻔﺮﺕ ﻭ ُﺧﻴﺒﻮﺍ‬
‫ﺸﺪﺓ‪:‬‬‫]‪ [571‬ﻭﻣ ْﻨﻬﺎ َﻣﺎ ْﻗﻠﺘﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺮﺧﺎء ﺑ ْﻌﺪَ ﺍﻟ ّ‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﻔَﺮﺝ‬ ‫ﺎﺑﺮﺍ ﻟَﻬﺎ ﻓﻔﻲ ﺍﺛْﺮﻫَﺎ ﻳَﺎﺗﻲ ﺍﻷَﻫُﻚ ْ‬ ‫ﺻ ً‬ ‫ﺍﺫَﺍ ﺷﺪﱠﺓ ﺟﺎءﺕ ﻓَ ُﻜ ْﻦ َ‬
‫ﺻ َﺒﺢ ﺑﺎ ﺍﻟ َﻌﻈِ ﻴﻢ ﻗَﺪ ﺍ ْﻧﻔﺮﺝ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﻓﺎ‬ ‫ﺎﺩﺡ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺮء‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ‬ ‫ﻓﻜﻢ ﻣ ْﻌﻀﻞ ﺍﻣﺴﻰ‬
‫ﻭﻣﻤﺎ ﻗﻠﺘﻪ ﺑﻤﺪﻳﻨﺔ ﻧَﻔﻄﺔ ﻭﺃﻧَﺎ ﻗﺎﺻﺪﺍ ﺍﻟﺤﺞ ﻭﺍﻟﺰﻳﺎﺭﺓ ﻣﻦ ﻗﺼﻴﺪﺓ‪:‬‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻭﻟﻢ ﻻ ﻭﺍﻧﻲ ﻗ ْﺪ ﺭﺣﻠﺖ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﺑِﻪ ﺍﻭﺿﺢ ﷲ ﺍﻟﺴﱠﺒﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﻬﺪﻯ‬
‫ﻭﻳﻤﻤﺖ ﺫَﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﺴﺘْﺮ ﻭﺍﻟﺤﺠﺐ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﻏﺪﺍ ﺣﺒﻬﺎ ْﻟﻠﺨَﻠﻖ ﻓﺮﺿًﺎ ﻣﻮﻛﺪﺍ‬
‫ﻓﻤﻬﻤﻰ ﺍﺭﻯ ﺍﻧﻲ ﻣﻘﻴﻢ ﺑﺒﻠﺪﻩ ﺗﺄَﺟﺞ ﻧَﺎﺭﻱ ﻭﺍﻟﻐَﺮﺍﻡ ﺗ َﺠﺪﺩﺍ‬
‫ﻭﻣﻬﻤﻰ َﺭﻣﺎﻧﻲ ﻣﻨﺰﻝ ﻧﺤﻮ ﻣﻨﺰﻝ ﻭﺟﺪﺕُ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻧُﻮﺭ ﺍﻟﺴﱡﺮﻭﺭ ﺑﻪ ﻫﺪَﻯ‬
‫ﻭﻗﻠﺖ ﻭﻗﺪ ﺍﺩﺭﻛﻨﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﺪﻡ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎ ﺳﻠﻒ‪:‬‬
‫ﺍﻻ ﻫِﻲ ﻋﻠﻤﺖ ْﺍﻟﺒﺎﺏ َﺭﺣْ ﺒًﺎ ﻭﺍﻧﻨﻲ ﺃَﺳِﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﺨَﻄﺎﻳﺎ ﻓﺎﻟﺘﻤﺴْﺖ ﺑﻚ ْﺍﻟﻔﺪَﺍ‬
‫ﻮﺭﻯ ﻏَﺪﺍ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ ﺧﺒﺎﺋﻚ ﺧَﺎﺋﺒﺎ ﻭﻻ ﺗﻔﺼﺤﻨﻲ ْﻳﻮﻡ ﺣﺸِﺮ ْﺍﻟ َ‬ ‫ﻄﺮﺩﻧﻲ ْ‬ ‫ﻓﻼ ﺗ َ‬
‫ﻭﻗﺘﻞ ﻣﻠﻚ ﺍﻟﻤﻐﺮﺏ ﺍﺑﻮ ﻋﻨﺎﻥ ﺭﺣﻤﻪ ﷲ ﺍﺳﺪﺍ ﺑﺎﺭﺽ ﺍﻟﻤﻐﺮﺏ ﻓﺠﺎء ﺍﻟﺸﻌﺮﺍء ﻳﻬﻨﻮﻧﻪ ﺑﺬﻟﻚ ﻭﻳﺼﻔﻮﻥ ﺷﺠﺎﻋﺘﻪ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﻮﻁِ ﻦ ﻓﻠﻤﺎ ﺍﻧﻬﻴﺖ ﺍﻟﻰ ﻣ ْﻘﻌﺪ ﻣﻠﻜﻪ ﻗﺎﻝ ﻟﻲ‪ :‬ﻣﺎ ﺻﻨﻌﺖ ﺍﻧﺖ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻷَﺳﺪ؟‬ ‫]‪ [572‬ﻭﻛﺄَﻧﻲ ﻏَﻔﻠﺖ ﻋﻦ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻭﻗ ْﺪ ﺣﻀﺮﺕ ْ‬
‫ﻓﺎﺩﺭﻛﻨﻲ ﺍﻟﺨﺠﻞ ﻭﻗﻠﺖ‪ :‬ﺻﻨﻌﺖ ﺑﻴﺘﻴﻦ‪ .‬ﻓﻘﺎﻝ ﻟﻲ‪ :‬ﻛﻴﻒ ﻫﻲ؟ ﻓﺸﺮﻋﺖ ﺍﻥ‪ 91‬ﺍُﻗﻴﺪﻫﺎ ﻓﺎﻧﻄﻘﻨﻲ ﺍﻟﻮ ْﻗﺖ ﺍﻟﻤﺴْﺘﻌﺠﻞ ﺑﻴْﻦ ﻳﺪﻳﻪ‬
‫ﻓﻘﻠﺖ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻔﻮﺭ‪:‬‬
‫ﺼﺪﻯ ﻓﻲ ﻁﺮﻳﻘﻚ ﻟﻠﺠﻴُﻮﺵ‬ ‫ﺍﻳﺎ ﻟﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ ﺻﺮﻋْﺖ ﻟﻴﺜﺎ ﺗ َ‬
‫ﺳﻼﻁﻴﻦ ﺍﻻﻧﺎﻡ ﻟﺪﻳﻚ ﺫﻟﺖ ﻓﻜﻴﻒ ﻳﻌﺰ ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻥ ْﺍﻟﻮ ُﺣﻮﺵ‬
‫ﻓﺸﻜﺮ ﺑﻬﺎ‪.‬‬
‫ﺏ ﻭﻫﻮ ﺍﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺍﻟﻌﺰﻓﻲ ﻋ ْﻨﺪ ﺍﻟﻔﺠﺮ ﺍ ْﺑ َﻴﺎﺗﺎ ﻳﺼﻒ ﺍﻧﻔﺼﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﻠﻴﻞ ﻭﺍ ْﻗﺒﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﻨﻬﺎﺭ ﻓَﻘَﺎﻝ‪:‬‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺎ‬ ‫ﺑﻌﺾ‬ ‫ﺍﺭﺗﺠﻞ‬ ‫ﺣﻀﺮﺗﻪ‬ ‫ﻭﻓﻲ‬
‫َ‬
‫ﻛﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺠﻮ ﻓﻲ ُﺣﻠ ٍﻞ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺯﻫﺎﺭ َﻣ ْﻮﺷِﻴﺔ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
‫ﻛﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺼﺒﺢ ﻣﻮﻟﻮﺩٌ ﺭﺑَﻰ ﻓﻲ َﺣﺠْ ﺮ ﺯ ْﻧ ِﺠﻴﺔ‬
‫ﺳﺎﻛﺖ ﻓﻘﺎﻝ ﻟﻲ‪ :‬ﻣﺎ ﻟﻚ ﻟﻢ ﺗﺤﺴﻨﻪ؟‬ ‫ﻓﺄَﺣﺴﻦ ﻓﻲ ﺍﺑﺘﻜﺎﺭﻩ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ ﻭﺣﺴﱠﻨﻪ ﻟَﻪ ﺍﻟﺸﻌﺮﺍء ﻭﺍﻧﺎ َ‬
‫ﻓﻘﻠﺖ‪ :‬ﻓﻴﻪ ﻋﻴﻮﺏ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﺍﻧﻚ ﺍﻧﺸﺪﺗﻪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺤﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﻭﻟﻢ ﺗﺼﻒ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻞ ﻭﺍﻧﻚ ﻟﻢ ﺗﻌﻄﻒ ﺍﻻﻭﻝ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ ﺑﻮﺍﻭ ﺍﻟﻌﻄﻒ‬
‫ﻣﻮﻟﻮﺩ ﻭﺍﻧﻚ ﻟﻢ ﺗﻔﺮﻕ ﺑﻴﻨﻪ ﻭﺑﻴﻦ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﺭﺗﺒﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻮﻥ ﻭﺍﻟﺴﻦ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻧﻚ ﻟﻢ ﺗﺮﺷﺢ ﻟﻠﻤﻮﻟﻮﺩ ]‪ [573‬ﺑ َﻤﺎ ﻳَﺼﺢ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻟﺘﺸﺒﻪ ﺍﻧﻪ ْ‬
‫ﺍﺭﺗﺠﺎﻻ‪:‬‬‫ﻓﻘَﺎﻝ ﻟﻲ‪ :‬ﻓَﻜﻨﺖ ﺍﺻﻨﻊ ﺍﺫًﺍ ﻗﺼﻴﺪﺓ ﻓَﻮﻑِ ﺍﻧﺖ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ ﻓﻲ ﺑَﻴْﺘﻴﻦ ﻓَﻘَﻠﺖ ْ‬
‫ﺮﺯﻫﺎ ﺭﻭﻧﻖ ﺍﻟﻐَﺒﺶ‬ ‫ﻁ ُ‬ ‫ﻭﺷﻲ ُ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﺼﺎﺩﻱ َﻭ َﺟ ﱡﻮﻫَﺎ ﻛﺤﻠﺔ‬ ‫ﺿﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﻤ َ‬ ‫َﺣﻠَﻠﻨﺎ َ‬
‫ﺑﺮ ْﻭ َ‬
‫ﺠﻮﺯ ﻣﻦَ ﺍﻟﺤ َﺒﺶ‬ ‫ﻋ ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﻪ‬
‫َ ّ َ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺮﻙ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫َ ﻣﻦَ‬ ‫ﻟﻨﺎ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﻼ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻔ‬ ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ْﺢ‬
‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺼ‬
‫ﱡ‬ ‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫ﻤﻮﺩ‬ ‫ﻓَﺨﻠﻨﺎ َ‬
‫ﻋ‬
‫ﻓﺴﺮ ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻴﻊ ﺑﺬَﻟﻚ ﻓَﺎﻧﻘﻄﻊ‪.‬‬
‫ﻋﻨﻲ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻻﺑﻴﺎﺕ ﻭﻣﺎ ﻳﺼﺢ ﻟﺪﻳﻪ ﺍﻧﻪ ﻣﻦَ ﻧﻈﻤﻲ ﻭﻧﺜﺮﻱ ﻭﺍﺟﺰﺕ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻥ ﻳﺮﻭﻱ ﻋﻨﻲ‬ ‫ﻓﻘﺪ ﺍﺟﺰﺕ ﺍﻟﻔﻘﻴﻪ ﺍﻟﺠﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻥ ﻳﺮﻭﻱ َ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﺑﻜﻤﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﺣﻴﺜﻤﺎ ﺍﻧﺘﻬﺖَ ِﺑﺤﻮﻝ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ]ﻭﻗﺪ ﺍﻟﻨﺘﻬﺖ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺩﻣﺸﻖ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺮﻭﺳﺔ ﻭﺳﻤﻊ ﺧﻄﺒﺘﻬﺎ ﺑﻜﻤﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﻭﺳﻤﻊ ﻫﺬﻩ‬
‫ﻭﺍﻻﺧﺒﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﻨ ْﻘﻠﻴﺔ ﻭﻣﺎ ﺫﻛﺮﺕ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺍﻟﻴﻒ ﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﺳﻤﻴﺘﻬﺎ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻔﻮﺍﺋﺪ ْﺍﻟﻌﻠﻤﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻻﺑﻴﺎﺕ ﻣﻦ ﻟﻔﻈﻲ[ ﻭﺑﻜﻞ ﻣﺎ ﺟﻤﻌﺖ ﻣﻦ َ‬
‫‪92‬‬

‫||‬
‫‪90 Tashdīd written with a different, thicker, pen.‬‬
‫‪.‬ﺍﻥ ‪, Ibn Ḥizb Allāh crossed out another‬ﺍﻥ ‪91 After the word‬‬
‫‪92 Written in the right margin with a different, thicker, pen.‬‬
 ‫‪A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 499‬‬

‫ﻭﺍﺧﺘﻼﻑ ﻓﻨﻮﻧﻬﺎ ﺍﺟﺎﺯﺓ ﺻﺤﻴﺤﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻁ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻭﻑ ﻭﺍﻟﻤﻨ َﺤﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﻟﻮﻑ ﻭﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻳُﻮﻓﻘﻪ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ ﺷﺘﻰ ﺃَﻧﻮﺍ ِﻋ َﻬﺎ ْ‬
‫ﺷ ْﻌﺒﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﻈﻢ ﻣﻦ ﻋﺎﻡ ﺍﺭﺑﻌﺔ ﻭﺛﻤﺎﻧﻴﻦ ﻭﺳﺒﻌﻤﺎﺋﺔ‬
‫ﻭﻳﻄﻠﻌﻪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎ ﻳﺮﺷﺪﻩ ﺑﻤﻦ ﷲ ﻭﻓﻀﻠﻪ ﻭﻛﺘﺐ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺑﻊ ﻟﺸﻬﺮ َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺩﻱ ﺍﺷﻲ ﻧﺰﻳﻞ ﺑﻴﺖ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪﺱ ﻟﻄﻒ ﷲ ﺑﻪ ﻭﻣﻮﻟﺪﻱ‬ ‫ﻗﺎﻝ ﺫﻟﻚ ﻭﻛﺘﺒﻪ ﻣﺤ ﱠﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺑﻦ ﺣﺰﺏ ﷲ ﺍﻟﻄﺎﺋﻲ َ‬
‫ﺳﻨﺔ ﺍﺛﻨﻰ ﻋﺸﺮ ﻭﺳﺒﻌﻤﺎﺋﺔ ]ﻓﻴﻪ ﻣﻠﺤﻖ ﻭﻗﺪ ﺍﻧﺘﻬﺖ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺩﻣﺸﻖ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺮﻭﺳﺔ ﻭﺳﻤﻊ ﺧﻄﺒﺘﻬﺎ ﺑﻜﻤﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﻭﺳﻤﻊ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻻﺑﻴﺎﺕ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻟﻔﻈﻲ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻣﺼﻠﺢ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺼﻴﻐﺔ ﺍﻟﺴﺮ ﺍﻥ ﻭﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺘﺎﺭﻳﺦ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ[‪.‬‬

‫‪2. The Chapter on Cairo from Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s Riḥla entitled al-‬‬
‫‪Rawḍa al-arīḍa al-ḥizbiyya wa-l-riḥla al-gharbiyya al-gharība‬‬
‫‪wa-tatlūhā al-ḥijāziyya wa-l-shāmiyya by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh with‬‬
‫‪an ijāza dated on 5 Shaʿbān 784/14 October 1382 (Sibṭ Ibn al-‬‬
‫)‪ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 568–569‬‬
‫‪93‬‬
‫]‪ [568‬ﺍﻟﺤﻤﺪ‬
‫ﻀﺔ ْﺍﻟﺤِ ْﺰﺑﻴﱠﺔ َﻭﺍﻟﺮﺣْ ﻠَﺔ ْﺍﻟﻐَﺮﻳ َﺒﺔ ْﺍﻟﻐَﺮﺑﻴﱠﺔ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺭﻳ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻷ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ ‫ﺿ‬
‫ْ َ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﺮﻭ‬ ‫ﻤﺎﺓ‬ ‫ﺴ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﻤ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫ﻠﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺮﺣْ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺎﺏ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ‬ ‫‪94‬‬
‫ﻭﻣﺼﺮ[‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻘﺎﻫﺮﺓ‬ ‫ﺫﻛﺮ‬ ‫ﺼﻞ ]ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻓَ ْ‬
‫ﺸﺎﻣﻴﱠﺔ‪.‬‬ ‫َﻭﺗﺘﻠﻮﻫَﺎ ﺍﻟﺤ َﺠﺎﺯﻳﱠﺔ َﻭﺍﻟ ﱠ‬ ‫ُ‬
‫ﻤﺮﺑﻲ‬ ‫ﺸﻴْﺦ ﺍﻻﻣﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﻌَﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻌَﻼ َﻣﺔ ﺍﻟ َﺤﺒْﺮ ﺍﻟﻔﻬﺎ َﻣﺔ ﻓﺨﺮ ﺃ َ ْﻫﻞ ﺍﻷَﺩَﺏ ﺗ َﺮﺟﻤﺎﻥ ْﺍﻟﻌَﺮﺏ َﺟﺎﻣِ ﻊ ﺃَﺷﺘ َﺎﺕ ْﺍﻟﻔﻀﺎﺋﻞ ْﺍﻟ ْ‬ ‫َﺟ ْﻤﻊ ﺍﻟ ﱠ‬
‫ﺣﺰﺏ‬ ‫ﻋﺒْﺪ ﷲ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺑﻲ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﻋﺼﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺪ‬ ‫ﻭﻭ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﺩﻫﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﻓﺮﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﺍﻻﻭﺍﺋﻞ‬ ‫ﻰ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻠ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ِﻪ‬ ‫ﺗ‬ ‫ﺑﻴﺎ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺩ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﻭ‬‫َ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻧﺸﺎءﺍﺗﻪ‬
‫ﺍﺩﺍﻡ ﷲ ﺍﻟﻨﻔﻊ ﺑﻪ َﻭﺃَﺑﻘﻰ ﺑَﺮﻛﺘ َﻪ ﺑﻤﻨﻪ ﻭﻛﺮﻣﻪ‪.‬‬ ‫ﻧﺰﻳﻞ ﺑ ْﻴﺖ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪْﺱ َ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺩﻱ ﺍﺷﻲ ِ‬ ‫ﱠ ﺍﻟﻄﺎﺋﻲ ﺍﻷَﻧﺪﻟﺴِﻲ َ‬
‫ﺼﺮ‬ ‫ﻋﺎﻡ ﺳﺘِّﻴﻦ ﻭﺳﺒﻌﻤﺎﺋﺔ َﻭﻣ ْ‬ ‫ﺸ ْﻬﺮ ﺷ ﱠَﻮﺍﻝ ﻣﻦ َ‬ ‫ﻋﺸﺮ ﻟ َ‬ ‫ﺧﻠﻨﺎ ﺍﻟﻘَﺎﻫﺮﺓ ﻓﻲ ﻅﻬﺮ ﻳَ ْﻮﻡ ﺍﻟﺜﻠﺜﺎء ﺍﻟﺨﺎﻣﺲ َ‬ ‫ﻗَﺎﻝ ﺃَﺑﻘﻰ ﷲ ﺑَﺮﻛﺘﻪ‪ :‬ﺩَ ْ‬
‫ﻓﻲ ْﺍﻟﻴَ ْﻮﻡ ﺍﻟﺘﱠﺎﻟﻲ ﻭﻗُ ْﻠﺖُ ‪:‬‬
‫ﺼﺮﺍ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺰ َﻣﺎﻥ ﺑﻚِ ﺍﻟﻨ ْ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻔﺨﺮﺍ َﻭ َﻛ ْﻢ َﺣﺎﺯَ ْﺍﻣﻼَﻙُ ﱠ‬ ‫ﺼﺮ ﻛ ْﻢ ﺣﺎﺯَ ﺍﻻَﻧﺎﻡ ُ ﺑﻚِ ْ‬ ‫ﺃَﻳﺎ ﻣِ ْ‬
‫ﺼﺮﺍ‬ ‫ﺖ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻴﻨﻬﻢ ﻣِ ْ‬ ‫ﺳ ّﻤﻴ ِ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﺼﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﺒْﻼﺩ ﻭﻓﻘﺘِﻬﺎ َﻭﻣِ ﻦ ﺃﺟْ ﻞ ﺫﺍ ُ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﺕ ﺃ ْﻣ َ‬ ‫ﻟَﻘَ ْﺪ ُﺣﺰ ِ‬
‫ﺼﺮ ‪ °‬ﺍﻟﻤﺤ ﱠﺠﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﺮﺟﻠﻴْﻦ ﺑﻨَ ْﻬ ِﺮ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻤﻔﺮﻕ ﺍﻟ ُﻤﻤﻨﻄﻘَﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﺴﱡﻨﺪُﺱ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺨِ ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺘﻮ َﺟﺔ ﺑِﺎﻟﻼَﻟﺊ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟ ْ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﺼﺮ‬ ‫ﺼﺮ َﻭ َﻣﺎ ﺃَﺩﺭﻳﻚَ ﻣﺎ ﻣِ ْ‬ ‫َﻭﻣ ْ‬
‫ﺳ ِﺮﻳﺮ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ َ‬ ‫ﺼ ِﺪﻳﻖُ َ‬ ‫ﺕ ِﺍﻻﻳَﺎﺕُ ﺍﻟﺴﱠﺎﻁِ ﻌَ ْﻪ ‪ °‬ﻭﻗﻌَﺪَ ﺍﻟ ّ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻋﻠﻴْﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﺴﱠﻼ ُﻡ ﺍﻷَﻳَﺎﺕُ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﻁِ ﻌَﺔ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺑَ َﻬﺮ ِ‬ ‫ﻅ َﻬﺮﺕْ ﻟِﻼﻧﺒﻴَﺎءِ َ‬ ‫ْﺚ َ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ ﻟَ َﺠﻴْﻦ َﺣﻴ ُ‬
‫ﺎﻣﺮ ﱠ‬ ‫ﺼﺎ ْﻩ ‪ °‬ﻓَ َﻬﻠَﻚَ ِﺑ ْ‬ ‫ﻋ َ‬ ‫ﻅ َﻬﺮ ﱠ ْﻟﻠﻜﻠِﻴﻢ ﺍﻵﻳﺎﺕ ِﺑﺈ ِ ْﻟﻘَﺂءِ َ‬ ‫ﺽ ﻓﻲ ﻣِ ْﻠ ِﻜ ْﻪ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺃ َ ْ‬ ‫ﺎﺭﺕ ﻟﺤِ ْﻔﻈ ِﻪ ﻭﻋﻠﻤِ ِﻪ ﺧَﺰَ ﺍﺋﻦُ ﺍﻻَ ْﺭ ِ‬ ‫ﺻ َ‬ ‫ُﻣﻠﻜِﻪ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َ‬
‫ﻤﻮﺍﻁِ ﺮ‬ ‫َ َ َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺁء‬ ‫ﻮ‬‫ﻧ‬‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻷ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻦ‬ ‫َ ِ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫َﻨﻴﺖْ‬ ‫ﻏ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫‪°‬‬ ‫ﺍﻥ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ُﻠ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺍﻟ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ﻞ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻣِ ِ ِ‬‫ﻠ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻦ‬ ‫ﻠﻤﺖْ‬ ‫ﺳ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻗ‬ ‫ﻭ‬‫َ‬ ‫ﱠﺍﻥ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﻲ‬
‫ِ َ‬ ‫ﻘﺎﺻ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫ﻢ‬
‫ُّ‬ ‫ﻌ‬ ‫ﻳ‬ ‫َﺎ‬
‫ﻫ‬ ‫ْﺮ‬ ‫ﻴ‬ ‫ﺧ‬
‫َ‬ ‫‪°‬‬ ‫ُﻛ ّﻞ َﻣ ْﻦ ﺧَﺎﻟَ َ َ َ َ ْ‬
‫ﻩ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﺼ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﻒ‬
‫ﺻ َﺮ‬ ‫ﺍﻹ ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ﱠﻣ َﻮﺍﺭﺩﻫَﺎ ﺍﻟﻌَﺬﺑ ِﺔ ﺍﻟﻜ ََﺮﺏ َﻭ ِ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
‫ﺻﺎﻟﺢْ ‪ °‬ﻗَ ْﺪ َﺣﻸﺕْ َ‬ ‫ﻏﻴْﺮ َ‬ ‫ﺴﺖْ ﺫَﺍﺕُ ﺑﺤْ ِﺮ َﻣﺎﻟِﺢ ﻭﻻَ ﻫ ََﻮﺍءِ َ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﻌَ ْﺮﻑ ﺍﻟﻌَﺎﻁِ ْﺮ ﻟ ْﻴ َ‬ ‫ﻋﻨِﻴﺖْ ْ‬ ‫َﻭ ُ‬
‫ﻁ ِﻮ َﻳﺖْ‬‫ﺟﺎﻥ ﺃ َ ْﻣ َﻮﺍ ُﺟﻬﺎ ‪َ °‬ﻭ ُ‬ ‫ﻤﺮ ِ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟ ْ‬ ‫ﻋﻠَﻰ ﺍﻟﻠُﺆﻟ ُﺆ ْ‬ ‫ﺼﺮ ﺗ َﺪﻓﱠﻘَﺖْ َ‬ ‫‪95‬‬
‫ﺳﺎ َﺣﺘﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﻴ ُْﻤﻦ َﻭﺍﻟﻴُﺴ َْﺮ ‪ °‬ﺑﺒَﺮﻛَﺔ ﻗَﻮﻟ ِﻪ ﺗ َﻌﻠَﻰ ﺃﺩﺧﻠﻮﺍ ﻣِ ْ‬ ‫َﻭ َﻣ َﻸَﺕْ َ‬
‫ﻋﺎﻟِﻢ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﺣﻀْﺮﺓ ُ ْﺍﻟﻤﺸَﺎﻫِﺪ ْﺍﻟﻐُ ِﺮ‬ ‫ﻋﻠَ ٍﻢ َﻭ َ‬ ‫ﺍﺭ ُﻛ ِّﻞ َ‬ ‫ﺴﺮ ﻋ َِﻼ ُﺟﻬﺎ ‪ °‬ﺩَ ُ‬ ‫ﻋ ُ‬ ‫ﺍﺑﺎﺭﻫَﺎ َﻭﺍَﺳْﻴﺎ ُﺟﻬﺎ ‪َ °‬ﻭ ِﻷ َ ْﻣ ٍﺮ ﱠﻣﺎ َ‬ ‫ﻋﻠَﻰ ﺍﻟﺬﱠﻫَﺐ َﻭ ْﺍﻟ ِﻔﻀﱠﺔ ُ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺕ َﻭﺍﻟﺪ َِﺭﺍﻳﺎﺕ ‪َ °‬ﺭﺑﱠﻪ ﺍﻷﻫﺮﺍﻡ َﻭﺍﻟ َﻬﻴﺎﻛِﻞ ‪°‬‬‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺎﺭﺍ ِ‬ ‫ﺍﻹ َﻣ َ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺮﺍﻳﺎﺕ ِﻷﻫﻞ ِ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َﻭ ْﺍﻟﻤﻌَﺎﻟﻢ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺑَﺤْ ُﺮ ﺍﻷ َ ْﻭﻗَﺎﻑِ َﻭﺍﻟﺠﺮﺍﻳﺎﺕ ‪َ °‬ﻭﻓﺨﺮ َﺭﻓﻊ ّ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ْﺚ ]‪ [569‬ﺃَﻧﺎ َﺥ ﺍﻷ َ َﻣﺎﻥُ ﺑﻜ َْﻠ َﻜ ِﻠ ْﻪ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﺣﻴ ُ‬
‫ْﺚ‬ ‫ﻔﺮ ْﺍﻟ َﻮﺍﺷِﻲ َﻭ ْﺍﻟﻌَﺎﺫِﻝ َﻭ َﺣﻴ ُ‬ ‫ﺐ َﻭ ْﺍﻟﺒﺎﺫِﻝ َﻭ َﻣ ّ‬ ‫ﺎﺭﺏ َﻭ ْﺍﻷ ُ ِﻛﻞ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﻣﻘَ ّﺮ ْﺍﻟ َﻮﺍﻫ ِ‬ ‫ﺸ ِ‬ ‫َﻭ َﻣ َﺮﺍ ُﺡ ﺍﻟ ّ‬
‫ﺴﻮﺩ ‪°‬‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﻼﺡ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﺟﺎﻟﺪ ﺍﻟﺴّﻴﺪ َﻭ ْﺍﻟ َﻤ ُ‬ ‫ِﺺ َﻭ ّ‬ ‫ﻔﻼﺡ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺍﻟﻘَﺎﻧ ُ‬ ‫ﺎﺟﺮ َﻭ ْﺍﻟ ﱠ‬ ‫ﺶ ﺍﻟﺘ ّ ُ‬ ‫ﺧﻠﻊ ْﺍﻟ ِﻌﺬَ ِﺍﺭ ﻟ ُﻤ َﻮ ﱠﻛ ِﻠ ْﻪ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺍَﻳْﻦ ﺍﻧﺘﻌَ َ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺰ َﻣﺎﻥُ ﻓﻲ ْ‬ ‫ﺽ ّ‬ ‫ﻓَ ﱠﻮ َ‬
‫ﺴﺖْ ﻓِﻬﺎ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ِﻳ‬‫ﺩ‬ ‫‪°‬‬ ‫ﻬﺎ‬ ‫ﻀ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ ‫ﻤ‬
‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﻌ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟ‬ ‫ﻡ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺯَ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻦ‬ ‫ﻣ‬‫َ َ‬ ‫ﺮﻑ‬ ‫ﻄ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺳ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻭ‬
‫َ‬ ‫‪°‬‬ ‫ﻬﺎ‬ ‫ﻀ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫ﺧ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ ‫ﻤ‬
‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﻬ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟ‬
‫َ ِ َ َ َ َ ِ َ‬ ‫ﻊ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﻦ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻑ‬ ‫ُﺮ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫‪°‬‬ ‫ﻮﺩ‬ ‫ﺳ‬
‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻭ‬
‫َ َ‬ ‫ﻉ‬
‫ُ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺮ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺪ‬‫ﺳ‬‫َﻭﺍﺳ َ‬
‫ْﺘﺎ‬

‫||‬
‫‪.‬ﻓَﺼْﻞ ‪93 Written above the word‬‬
‫‪.‬ﻣﻦ ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﺮﺣْ ﻠﺔ ‪94 Inserted above the words‬‬
‫‪ which was crossed out. In the word‬ﺍﻫﺒﻄﻮﺍ ‪ is written above the word‬ﺍﺩﺧﻠﻮﺍ ‪95 Q: 12.99. The word‬‬
‫‪ the final alif was crossed out. The original verse was from Q: 2.61.‬ﻣِ ﺼْﺮﺍ‬
‫‪500 | Josef Ženka‬‬

‫ﺶ َﻣﻦ ﺩَﺏﱠ َﻭﺩَﺭﺝ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﻛﺜﱠﺮﺕ ﺍﻷ َ ْﻓ َﺮﺍ َﺡ ﻭﺍﻟﻔُﺮﺝ ‪َ °‬ﻭﻛَﻤ َﻞ َﺟﻤﺎﻟُ َﻬﺎ‬ ‫ﺍﻹ ْﻗﺪﺍﻡ ‪ °‬ﻓَﺎﻧﺘَﻌَ َ‬ ‫ﺳﻮﺍﻕُ ِ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻷ ُ ْﻗﺪﺍﻡ ‪َ °‬ﻭﻧَ َﻔﻘَﺖْ ﻓِﻴﻬﺎ ﺃ َ َ‬
‫ﻜﺮﺑﺎﺕ ْ‬ ‫ْﺍﻟ ُ‬
‫ِﻔﺎﻕ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺟُﻤِ َﻊ ﻓِﻴﻬﺎ ُﻛ ﱡﻞ َﻣﺎ ﺍﻓﺘ َﺮﻕَ ﻓﻲ ْﺍﻻﻓَﺎﻕ ‪°‬‬ ‫ﺨﻼﻑِ َﻭﺍﻟﻨّ ْ‬ ‫ﺎﻕ َﻭﺃَﻣِ ﻨَﺖْ ﻣِ ﻦَ ْﺍﻟ َ‬ ‫ﺳ َﻌﺘِﻬﺎ ْﺍﻟﺠﻴُﻮﺵ َﻭ ّ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺮﻓَ ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ْﻏﻤﺖْ‬ ‫ﺩ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻭ‬
‫َ‬ ‫‪°‬‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺎﻕ‬ ‫َﻭﻓَ‬
‫ﻄ ِﺮ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﻛﺒُﺮﺕْ‬‫ﺎﺱ ﺑﻘُ ْ‬‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ﺃﻥ ﺗﻘ َ‬ ‫ﻋﻈ َﻤ َ‬‫ﺖْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺮﺕْ‬ ‫ﺕْ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ُﻣﻌَﺎﺩِﻳ َﻬﺎ َﻭﻗ َﻬ َﺮ ‪َ °‬ﻭﺑﻔ ْﺴ َﺤﺘِﻬﺎ َﻭ َﺟ َﻤﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﺑَ َﻬ ‪َ °‬‬ ‫َﻤﺖْ‬‫ﺍﺭﻏ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫َﻭ َﻣﺎ ﻣﺜﻞ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﻫﺮﺓ ﺍﻟﺘِﻲ ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺎﺻﺮ ﺍﻟﺬِّﻱ َﻣﻠَﻚَ ﺍﻟ َﺤﺮ َﻣﻴْﻦ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻳﻔﻴﻦ َﻭ َﺣﺎَﺯَ ﺍﻟﻘِﺒﻠﻴﺘﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﺨﻄ ِﺮ ‪َ °‬ﻭﻟ ْﻢ َﻻ َﻭ َﻣﻠﻚ ﻗَ ْﻠﻌَﺘﻬﺎ ْﺍﻟﻤ ِﻠﻚُ ﺍﻟﻨّ ِ‬ ‫ﺃَﻥ ﺗ َ ُﻜﻮﻥَ ُﻛ ﱡﻞ َﻣﺪِﻳﻨَ ٍﺔ ﻋِﻨﺪَﻫَﺎ ﺑِ ْ‬
‫‪96‬‬
‫ﺏ‪.‬‬‫ﺸﺮﻕَ َﻭ ْﺍﻟﻐَ ْﺮ َ‬ ‫ﺏ ‪َ °‬ﻭ َﻣﻠﻚَ ﺍﻟ ﱠ‬ ‫َﻭﻗَ َﻬﺮ ْﺍﻟﻌُﺠْ ﻢ َﻭﺍﻟﻌُ ْﺮ َ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻤﺪ ‪ °‬ﺳﻤﻌﺖ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻔﺼﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﺨﺮﺝ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﺤﺰﺑﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻭﺻﻒ ﻣﺼﺮ ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻟﻠﻔَﻘِﻴﻪ ﺍﻻﺟﻞ ﺍﻻﻛﻤﻞ‬
‫ﺑﺮﻫﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺪّﻳﻦ ﺍﺑﺮﻫﻴﻢ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤ ﱠﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺧﻠﻴﻞ ﺳﺒﻂ ﺑﻦ ﺍﻟﻌﺠﻤﻲ ﺍﻋﺰﻩ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﻣﻦ ﻟﻔﻈﻪ ﻭﺍﺟﺰﺕ ﻟﻪ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺒﻠﻴﻎ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺪﺙ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﱠﺎﻝ ْ‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﺩ َﻣﺸﻖ ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﺍ َﺟﺎﺯﺓ ﺻﺤﻴﺤﺔ ﺟﺎﺋﺰﺓ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﻨﺎﻭﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﺼﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻭﺳﺎﺋﺮ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﺑﻜﻤﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺣﻴﻦ ﺍﻧﻬﺎﺋﻬﺎ ْ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻔ ْ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤ ْﻌﺮﻭﻓﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺸﺮﻭﻁﺔ ﻭﻟﻪ ﺍﻥ ﻳﺮﻭﻳﻬﺎ ﻋﻨﻲ ﻭ َﻣﺎ ﺗﺤﻘﻖ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ ﺍﻧﻲ ﻧﻈﻤﺘﻪ ﺍﻭ ﻧﺜﺮﺗﻪ ﺍﻭ ﺍﻟﱠﻔﺘﻪ ﻭﻛﺘﺐ ﺑﺬﻟﻚ ﻣ ْﻨﺸﺌﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﻌﺒْﺪ‬
‫ﺣﺰﺏ ﷲ ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺩﻱ ﺍﺷﻲ ﻧﺰﻳﻞ ﺑﻴﺖ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪﺱ ﻟﻄﻒ ﷲ ﺑﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺨﺎﻣﺲ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺟﻲ ﻣﻐﻔﺮﺓ ﻣﻮﻻﻩ ﻣﺤ ﱠﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺑﻦ ْ‬
‫ﻟﺸﻬﺮ ﺷﻌﺒﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﻤﻜﺮﻡ ﻣﻦ ﻋﺎﻡ ﺍﺭﺑﻌﺔ ﻭﺛﻤﺎﻧﻴﻦ ﻭﺳﺒﻌﻤﺎﯨﺔ‪.‬‬

‫‪3. Ijāza given by Ibn Ḥizb Allāh to Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn‬‬
‫‪Bahrām al-Ḥalabī, dated 6 Shaʿbān 784/15 October 1382 (Sibṭ‬‬
‫)‪Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 574‬‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤْ ﻤﺪ ‪َ .‬ﻭﺃ َ َﺟ ْﺰﺕ ﺃَﻳﻀًﺎ ﺑﻤﺜﻞ ﺍﻻﺟﺎﺯﺓ ْﺍﻟﻤﻜﺘﺘِﺒﺔ ﻗﺒْﻞ ﺍﻟﻔﻘﻴﻪ ﺍﻷَﺟﻞ ﺍﻻﻋﺰ ﺍﻻﻛﻤﻞ ْﺍﻟ َﺤﺴﻴﺐ ﺍﻷَﺻﻴﻞ ﻣﺠﺪ ﺍﻟﻘﻀﺎﺓ ﻭﺍﻷَﻋﻼﻡ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺼﻮﺻﻴﻦ ﺑﺎﻻﺟْ ﻼﻝ ﻭﺍﻻﻛﺮﺍﻡ ﻋﻼء ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺍﺑﺎ ﺍﻟﺤﺴﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺑﻦ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺍﺑﻦ ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﺍﺑﻦ ﻗﺎﺿﻲ ﺍﻟﻘﻀﺎﺓ‬
‫ﺍﻻﻣﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺪﺱ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﺣﻮﻡ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺑﻬﺮﺍﻡ ﺑﻦ ﺣﺴﻴﻦ ْﺍﻟ َﺤﻠﺒﻲ ﻭﻓﻘﻪ ﷲ ﻟﻄﺎﻋﺘﻪ ﻭﺍﺟﺰﺍﻩ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺮ َ‬
‫ﺿﺎﺗﻪ ﻋﻨﻪ‬
‫ﺼﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺮﻭﺳﺔ ﻣﺴْﺘﺨﺮﺟﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻠﺔ‬ ‫ﺼﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﻜﺘﺘﺐ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ ﻓﻲ ﻭﺻْﻒِ ﻣ ْ‬ ‫ﻭﻛﺮﻣﻪ ﻭﺍﺟﺰﺕ ﻟﻪ ﺃَﻥ ﻳﺮﻭﻱ ﻋﻨﻲ ﺍﻳﻀًﺎ ْﺍﻟﻔ ْ‬
‫ﺼﺪ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺮﻭﻑ ﻭﻟﻪ ﺃَﻥ ﻳَﺮﻭﻱ ﻋﻨﻲ ﺫﻟﻚ ﺑﻤﺎ ﺷﺎء ﻣﻦ ﻭﺟﻮﻩ‬ ‫ﺻﺤﻴﺤﺔً ﺗﺎﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻁ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﻟﻮﻑِ ﻭﺍﻟﻘ ْ‬ ‫ْﺍﻟﺤﺰﺑﻴﺔ ﺍﺟﺎﺯﺓ ً َ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺮ َﻭﺍﻳﺎﺕ ﻭﻛﺘﺐ ﺑﺬﻟﻚ ﺧﻂ ﻳﺪﻩ ﺍﻟﻔﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤ ﱠﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺣﺰﺏ ﷲ ﻟﻄﻒ ﷲ ﺑﻪ ﻣﺴﺘﻌﻴﻨﺎ ﺑﺎ ﺍﻟﻌﻈﻴﻢ ﻭﻣﺴﺘﻐﻔﺮﺍ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺫﻧﻮﺑﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺴﺎﺩﺱ ﻟﺸﻬﺮ ﺷﻌﺒﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﻤﻜﺮﻡ ﻋﺎﻡ ﺍﺭﺑﻌﺔ ﻭﺛﻤﺎﻧﻴﻦ ﻭﺳﺒﻌﻤﺎﺋﺔ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻣﺼﻠﺢ ﻭﺻﻒ ﻭﻋﻨﻲ ﺻﺤﻴﺢ ﻣﻨﻪ ﻭﻓﻲ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺘﺎﺭﻳﺦ‪.‬‬

‫||‬
‫‪96 The end of the handwriting of Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī.‬‬
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 501

Fig. 1: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 568

502 | Josef Ženka

Fig. 2: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 569

 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 503

Fig. 3: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 570

504 | Josef Ženka

Fig. 4: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 571

 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 505

Fig. 5: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 572

506 | Josef Ženka

Fig. 6: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 573

 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 507

Fig. 7: Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, “Thabat”, AUB MS:297.124:S941tA, 574

‫‪508 | Josef Ženka‬‬

‫‪Appendix II: Edition of Ibn Ḥizb Allāh’s poetry‬‬

‫‪Ibn al-Naṣībī, “Masmūʿ Ḥalab”, Bibliotheca Alexandrina MS 297.124 (olim 2115d),‬‬
‫‪fols. 7v and 8r. The poetry recited by Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī and al-Ḥakamī in Dhū al-‬‬
‫‪Qaʿda 839/May-June 1436. Since Ibn al-Naṣībī always starts with the ḥamdala, the‬‬
‫‪poems in fol. 8r precedes the ones in fol. 7v. The edition follows the use of the‬‬
‫‪vocalization marks by Ibn al-Naṣībī.‬‬
‫‪8r‬‬
‫ﺍﻟﺤﻤﺪ ﻭﺳﻼﻡ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﺒﺎﺩﻩ ﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦ ﺍﺻﻄﻔﻰ‬
‫ﻭﺍﻧﺸﺪﻧﺎ ﺍﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﺍﺑﺮﻫﻴﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻗﺎﻝ ﺍﻧﺸﺪﻧﺎ ﺍﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ]ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ[‪ 97‬ﺑﻦ ﺣﺰﺏ ﷲ ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺩﻳﺎﺷﻲ]![‬
‫ﻟﻨﻔﺴﻪ‪:‬‬
‫ﺍﻳﺎ ﻟﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ ﺻﺮﻋﺖ ﻟﻴﺜﺎ ﺗﺼﺪﻯ ﻓﻲ ﻁﺮﻳﻘﻚ ﻟﻠﺠﻴﻮﺵ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻮﺣﻮﺵ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﻓﻜﻴﻒ ﻳﻌﺰ ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻥ‬ ‫ﺳﻼﻁﻴﻦ ﺍﻻﻧﺎﻡ ﻟﺪﻳﻚ ﺫﻟﺖ‬
‫ﻭﺫﻟﻚ ﻳﻮﻡ ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻌﺔ ﺛﺎﻣﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ ﺫﻱ ﺍﻟﻘﻌﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﺤﺮﺍﻡ ﺳﻨﺔ ‪.839‬‬
‫ﻭﺍﻧﺸﺪﻧﻲ ﺍﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﺍﻻﻣﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻌﻼﻣﺔ ﻗﺎﺿﻲ ﻗﻀﺎﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﻟﻜﻴﺔ ﺑﺤﻤﺎﻩ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻭﻫﻮ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ‬
‫ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﻟﻜﻲ ﺍﻟﻐﺮﻧﺎﻁﻲ ﻧﻔﻊ ﷲ ﺑﻪ ﻣﺎ ﻟﻔﻈﻪ ﻣﻦ ﻛﻼﻡ ﺷﺨﺺ ﻫﺠﺎ ﻗﺎﺿﻴﺎ ﻭﺯﻭﺟﺘﻪ ﻭﻫﻮ ﺍﻟﺤﺎﻛﻢ ﺑﻠﻮﺷﺔ ﻣﺎ ﻟﻔﻈﻪ‪:‬‬
‫ﺍﺣﻜﺎﻣﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻮﺭﻱ ﻣﺎﺿﻴﻪ‬ ‫ﻗﺎﺽ ﻟﻪ ﺯﻭﺟﺔ‬ ‫ﺑﻠﻮﺷﺔ ٍ‬
‫ﻭﻟﻜﻨﻬﺎ ﻛﺎﻧﺖ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﺿﻴﻪ‬ ‫ﻭﻳﺎ ﻟﻴﺜﻪ ﻟﻢ ﻳﻜﻦ ﻗﺎﺿﻴًﺎ‬
‫ﻓﻜﺘﺐ ﺍﻟﻴﻪ ﺟﻮﺍﺏ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﺘﻴﻦ‪:‬‬
‫ﺏ ﻋﺎﺻﻴﻪ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ﺷﻴﻮ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻣﺰﺩﻱ‬ ‫ﻳﺎ ﺷﻴﺦ ﺳﻮءِ‬
‫‪98‬‬
‫ﻟﻨﺴﻔﻌﻦ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺎﺻﻴﻪ‬ ‫ﻛﻼ ﻟﺌﻦ ﻟﻢ ﺗﻨﺘﻪ‬
‫‪7v‬‬
‫ﻭﺍﻧﺸﺪﻧﻲ ﺍﻟﺸﻴﺦ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﻟﻜﻲ ﺍﻟﻐﺮﻧﺎﻁﻲ ﻣﻦ ﻟﻔﻈﻪ ﻭﻫﻮ ﻻﺑﻲ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﻟﻲ ﻳﺨﺎﻁﺐ ﺑﻪ ﺍﺑﻦ ﺍﻟﻘﻮﻁﻴﺔ‪:‬‬
‫ﻧﻈﻴﺮ ﻟﻪ ﻭﻣﻦ ﻫﻮ ﺍﻟﺸﻤﺲ ﻭﺍﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﻟﻪ ﻓﻠﻚ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ ﺍﻳﻦ ﺍﻗﺒﻠﺖ ﻳﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻻ‬
‫ﻭﺍﺟﺎﺑﻪ ﺑﻦ ﺍﻟﻘُﻮﻁﻴﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺳﺎﻋﺘﻪ‪:‬‬
‫‪99‬‬
‫ﻋﻠَﻰ ﺍﻟﻔﺘﺎﻙِ ﺇِ ْﻥ ﻓﺘﻜﻮﺍ‪.‬‬
‫ﺳﺘﺮ َ‬‫َﻭﻓﻴ ِﻪ ٌ‬ ‫ﻣِ ﻦ ﻣ ْﻨﺰ ٍﻝ ﻳ ْﻌ ِﺠﺐُ ﺍﻟﻨﺴﺎﻙ ﺧﻠﻮﺗﻪ‬
‫ﻭﺟﻤﻴﻊ ﺍﻻﺷﻌﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭﺓ ﻫﻨﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺭﺣﻠﺘﻪ ﺍﻟﻲ ﺣﻠﺐ ﺍﻧﺸﺪﻫﺎ ﺑﺤﻀﺮﺗﻲ ﻭﺳﺒﺐ ﺭﺣﻠﺘﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻤﺎﺓ ﺍﻟﻤﺬﻛﻮﺭﺓ ﻟﻴﻘﺮﺍ ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫ﺍﻻﻣﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﺤﺎﻓﻆ ﺑﺮﻫﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺍﺑﺮﻫﻴﻢ ﺍﻟﺤﻠﺒﻲ ﺳﺒﻂ ﺍﺑﻦ ﺍﻟﻌﺠﻤﻲ‪.‬‬
‫ﺐ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﺸﻌﺮ ﻭﻟﻜﻨﻪ ﻟﻴﺲ ﺑﺠﻴﺪٍ‪:‬‬ ‫ﻭﺟﺪﺕ ﻓﻲ ﺑﻌﺾ ﺍﻟﻜﺘ ِ‬
‫ﻭﺟﺎﻭﺯ ﺍﻟﺴﺘﻴﻦ ﻓﻬﻮ ﺍﻟﺨﺮﻳﻒ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ ﻁﻠﺐ ﺍﻟﺼﺤﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺟﺴﻤﻪ‬
‫ﻫﻞ ﺗﻨﺒﺖ ﺍﻻﺷﺠﺎﺭ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻌﺪﻫﺎ ﺍﺗﻲ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﻦ ﺍﻭﺍﻥ ﺍﻟﺨﺮﻳﻒ‬

‫||‬
‫‪. Inserted above the word al-dīn.‬ﺻﺢ ‪97‬‬
‫‪98 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1988), 4: 294. Al-Maqqarī offers a slightly different version.‬‬
‫‪99 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1988), 3: 74; Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (1994), 4: 369. Again,‬‬
‫‪it differs from the one recited by al-Ḥakamī.‬‬
 A Mamlūk-Andalusi Holograph Manuscript | 509

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Ibn Tufayl de Estudios Árabes, 179–184.
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blioteca de al-Andalus 4: De Ibn al-Labbāna a Ibn al-Ruyūlī, Almería: Fundación Ibn Tufayl
de Estudios Árabes, 124–138.
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Takao Ito
Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn

1 Introduction
Ibn Khaldūn (732–808 H/1332–1406 CE) is undoubtedly one of the most im-
portant and prominent figures not only in the history of the Muslim world but
also in world history. A huge number of studies have been conducted on Ibn Khal-
dūn so far, making it almost impossible to cover all of them, even if limited to his
masterpiece, the Muqaddima, that is, the introduction to his history, Kitāb al-
ʿIbar.
Nevertheless, relatively little attention has been paid to his life and biog-
raphy. In his recently published biography of Ibn Khaldūn, Allen James Fromherz
writes that “[t]he only existing biographies are translations of Ibn Khaldun’s au-
tobiography or cursory discussions of the outlines of his life”.1 While Fromherz’s
book is advertised as “the first complete, scholarly biography of Ibn Khaldun in
English”,2 it too has relied for the most part on Ibn Khaldūn’s autobiography, the
Taʿrīf. This also holds true for the two more recent biographical studies of Ibn
Khaldūn.3
It is true that the Taʿrīf is one of the most detailed autobiographies in pre-
modern Islamic literature and provides invaluable information, as Fromherz ar-
gues, about Ibn Khaldūn himself. It is the definitive primary source for the studies
on Ibn Khaldūn. As pointed out by Walter Fischel, however, the Taʿrīf does not
convey “the whole, complete, and comprehensive story of his [Ibn Khaldūn’s]

||
1 Fromherz 2010, 39.
2 Fromherz 2010, back cover.
3 Alatas 2013; Irwin 2018.
||
Note: This is based on a paper read at the following academic gatherings: 5th World Congress
for Middle Eastern Studies, Seville, July 2018; 2nd German-Japanese Workshop on Mamlu-
kology, Waseda University, Tokyo, December 2018; and lastly, International Congress “The Ma-
ghrib in the Mashriq”, CSIC, Madrid, December 2018. I am grateful to the participants of these
gatherings for their discussions and comments, and especially to Josef Ženka for his valuable
advice and help, as well as to Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas for giving me the opportunity
to participate in their congress at the “last minute” and for inviting me to contribute to this vol-
ume. The research for this study was supported by the FY2018 Asian History Research Aid of
JFE 21st Century Foundation and JSPS KAKENHI (18H00719).

Open Access. © 2021 Takao Ito, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305-019
514 | Takao Ito

private life and activities”; rather, it is “a ‘selective’ account, written by Ibn Khal-
dūn as he wanted to be seen and judged by posterity”.4 Thus, the biographies of
Ibn Khaldūn by his contemporary and near-contemporary authors, which pro-
vide additional data, are no less important than the Taʿrīf. Nevertheless, these
“external Arabic sources” – as they are called by Fischel – most of which were
produced not in Ibn Khaldūn’s native region, the Maghrib, but in the Mamlūk
sultanate where he spent his last years, have not yet been fully explored and eval-
uated. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the “external Arabic sources” on
Ibn Khaldūn and their relations to each other to illumine what kind of data about
Ibn Khaldūn can be learned from them. This chapter also seeks to shed light upon
how their authors obtained these data. Thus, it explores how wide the intellectual
networks were at the time, as well as what the relationship was between the west-
ern Arab world (the Maghrib and al-Andalus) and the eastern Arab world (the
Mashriq), considering they are areas that are often treated separately.

2 Contemporary authors in the Maghrib and al-

Andalus
The well-known vizier and historian of Granada, Lisān al-Dīn Ibn al-Khaṭīb (713–
776 H/1313–1374-5 CE),5 includes in his work on Granada, al-Iḥāṭa fī akhbār
Gharnāṭa, a biographical account covering Ibn Khaldūn’s earlier years up to
about 769 H/1367 CE and citing a number of letters exchanged between them.6
This account includes several unique details. For instance, the genealogy of Ibn
Khaldūn mentioned by Ibn al-Khaṭīb is slightly different from that given by Ibn
Khaldūn in his Taʿrīf.7 According to Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Ibn Khaldūn’s genealogy is
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b.
Muḥammad b. Jābir b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
b. Khaldūn al-Ḥaḍramī; Ibn Khaldūn, however, does not refer to Muḥammad, the
grandson of Khaldūn (Ibn Khaldūn’s eponymous ancestor) and presents Ibrāhīm
as Khaldūn’s grandson. As Ibn Khaldūn admits that some of his ancestors’ names

||
4 Fischel 1967, 162; Fischel 1956, 288.
5 On him, see Bosch-Vilá, “Ibn al-Khaṭīb”, EI2; Robinson 2009; Lirola Delgado et al. 2004.
6 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1965), 3: 497–516. Ibn al-Khaṭīb mentions in the last part of Ibn Khal-
dūn’s biography that he sent a letter to Ibn Khaldūn in Biskra (Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa [1965], 516).
This is presumably the letter dated 2 Jumādā I 769 H (25 December 1367 CE) that Ibn Khaldūn
quotes in his autobiography (Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf [1951], 115–122).
7 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 1.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 515

are left off, his genealogy as given by Ibn al-Khaṭīb is certainly more accurate.
Indeed, Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s version was adopted by later biographers. Ibn al-Khaṭīb
also lists the early writings of Ibn Khaldūn, including a commentary on the
Burda – the ode of the Prophet Muḥammad composed by al-Būṣīrī (d. 694–
696 H/1294–1297 CE) – and a treatise on logic, an abridgement of the Muḥaṣṣal of
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606 H/1209 CE), as well as a book on calculation.8 None
of them were mentioned by any other persons including Ibn Khaldūn himself, but
his holograph manuscript of Lubāb al-Muḥaṣṣal fī uṣūl al-dīn, the abridgement of
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Muḥaṣṣal, was discovered, edited and published in 1952.
Furthermore, Ibn al-Khaṭīb provides a small but interesting piece of information
on Ibn Khaldūn’s private life: Ibn Khaldūn had a European concubine named
Hind in Granada.9
Abū al-Walīd Ibn al-Aḥmar (ca. 725–807? H/1324–1404-5? CE) was a descend-
ant of the Naṣrid refugees to the Marīnids.10 He includes Ibn Khaldūn’s qaṣīda
poetry with a biographical note in the anthology Nathīr al-jumān, which was com-
posed in 776 H/1374 CE.11 In this biographical note, Ibn al-Aḥmar discusses Ibn
Khaldūn’s early career and praises his talents, such as his knowledge of modern
and ancient history (maʿrifa bi-l-tawārīkh al-ḥadītha wa-l-qadīma), thus indicat-
ing that Ibn Khaldūn was engaged in studying history quite early. In addition,
Ibn al-Aḥmar quotes the qaṣīda poetry which Ibn Khaldūn had sent from prison
to the Marīnid ruler Abū ʿInān (r. 749–759 H/1348–1358 CE) to ask for his pardon;
Ibn Khaldūn only mentions five verses of the poetry in his autobiography.12
In his biographical dictionary of the secretaries, Kitāb Mustawdiʿ al-ʿalāma
wa-mustabdiʿ al-ʿallāma, Ibn al-Aḥmar describes Ibn Khaldūn as jurisprudent
(faqīh), writer of the ruler’s official signature (kātib ʿalāma) in Tunis, and chief
minister (ḥājib) in Bijāya (Béjaïa). Moreover, whereas he admires Ibn Khaldūn’s

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8 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1965), 3: 507–508; see also Rosenthal 1967, xliv–xlv; Fischel 1956, 289–
290.
9 Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa (1965), 3: 501–507; Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Rayḥānat al-kuttāb (1980–81), 2: 226–
232; see also Grammatico 2006, 150–151.
10 On him, see Manzano Rodríguez 2009; Shatzmiller 1982, 95–105.
11 Ibn al-Aḥmar, Nathīr al-jumān (1976), 297–310; Badawī 1962, 272–279. It should be noted that
Badawī mistakes Nathīr al-jumān for Ibn al-Aḥmar’s other work, Nathīr farāʾid al-jumān fī naẓm
fuḥūl al-zamān, which contains no biographical account of Ibn Khaldūn.
12 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 67. Ibn Khaldūn says that this poetry was originally about two
hundred verses long, but Ibn al-Aḥmar quotes 107 verses. As Muḥammad b. Tāwīt al-Ṭanjī, the
editor of the Taʿrīf, surmises, Ibn Khaldūn may have forgotten the number of the verses of his
poem or Ibn al-Aḥmar may not have quoted the entire poem, but only a part of it. See Ibn
Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 67, n. 1.
516 | Takao Ito

abilities on the one hand, he states on the other hand that Ibn Khaldūn was ex-
pelled due to his ambition for leadership.13 In the biography of Ibn Khaldūn’s
brother, Yaḥyā, in the same work, Ibn al-Aḥmar also mentions that Yaḥyā’s as-
sassination was caused by Ibn Khaldūn.14 Ibn al-Aḥmar composed Mustawdiʿ al-
ʿalāma after at least 789 H/1387 CE,15 that is, after Ibn Khaldūn had presented the
first version of his history to the Ḥafṣid ruler Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad II (r. 772–
796 H/1370–1394 CE) during 781–782 H/1379–1381 CE;16 however, Ibn al-Aḥmar
did not mention this work.17 Ibn al-Aḥmar simply may not have known of it. Oth-
erwise, he may have been deliberately silent; he appears to have become unsym-
pathetic to Ibn Khaldūn later, as can be inferred from Mustawdiʿ al-ʿalāma; this
was perhaps influenced by the hostile attitude of the Tunisian jurist and rival Ibn
ʿArafa (716–803 H/1316–1401 CE) toward Ibn Khaldūn.18
Still Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima was read in the Maghrib. One of his contem-
poraries, Ibn al-Sakkāk (d. 818 H/1415-6 CE), who assumed the post of qāḍī al-
jamāʿa (chief judge) in Fez, used Ibn Khaldūn’s ideas in his works, although he
did not refer to the name of Ibn Khaldūn.19
In addition, an anecdote concerning Ibn Khaldūn is found in a biographical
work on Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī (710–771 H/
1310-1–1370 CE)20 and his two sons, which is assumed to have been written at the

||
13 Ibn al-Aḥmar, Mustawdiʿ al-ʿalāma (1964), 64–65.
14 Ibn al-Aḥmar, Mustawdiʿ al-ʿalāma (1964), 65. In 769 H/1368 CE the Zayyānid ruler Abū
Ḥammū II (r. 760–791 H/1359–1389 CE) asked Ibn Khaldūn to join his court in Tlemcen. Ibn Khal-
dūn instead sent Yaḥyā to Tlemcen, where Yaḥyā later offended the eldest son of Abū Ḥammū II
and was murdered in 780 H/1378-9 CE. On Yaḥyā, see Bel, “Ibn Khaldūn, Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā”,
EI2.
15 While Manzano Rodríguez 2009, 56, states that this work was composed between 789 H/1387
CE and 796 H/1393 CE, Shatzmiller 1982, 49, 98, speculates that it was written in 1393–1396.
16 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 229–230, 233; Rosenthal 1967, lvii, cv.
17 See also Shatzmiller 1982, 49–50.
18 On Ibn ʿArafa, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Warghammī, see Idris, “Ibn ʿA-
rafa”, EI2; Rosenthal 1967, lvi–lvii; Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 232–233; al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-
ʿuqūd (2002), 3: 223–225; al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 9: 240–242. Abdesselam Cheddadi re-
fers to the possibility that because of Ibn ʿArafa’s hostility towards Ibn Khaldūn, the ʿIbar was
“received with a resounding silence by the intellectual community” in Tunis (Cheddadi, “Ibn
Khaldūn, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān”, EI3).
19 Benchekroun 1974, 356–357; al-Azmeh 1982, 160. On Ibn al-Sakkāk, Abū Yaḥyā Muḥammad
b. Abī Ghālib (Abī al-Barakāt) al-Miknāsī al-ʿIyāḍī, see Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī, Jadhwat al-iqtibās
(1973), 238; Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj (1989), 481–482; Benchekroun 1974, 383–
387.
20 On him, see Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 62–64; Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj
(1989), 430–445; on him and his family, see also Bencheneb, “al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī”, EI2.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 517

end of the 8th/14th century.21 According to this work, Ibn Khaldūn and Ibn al-
Sakkāk were in the house of al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī on the day one of his sons was
born in 757 H/1356 CE; al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī made the name (ism) of his son ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān after Ibn Khaldūn and the agnomen (kunya) Abū Yaḥyā after Ibn al-
Sakkāk.22 This anecdote indicates that the young Ibn Khaldūn was already so
highly venerated by al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī that the latter named his son, who also
became prominent, after him. The possibility cannot be excluded that the anec-
dote was fabricated later. Nevertheless, it is also recorded in another work written
in the Maghrib.23 Thus, the anecdote circulated to some degree in the Maghrib,
and Ibn Khaldūn was still remembered there to be at least an outstanding scholar
for some time after he went to the East.

3 Contemporary authors in the Mashriq

In the Mashriq, particularly in Mamlūk Cairo and Damascus, we find numerous
references to Ibn Khaldūn. Taʾrīkh al-duwal, the chronicle of Ibn al-Furāt (735–
807 H/1334-5–1405 CE), the Egyptian historian, is unfortunately only fragmen-
tally extant, and its last part covers the years from 789 H/1387 CE to 799 H/
1397 CE,24 while Ibn Khaldūn arrived in Egypt in 784 H/1382 CE and died there in
808 H/1406 CE. Nevertheless, it provides some details about Ibn Khaldūn. For
example, it states that Ibn Khaldūn became a Ṣūfī at al-Khānqāh al-Baybarsiyya
in Cairo in 791 H/1389 CE for a single day, so as to be appointed shaykh of this
khānqāh, following the stipulations of the founder.25 Ibn al-Furāt also states that
Ibn Khaldūn was one of those with whom Jamāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd b. ʿAlī al-Ustādār

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21 This work is entitled Manāqib al-Tilimsāniyyīn by the editor, but it is more appropriately
called Manāqib al-Sharīf Abī ʿAbd Allāh wa-waladayhi, based on one of its manuscripts (see
Manāqib al-Tilimsāniyyīn [2017], 34–37). The editor attributes the work to a son of Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Qaysī al-Thaghrī (d. 810 H/1407-8 CE) and he further infers from the ag-
nomen (kunya) of al-Qaysī that the author’s name may have been ʿAbd Allāh (Manāqib al-Ti-
limsāniyyīn [2017], 38–46).
22 Manāqib al-Tilimsāniyyīn (2017), 281–282.
23 Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj (1989), 252–253 (biography of Abū Yaḥyā ʿAbd al-
Raḥmān b. Muḥammad al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī), and 482 (biography of Ibn al-Sakkāk). On Aḥmad
Bābā al-Tinbuktī, see below.
24 On Ibn al-Furāt and his chronicle, see Massoud 2007, 34–38.
25 Ibn al-Furāt, Taʾrīkh al-duwal (1936–42), 9: 65; Fischel 1956, 293; Fischel 1967, 27–28.
518 | Takao Ito

(d. 799 H/1397 CE),26 the majordomo of the Mamlūk sultan Barqūq (r. 784–791 H/
1382–1389 CE, 792–801 H/1390–1399 CE), deposited his monies. Twenty thousand
dīnārs were found in Ibn Khaldūn’s house when Jamāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd was im-
prisoned and his properties were confiscated.27 Moreover, Ibn al-Furāt mentions
that he learned from the Egyptian historian Ibn Duqmāq (745–809 H/1349–
1407 CE) that Ibn Khaldūn told the latter that he had been informed of the ascent
of the Ḥafṣid ruler Abū Fāris ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (r. 796–837 H/1394–1434 CE) to the
throne in Tunis, and the arrest of Abū Fāris’s uncle who was a rival.28 Ibn Duq-
māq’s chronicle Nuzhat al-anām was “the backbone” of Ibn al-Furāt’s Taʾrīkh al-
duwal. Since this text is also only fragmentally extant, it is difficult to ascertain
how much Ibn al-Furāt owed to Ibn Duqmāq. However, at least some of Ibn al-
Furāt’s accounts about Ibn Khaldūn seem to have been based on his own obser-
vations, as he was also contemporary with Ibn Khaldūn and “added his own mas-
sive material” to Ibn Duqmāq’s chronicle.29
In his chronicle, the Syrian historian Ibn Ḥijjī (751–816 H/1350–1413 CE)30
leaves a brief obituary notice of Ibn Khaldūn. In it, Ibn Ḥijjī writes that Ibn Khal-
dūn’s birthday was 23 Dhū al-Ḥijja 732 (15 September 1332) and notes having been
told by al-Tādhilī that Ibn Khaldūn was seven days older than him.31 This al-
Tādhilī or al-Tādilī can be identified as Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad,
who was born on 29 Dhū al-Ḥijja 732/21 September 1332 and died on 18 Jumādā II
803/4 January 1401.32 Thus, Ibn Ḥijjī must have calculated Ibn Khaldūn’s birth-
day, though he was off on one day – it should be 22, not 23 Dhū al-Ḥijja. In any
case, the date provided by al-Tādhilī is not correct, since Ibn Khaldūn himself
gives the other date, as will be seen below.
The Syro-Egyptian scholar, official, and historian al-ʿAynī (762–855 H/1361–
1451 CE)33 includes a relatively detailed necrology of Ibn Khaldūn in his chronicle,

||
26 On him, see Ibn al-Furāt, Taʾrīkh al-duwal (1936–42), 9: 477; Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Durar
(1993), 4: 329; Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1984–2009), 11: 213–214. For the ustādār al-ʿāliya/al-
sulṭān (the supreme/sultanic majordomo) in the Mamlūk sultanate, see Igarashi 2017.
27 Ibn al-Furāt, Taʾrīkh al-duwal (1936–42), 435–436; Fischel 1956, 293–294; Fischel 1967, 79–
80, 164.
28 Ibn al-Furāt, Taʾrīkh al-duwal (1936–42), 9: 365. On Ibn Duqmāq and his relations to Ibn al-
Furāt, see Massoud 2007, 28–38.
29 Massoud 2007, 29.
30 On him, see Massoud, “Ibn Ḥijjī”, EI3.
31 Ibn Ḥijjī, Taʾrīkh (2003), 726.
32 Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba, Taʾrīkh (1977–97), 195–196; see also Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr
(1967–76), 4: 246–247; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 2: 150; al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 1: 155–
156.
33 On al-ʿAynī and his chronicles, see Nakamachi 2005; Marmon, “al-ʿAynī, Badr al-Dīn”, EI3.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 519

ʿIqd al-jumān.34 He mentions Ibn Khaldūn’s birth year erroneously as 733 H, not
732 H, yet he follows Ibn Khaldūn’s public career in the Maghrib, al-Andalus, and
Egypt, and he does not forget to refer to Ibn Khaldūn’s history consisting of seven
volumes, as well as his meeting with Tīmūr (d. 807 H/1405 CE) in Damascus. At
the end, al-ʿAynī notes that Ibn Khaldūn was suspected of disgraceful matters
(umūr qabīḥa), although what was meant by “disgraceful matters” is not entirely
clear (see below).
Al-ʿAynī’s rival, al-Maqrīzī (ca. 766–845 H/1364–1442 CE),35 provides some
details about Ibn Khaldūn’s life in his chronicle Kitāb al-Sulūk li-maʿrifat duwal
al-mulūk. For instance, he tells that the Mamlūk amīr Alṭunbughā al-Jūbānī (d.
792 H/1390 CE),36 with whom Ibn Khaldūn became acquainted soon after his arri-
val in Cairo, played a significant role in Ibn Khaldūn’s success; but Ibn Khaldūn
does not refer to his personal relationship with this amīr.37 Al-Maqrīzī also men-
tions briefly Ibn Khaldūn’s meeting with Tīmūr and notes that some of those cap-
tured by the Tīmūrid army in Damascus were emancipated through Ibn Khal-
dūn’s mediation.38 In general, however, al-Maqrīzī devotes surprisingly few
words to his master in his chronicle. The necrology of Ibn Khaldūn in it is strik-
ingly brief, occupying just two and half lines in the printed text.39
By contrast, al-Maqrīzī devotes many pages to Ibn Khaldūn in the biograph-
ical dictionary of his contemporaries, Durar al-ʿuqūd.40 While his main sources
were Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāṭa and Ibn Khaldūn’s Taʿrīf, al-Maqrīzī adds some details
in his own work. For instance, he gives a more detailed account about Ibn Khal-
dūn’s relationship with the amīr Alṭunbughā al-Jūbānī in Durar al-ʿuqūd than in
the Sulūk. According to al-Maqrīzī, the amīr introduced Ibn Khaldūn to the sultan
Barqūq, who then appointed Ibn Khaldūn as professor at al-Madrasa al-
Qamḥiyya in al-Fusṭāṭ.41 Al-Maqrīzī also states that Ibn Khaldūn was in al-
Ḥanbūshiyya in al-Fayyūm, Middle Egypt, a waqf (endowment) property for al-

||
34 Al-ʿAynī, ʿIqd al-jumān, MS Ahmet III 2911/a19, fols. 81v–82r; see also Badawī 1962, 287–288.
35 On him, see Bauden 2014. On al-Maqrīzī’s relations to Ibn Khaldūn, see Irwin 2003.
36 On this amīr, see Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–76), 3: 38; Inbāʾ al-ghumr
(1969–98), 1: 404; Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1984–2009), 3: 57–61; Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Nujūm
(1929–72), 12: 120.
37 Al-Maqrīzī, al-Sulūk (1934–73), 3: 480, 517; Fischel 1956, 297–299.
38 Al-Maqrīzī, al-Sulūk (1934–73), 3: 1052, 1056; see also Badawī 1962, 310.
39 Al-Maqrīzī, al-Sulūk (1934–73), 4: 24.
40 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 383–410. Before Maḥmūd al-Jalīlī published the entire
manuscript of Durar al-ʿuqūd that was in his private collection, he edited the biography of Ibn
Khaldūn included in his manuscript. See al-Jalīlī 1966.
41 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 395.
520 | Takao Ito

Madrasa al-Qamḥiyya, when he was summoned to be appointed the Mālikī chief

judge in Cairo for the second time.42 In the Taʿrīf, Ibn Khaldūn himself recounts
that he stayed in al-Fayyūm at that time to collect his harvest (li-ḍamm zarʿī).43
Thus, he directly obtained his salary and ration for professorship at this madrasa
from the waqf property, although it seems to have been uncommon; usually, the
administrative members of an institution collected the harvest and distributed it
among the staff. In any case, al-Maqrīzī praises Ibn Khaldūn’s ʿIbar, particularly
its Muqaddima, so highly that he describes it as “the cream of knowledge and
learning” (zubdat al-maʿārif wa-l-ʿulūm) and “the outcome of good insight and
intelligence” (natījat al-ʿuqūl al-salīma wa-l-fuhūm).44 Moreover, he mentions ap-
proximately twenty anecdotes at the end of the biography, beginning each with
the phrase “Ibn Khaldūn told us” (ḥaddathanā [or akhbaranā] Abū Zayd). For ex-
ample, Ibn Khaldūn reported that he heard from the Naṣrid ruler Muḥammad V
(r. 755–760 H/1354–1359 CE, 763–793 H/1362–1391 CE) that Pedro I of Castile (r.
1350–1369) was killed by his half-brother in their grapple during peace negotia-
tions.45 In the biography of Pedro in Durar al-ʿuqūd, al-Maqrīzī refers to this story
of Pedro’s death, while he also mentions another version, according to which
Pedro was arrested and executed.46 In the ʿIbar, which was al-Maqrīzī’s main
source for the biography of Pedro, Ibn Khaldūn wrote the latter version only.47
The Egyptian encyclopedist al-Qalqashandī (756–821 H/1355–1418 CE), who often
cites the ʿIbar in his work, also does not refer to this account; rather, he merely
mentions that Pedro’s brother defeated Pedro and killed him.48 Thus, it seems
that al-Maqrīzī heard most, if not all, of the anecdotes that he collected at the end
of the biography of Ibn Khaldūn orally from Ibn Khaldūn. Overall, al-Maqrīzī re-
lied heavily on Ibn Khaldūn in Durar al-ʿuqūd.49
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (773–852 H/1372–1449 CE),50 the Egyptian ḥadīth
scholar and jurist, wrote biographies of Ibn Khaldūn in some of his works. For

||
42 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 396.
43 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 347.
44 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 403.
45 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 404–405.
46 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 1: 482–486. Mayte Penelas’ paper “al-Maqrīzī and Chris-
tian Spain”, presented at the conference “The Maghrib in the Mashriq”, dealt with this issue, on
which she is preparing an article.
47 Ibn Khaldūn, al-ʿIbar (1956–60), 4: 377–378, 394; 7: 679–680.
48 Al-Qalqashandī, Ṣubḥ al-aʿshā (1913–19), 5: 269; cf. Ibn Khaldūn, al-ʿIbar (1956–60), 4: 394.
On al-Qalqashandī, see Bosworth, “al-Ḳalḳashandī”, EI2; Berkel 2009.
49 See Ito 2015.
50 On him, see Rosenthal, “Ibn Ḥadjar al-ʿAsḳalānī”, EI2.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 521

Ibn Khaldūn’s necrology in his chronicle Inbāʾ al-ghumr, Ibn Ḥajar relied on al-
ʿAynī’s ʿIqd al-jumān, for the most part.51 Consequently, he repeated al-ʿAynī’s
mistake in Ibn Khaldūn’s birth year, although he obtained an ijāza (license) from
Ibn Khaldūn, in which the latter dated his own birthday explicitly as 1 Ramaḍān
732 (27 May 1332).52 Along with ʿIqd al-jumān, Ibn Ḥajar consulted Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s
Iḥāṭa but erroneously stated the name of Khaldūn’s son as ʿAbd al-Raḥīm, not
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. On other occasions, Ibn Ḥajar gives some details about Ibn
Khaldūn’s life in Egypt. For example, we learn from this chronicle that Ibn Khal-
dūn’s two sons, Muḥammad and ʿAlī, survived a shipwreck in Alexandria in
786 H/1384 CE, while his five daughters drowned.53 About this incident, Ibn Khal-
dūn merely mentions in his autobiography that he lost his family, children, and
possessions while travelling from Tunis to Cairo because of a storm.54 Moreover,
Ibn Ḥajar cites the Mamlūk sultan Barqūq’s comment on Tīmūr and the Otto-
mans, and adds that he heard Ibn Khaldūn saying repeatedly that “there is noth-
ing more fearful for the ruler of Egypt than the Ottomans”;55 however, for this ep-
isode Ibn Ḥajar seems to have relied on al-Maqrīzī, who transmits Barqūq’s
comment from an amīr, without referring to Ibn Khaldūn.56 It is not clear why Ibn
Ḥajar attributed Barqūq’s comment on the Ottomans to Ibn Khaldūn. As Ibn Ḥajar
says, he may have heard it from Ibn Khaldūn, who told it as if it had been his own
statement; or Ibn Ḥajar may have confused al-Maqrīzī with Ibn Khaldūn as his
source; or he may have indicated Ibn Khaldūn’s prescience here, as Robert Irwin
points out.57
Ibn Ḥajar’s biography of Ibn Khaldūn in the supplement to his own biograph-
ical dictionary, Dhayl al-Durar al-kāmina, is almost the same as the necrology in
Inbāʾ al-ghumr.58 However, the account in his biographical dictionary of the
judges in Egypt, Rafʿ al-iṣr, is different and more detailed.59 The Rafʿ al-iṣr was
mainly based on the biographical dictionary of the Egyptian judges by Jamāl al-
Dīn ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad al-Bishbīshī (762–820 H/1361–1417 CE), which appears

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51 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–76), 5: 327–332; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 2:
339–340; see also Badawī 1962, 285–287.
52 Ritter 1953, 83, plate XVII.
53 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–76), 2: 163; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 1: 291.
54 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 259.
55 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–76), 3: 247–248; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 1:
492; Irwin 2018, 106.
56 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 1: 445.
57 Irwin 2018, 106.
58 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Dhayl al-Durar (1992), 172–173.
59 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Rafʿ al-iṣr (1998), 233–237; see also Badawī 1962, 279–285.
522 | Takao Ito

to have been lost.60 For Ibn Khaldūn’s biography, moreover, Ibn Ḥajar consulted
al-Maqrīzī’s Durar al-ʿuqūd and Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāṭa. In this biography, Ibn Ḥajar
mentions Ibn Khaldūn’s genealogy as in Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāṭa and dates his birth-
day correctly as 1 Ramaḍān 732 H. He gives the same information as that found in
al-Maqrīzī’s Durar al-ʿuqūd – for example, Ibn Khaldūn was in al-Fayyūm be-
cause of his salary for the professorship at al-Madrasa al-Qamḥiyya – as well as
some unique information, based on al-Bishbīshī: for instance, Ibn Khaldūn later
settled in a house by the Nile where “he delighted in the company of singing girls
and young men and married a woman who had a mentally disturbed younger
brother and the disgraceful things multiplied” (tabassaṭa bi-l-sakan ʿalā al-baḥr
wa-akthara min samāʿ al-muṭribāt wa-muʿāsharat al-aḥdāth wa-tazawwaja
imraʾa lahā akh amrad yunsab li-l-takhlīṭ fa-kathurat al-shanāʿa ʿalayhi).61 What
al-ʿAynī meant by the similar words “disgraceful matters” (umūr qabīḥa) was
probably the things that al-Bishbīshī and Ibn Ḥajar mentioned, as Ali Oumlil and
Robert Irwin surmise.62 In any case, Ibn Khaldūn’s biography in Rafʿ al-iṣr in-
cludes many harsh words about him.63 This is at least partly due to al-Bishbīshī’s
critical view of Ibn Khaldūn; however, Ibn Ḥajar himself was also critical of Ibn
Khaldūn in some cases, such as the fact that he stubbornly clung to a Maghribi-
style clothing instead of adopting the Egyptian-style clothing of the judges.64 Ac-
cording to Ibn Ḥajar, al-Bishbīshī worked as deputy for al-Maqrīzī when the latter
was the muḥtasib (prefect of markets).65 Al-Maqrīzī praises al-Bishbīshī’s bio-
graphical dictionary of the judges and mentions that he associated with al-
Bishbīshī for several years.66 Thus, it is not clear why al-Bishbīshī had an almost
opposite view on Ibn Khaldūn from al-Maqrīzī.

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60 On al-Bishbīshī, see al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 357–358; Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī,
Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–76), 7: 287; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 3: 149; al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–
36), 5: 7. On the relation of al-Bishbīshī’s work to Ibn Ḥajar’s Rafʿ al-iṣr, see al-Sakhāwī, al-Iʿlān
(1349/1930-1), 105–106; Rosenthal 1968, 428.
61 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Rafʿ al-iṣr (1998), 236; Irwin 2018, 106; see also Fischel 1956, 291, n. 3.
The English translation is based on Robert Irwin’s.
62 Based on Oumlil 1962, 135–136, Robert Irwin mentions that al-ʿAynī “implausibly accused
Ibn Khaldūn of presiding over an immoral household and of being a homosexual” (Irwin 2018,
107). Oumlil’s sources are Ibn Ḥajar’s Rafʿ al-iṣr and al-ʿAynī’s ʿIqd al-jumān. Neither of them, al-
ʿAynī in particular, charged Ibn Khaldūn with the immorality and the homosexuality so explic-
itly as Oumlil and Irwin write.
63 See Morimoto 2002, 125–130, where further accounts in Ibn Ḥajar’s Rafʿ al-iṣr are cited.
64 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Rafʿ al-iṣr (1998), 235; Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–
76), 5: 332; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 2: 340; Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Dhayl al-Durar (1992), 173.
65 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–76), 7: 287; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 3: 149.
66 Al-Maqrīzī, Durar al-ʿuqūd (2002), 2: 357–358.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 523

In his Taʾrīkh, the Syrian jurist and historian Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba (779–851 H/
1377–1448 CE)67 refers to some details about Ibn Khaldūn. Quoting Ibn Duqmāq’s
history, Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba tells the anecdote that Ibn Duqmāq met a clever boy
with Ibn Khaldūn, and he notes that according to Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, this boy
died young.68 Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba also reports Ibn Khaldūn’s meeting with Tīmūr,
citing an eyewitness account as a source.69 Concerning the shipwreck involving
Ibn Khaldūn’s family, Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba’s description is a little different than that
of Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī.70 They may have quoted a same source (perhaps Ibn
Duqmāq’s history, although this cannot be substantiated) differently or they may
have relied on different sources. Unfortunately, the published version of Ibn Qāḍī
Shuhba’s history, which is an abridged version, contains no necrology of Ibn
Khaldūn; the manuscripts of Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba’s historical works require further
investigation.71
In the biography of the mystic thinker Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (560–
638 H/1165–1240 CE) in his biographical dictionary, al-ʿIqd al-thamīn, Taqī al-Dīn
al-Fāsī (775–832 H/1373–1429 CE), the historian of Mecca, cites Ibn Khaldūn’s
opinion about Ṣūfism: Ibn Khaldūn distinguished between the early “orthodox”
and later “heretical” Ṣūfism and criticized the latter, counting Ibn al-ʿArabī
among the advocates of the latter.72 In addition, al-Fāsī makes reference to Ibn
Khaldūn’s history on several occasions.73
His other biographical dictionary, Dhayl al-Taqyīd, includes the biography of
Ibn Khaldūn.74 In this work, al-Fāsī names some of Ibn Khaldūn’s teachers and
states that Ibn Khaldūn learned the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī (d. 256 H/870 CE) from

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67 On him, see Darwīsh 1994; Reisman 1998; Massoud 2007, 81–85, 142–146, 183–189.
68 Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba, Taʾrīkh (1977–97), 1: 130–131.
69 Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba, Taʾrīkh (1977–97), 4: 182.
70 Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba, Taʾrīkh (1977–97), 1: 138; cf. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1967–
76), 2: 163; Inbāʾ al-ghumr (1969–98), 1: 291.
71 On the state of the art of the historiographical studies on Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba, see Reisman 1998;
Massoud 2007, esp. 81–85, 142–146, 183–189.
72 Al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1958–69), 2: 178–181; Knysh 1999, 191-192. Allen James Fromherz has ex-
pressed doubt about the reliability of this report (Fromherz 2010, 126–127). However, Ibn Khal-
dūn’s opinion cited by al-Fāsī “is consistent with what is found in the Muqaddima”, as Robert
Irwin argues (Irwin 2018, 115–117, also 195–196). In addition, Fromherz does not seem to have
examined al-Fāsī and mentions him erroneously as “a scholar from Fez who claimed to have met
Ibn Khaldun in Egypt” (Fromherz 2010, 126). On al-Fāsī, see Rosenthal, “al-Fāsī”, EI2. Although
his family stemmed from Fez (therefore, the attributive [nisba] “al-Fāsī”), Taqī al-Dīn al-Fāsī was
born in Mecca and studied with Ibn Khaldūn probably in Egypt.
73 Al-Fāsī, al-ʿIqd (1958–69), 1: 441, 443–444, 465; see also Rosenthal 1967, lxvi, n. 80.
74 Al-Fāsī, Dhayl al-Taqyīd (1990–97), 2: 513.
524 | Takao Ito

Abū al-Barakāt al-Balafīqī (680–771 H/1281-2–1370 CE).75 According to Ibn Ḥajar

al-ʿAsqalānī, Ibn Khaldūn had great respect for al-Balafīqī.76 In his autobiog-
raphy, however, Ibn Khaldūn simply mentions that he learned from al-Balafīqī
al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Mālik b. Anas (d. 179 H/796 CE), without referring to the Ṣaḥīḥ of
al-Bukhārī.77 Based on Ibn Khaldūn’s own writing (bi-khaṭṭihi), the Egyptian
ḥadīth scholar al-Sakhāwī (see below), lists the same teachers of Ibn Khaldūn as
al-Fāsī does.78 Therefore, it is assumed that al-Fāsī and al-Sakhāwī used a writing
of Ibn Khaldūn (ijāza?), and not his autobiography, as their source of infor-
mation. Moreover, from Dhayl al-Taqyīd, we learn that Ibn Khaldūn gave an ijāza
not only to Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī but also to Abū al-Fatḥ b. Abī Bakr b. al-Ḥusayn
al-Marāghī (775–859 H/1374–1455 CE);79 I could find no information about al-
Marāghī’s relation to Ibn Khaldūn in the other sources I consulted.80

4 Later authors in the Mashriq

Many references to Ibn Khaldūn continue to be found in Egypt and Syria in the
9th–10th/15th–16th centuries. These references were based on earlier accounts.
Ibn ʿArabshāh (791–854 H/1389–1450 CE) was born in Damascus, captured,
and carried with his family to Samarqand by the Tīmūrid army.81 He later returned
to the Mamlūk sultanate, where he wrote his famous Arabic biography of Tīmūr.
In it, Ibn ʿArabshāh gives two accounts of Ibn Khaldūn’s meeting with Tīmūr. The
source for one of them seems to have been an eyewitness account.82 The other

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75 On Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Balafīqī, see Puente 2012;
Puente, “al-Balafīqī”, EI3. In the edition of Dhayl al-Taqyīd, his nisba is spelt erroneously as al-
Bulqīnī; moreover, Ibn Khaldūn’s teacher of the Qurʾānic sciences was not Ibn Nizāl (?) but Ibn
Burrāl (see Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf [1951], 15–17, 309–310).
76 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Durar (1993), 4: 157 (biography of al-Balafīqī). See also Rosenthal
1967, xlii.
77 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 305.
78 Al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 4: 145.
79 On Abū al-Fatḥ Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr b. al-Ḥusayn al-Marāghī, see al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ
(1934–36), 7: 162–165.
80 It is possible that this information was added later by the copyist of a manuscript of Dhayl al-
Taqyīd. See al-Fāsī, Dhayl al-Taqyīd (1990–97), 2: 513, n. 4; see also the editor’s introduction to
Dhayl al-Taqyīd (1990–97), 1: 25–29.
81 On him, see McChesney 2006.
82 Ibn ʿArabshāh, ʿAjāʾib al-maqdūr (1986), 252–255; see also Badawī 1962, 306–308.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 525

account was presumably based on hearsay knowledge of Ibn Khaldūn’s autobi-

ography, since Ibn ʿArabshāh recounts that he heard about Ibn Khaldūn’s history
but did not read it.83
In his biographical dictionary, al-Manhal al-ṣāfī, the Egyptian historian Ibn
Taghrībirdī (ca. 812–874 H/1409-10–1470 CE) apparently relied on Durar al-ʿuqūd
of his master al-Maqrīzī, as is often the case with his work.84 His obituary notice
of Ibn Khaldūn in his chronicle, al-Nujūm al-zāhira, was based on al-Maqrīzī’s
Sulūk and Durar al-ʿuqūd.85 On other occasions in this chronicle, Ibn Taghrībirdī
makes fewer references to Ibn Khaldūn than al-Maqrīzī does in the Sulūk.
As the Egyptian copyist, money-changer, and historian Ibn al-Ṣayrafī (819–
ca. 900 H/1416–1494 CE) himself reveals, the source for the necrology of Ibn Khal-
dūn in his chronicle Nuzhat al-nufūs was al-ʿAynī’s ʿIqd al-jumān, on which he
relied generally for the later years.86 On other occasions concerning Ibn Khaldūn
as well, Ibn al-Ṣayrafī seems to have borrowed from ʿIqd al-jumān. For example,
Ibn al-Ṣayrafī mentions that a robe of honor was given to Ibn Khaldūn for the
confirmation of his post as chief judge at the end of the year 801 H/1399 CE, which
is found only in al-ʿAynī’s ʿIqd al-jumān.87 Ibn al-Ṣayrafī also states that the sultan
al-Nāṣir Faraj (r. 801–808 H/1399–1405 CE, 808–815 H/1405–1412 CE) married the
daughter of the amīr Balāṭ al-Saʿdī in 803 H/1401 CE and that Ibn Khaldūn did not
attend their wedding ceremony; again, al-ʿAynī is the sole reference for this inci-
dent.88
In his biographical dictionary, al-Ḍawʾ al-lāmiʿ, al-Sakhāwī (831–902 H/1427-
8–1497 CE)89 relied mainly on the works of his master Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Rafʿ
al-iṣr and Inbāʾ al-ghumr.90 Thus, he named Khaldūn’s son erroneously as ʿAbd
al-Raḥīm, not ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, as Ibn Ḥajar did in his Inbāʾ al-ghumr (see above),
although al-Sakhāwī also consulted al-Maqrīzī’s Durar al-ʿuqūd. Moreover, al-

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83 Ibn ʿArabshāh, ʿAjāʾib al-maqdūr (1986), 452–454.
84 Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Manhal (1984–2009), 7: 205–209; see also Badawī 1962, 288–291. On Ibn
Taghrībirdī, see Popper, “Abū ’l-Maḥāsin, Djamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf b. Taghrībirdī”, EI2. On Ibn
Taghrībirdī’s reliance in his Manhal on al-Maqrīzī’s Durar al-ʿuqūd, see Ito 2015, 321–322.
85 Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Nujūm (1929–72), 13: 155–156.
86 Ibn al-Ṣayrafī, Nuzhat al-nufūs (1970–94), 2: 221. On Ibn al-Ṣayrafī and his sources, see Mas-
soud 2007, 133–136, 175–176.
87 Ibn al-Ṣayrafī, Nuzhat al-nufūs (1970–94), 2: 20; cf. al-ʿAynī, ʿIqd al-jumān, MS Ahmet III
2911/a19, fol. 26r.
88 Ibn al-Ṣayrafī, Nuzhat al-nufūs (1970–94), 2: 114; cf. al-ʿAynī, ʿIqd al-jumān, MS Ahmet III
2911/a19, fol. 53v.
89 On him, see Petry, “al-Sakhāwī”, EI2.
90 Al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 4: 145–149; see also Badawī 1962, 292–299.
526 | Takao Ito

Sakhāwī quoted some comments about Ibn Khaldūn by the latter’s contemporar-
ies such as Ibn ʿAmmār (768–844 H/1367–1441 CE).91 Further data on Ibn Khal-
dūn’s activities and personal relations are to be found scattered in this work, as
Franz Rosenthal has shown.92 In the Iʿlān, his treatise on the historiography, al-
Sakhāwī gives the same accounts as those found in the Ḍawʾ concerning the ʿIbar
and the Muqaddima, while he mentions only in the former work that a copy of the
ʿIbar was in the Bāsiṭiyya library in Cairo.93
In his chronicle Nayl al-amal, the Egyptian historian ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ b. Khalīl
al-Malaṭī (844–920 H/1440–1514 CE) seems to have derived the necrology of Ibn
Khaldūn from Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī’s Inbāʾ al-ghumr and possibly also al-ʿAynī’s
ʿIqd al-jumān, but he made mistakes. For example, the attributive (nisba) “al-
Qurashī” is included in Ibn Khaldūn’s genealogy; also, Ibn Khaldūn’s birth year
should be 733 H, according to Ibn Ḥajar and al-ʿAynī, not 736 H as given by ʿAbd
al-Bāsiṭ.94
The Egyptian jurist and polymath al-Suyūṭī (849–911 H/1445–1505 CE) pre-
sumably relied on Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī’s Inbāʾ al-ghumr for the biography of Ibn
Khaldūn.95 The last Mamlūk Egyptian chronicler, Ibn Iyās (852–ca. 930 H/1448–
1524 CE), borrowed the necrology of Ibn Khaldūn from al-Maqrīzī’s Sulūk and
ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ al-Malaṭī’s Nayl al-amal, and he repeated the mistakes of the latter.96
The sources of the Syrian scholar and prosopographer Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī
(1032–1089 H/1623–1679 CE) for the biography of Ibn Khaldūn were Ibn Ḥajar al-
ʿAsqalānī’s Inbāʾ al-ghumr and Ibn Taghrībirdī’s Manhal.97

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91 On him, see al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 8: 232–234. Ibn ʿAmmār studied part of the
Muqaddima with Ibn Khaldūn (al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ [1934–36], 8: 233; Rosenthal 1968, 44).
92 Rosenthal 2000.
93 Al-Sakhāwī, al-Iʿlān (1349/1930-1), 71, 94–95, 151; Rosenthal 1968, 370, 407, 497–498; see
also Badawī 1962, 299–301; cf. al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 4: 147. On al-Madrasa al-Bāsiṭiyya
or al-Jāmiʿ al-Bāsiṭī and its founder Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ b. Khalīl (784–854 H/1382-3–
1451 CE), see al-Maqrīzī, al-Khiṭaṭ (2002–2004), 4: 351–354; al-Khiṭaṭ (1853), 2: 331; Igarashi 2013.
94 ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ, Nayl al-amal (2002), 3: 133–134. On ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ, see Massoud 2007, 67–69.
95 Al-Suyūṭī, Ḥusn al-muḥāḍara (1967–68), 1: 462. On al-Suyūṭī, see Spevack 2009.
96 Ibn Iyās, Badāʾiʿ al-zuhūr (1960–75), 1/2: 754. On Ibn Iyās, see Brinner, “Ibn Iyās”, EI2; Mas-
soud 2007, 69–76.
97 Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, Shadharāt al-dhahab (1931–32), 7: 76–77. On Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥan-
balī, see Rosenthal, “Ibn al-ʿImād”, EI2.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 527

5 Later authors in the Maghrib and al-Andalus

In contrast to the Mashriq, Ibn Khaldūn was not often referred to in the Maghrib
and al-Andalus in the 9th–10th/15th–16th centuries, which was also the case in
the preceding century. According to Mohamed B. A. Benchekroun, the Moroccan
scholar Yaʿqūb b. Mūsā (or ʿAbd Allāh) al-Saytānī (?) criticized Ibn Khaldūn’s
Muqaddima in his commentary of the didactic poetry of the inheritance laws
(farāʾiḍ).98 The Andalusi judge and jurist Ibn al-Azraq (d. 896 H/1491 CE) based
his treatise on politics Badāʾiʿ al-silk fī ṭabāʾiʿ al-mulk on the Muqaddima, which
Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī (see below) pointed out.99 Ibn Khaldūn’s early writing
on Ṣūfism, Shifāʾ al-sāʾil li-tahdhīb al-masāʾil, continued to be mentioned by the
Maghribi scholar and Ṣūfī Aḥmad Zarrūq (846–899 H/1442–1494 CE) and others
until the early 19th century CE.100
As for biographical notices, the Moroccan polygraph Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī
(960–1025 H/1553–1616 CE)101 includes Ibn Khaldūn in his biographical dictionary
of the prominent persons of Fez.102 It is an abridgment of Ibn Khadūn’s biography
in Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāṭa, although Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī adds that Ibn Khaldūn
died in 808 H/1405-6 CE.
The West African jurist and biographer Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī (963–
1036 H/1556–1627 CE)103 consulted Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāta and al-Sakhāwī’s Ḍawʾ

||
98 Benchekroun 1974, 357; see also Cheddadi, “Ibn Khaldūn”, EI3. Benchekroun reads the nisba
of the author as al-Sītānī and calls the title of his work Muntahā al-bānī wa-murtaqā al-maʿānī.
Carl Brockelmann reads the nisba as al-Bustānī (or al-Sabtānī) and calls the title of the work
Muntahā al-qānī wa-murtaqā al-maʿānī (Brockelmann 1996, S1: 666). On Yaʿqūb b. ʿAbd Allāh al-
Saytānī, see further Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī, Jadhwat al-iqtibās (1973), 558; Aḥmad Bābā al-Tin-
buktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj (1989), 621. He flourished presumably in the first half of the 9th/15th cen-
tury as his disciple ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kāwānī is said to have died in 860 H/1455-6 (Ibn al-Qāḍī
al-Miknāsī, Jadhwat al-iqtibās [1973], 404).
99 Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj (1989), 561. On Ibn al-Azraq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b.
Muḥammad, and his relations to Ibn Khaldūn, see further al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 9: 20–
21; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 2: 699–704; Isahak 2010; Delgado Pérez 2009; Benchekroun
1974, 356–357; al-Azmeh 1982, 146, 156–158; Abdesselem 1983, 17–37; Simon 2002, 19–21; Ched-
dadi 2002, xl; Alatas 2013, 102–103; Irwin 2018, 162.
100 Cheddadi 2002, xxii; Özer 2017, xxvi. On Aḥmad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Zarrūq al-Bur-
nusī, see al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 1: 222–223; Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī, Jadhwat al-iqtibās
(1973), 128–131; Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj (1989), 130–134; Brockelmann 1996, 2:
253–254; Brockelmann 1996, S2: 360–362; Kugle, “Zarrūq, Aḥmad”, EI3.
101 On him, see Deverdun, “Ibn al-Ḳāḍī”, EI2.
102 Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī, Jadhwat al-iqtibās (1973), 410–413; see also Badawī 1962, 301–303.
103 On him, see de Moraes Farias, “Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī”, EI3.
528 | Takao Ito

without specifying the latter in his biographical dictionary.104 He also refers to Ibn
Khaldūn’s autobiography but merely mentions that Ibn Khaldūn had troubles
with Ibn ʿArafa and his followers in Tunis.
Al-Maqqarī (ca. 986–1041 H/1577–1632 CE) was born in Tlemcen, was active
in Morocco, and later left Fez for Egypt and Syria, where he compiled the history
of al-Andalus, Nafḥ al-ṭīb.105 Thus it may be not appropriate that he is counted as
an author in the Maghrib. In any case, al-Maqqarī inserts the biography of Ibn
Khaldūn into the Nafḥ al-ṭīb.106 In this instance, his biography is largely a citation
of Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s Iḥāṭa; however, he adds that Ibn Khaldūn was sent as envoy
from Granada to Pedro I of Castile.107 Concerning Ibn Khaldūn’s later life in Cairo,
he quotes a note by Ibrāhīm b. Aḥmad al-Bāʿūnī (777–870 H/1376–1465 CE), mem-
ber of a prominent Syrian family,108 who had mistakenly written that Ibn Khaldūn
died in 807 H, not 808 H. Al-Maqqarī also recounts that he saw the eight-volume
copy of Ibn Khaldūn’s history, the ʿIbar, which contained a note in Ibn Khaldūn’s
own hand. Indeed, al-Maqqarī often cites the ʿIbar in his Nafḥ al-ṭīb.

6 Concluding remarks
First, we have confirmed the importance of the external Arabic sources which
Walter Fischel pointed out. They provide additional data on Ibn Khaldūn’s life
and activities, which are not found in his autobiography. We learn from them, for
example, that he had a concubine in Granada; that he had at least two sons,
Muḥammad and ʿAlī, and five daughters; that he married again in Cairo; and that
he sometimes went to the countryside to collect the harvest.
We can also gain knowledge from these external sources about the contem-
porary views on Ibn Khaldūn. On the one hand, most of his contemporaries and
near-contemporaries praised his talent and ability. His ʿIbar was well known and
often cited, although the real worth of it, particularly that of its Muqaddima, “was
not fully recognised in the Muslim world until the late nineteenth century”.109 Be-
side al-Maqrīzī, al-Fāsī, Ibn al-Azraq, and al-Maqqarī, al-Qalqashandī should be

||
104 Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī, Nayl al-ibtihāj (1989), 250–252; see also Badawī 1962, 303–306.
105 On him, see Lévi-Provençal/Pellat, “al-Maḳḳarī”; Fierro/Molina 2009.
106 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 6: 171–192; see also Badawī 1962, 253–272.
107 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 6: 191.
108 On him, see al-Sakhāwī, al-Ḍawʾ (1934–36), 1: 26–29. On the al-Bāʿūnī family, see Frenkel,
“al-Bāʿūnī”, EI3.
109 Cheddadi, “Ibn Khaldūn”, EI3.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 529

added to those who made considerable use of the ʿIbar.110 On the other hand,
some of his contemporaries criticized Ibn Khaldūn as too ambitious and stub-
born, which apparently indicates an aspect of his personality.
Second, we have examined the relations between the external sources. On
the whole, authors in the Maghrib and al-Andalus relied mainly on works written
in the West, whereas authors in the Mashriq relied on works written in the East.
However, to what extent did this really reflect the intellectual network or
communication of that time? We can assume some human, material, and infor-
mational exchanges between the West and the East. Every year, many Muslims
from the West went through Egypt and Syria to Mecca for the ḥajj, and a number
of scholars and Ṣūfīs travelled over lands in search for teachers, masters, col-
leagues, libraries, assemblies, and jobs. As for material exchanges, Ibn al-Khaṭīb
sent copies of his Iḥāṭa and other works to Cairo to be placed as a waqf (donation)
at the Khānqāh Saʿīd al-suʿadāʾ.111 Later, the Maghribi ḥadīth scholar, preacher,
and statesman Ibn Marzūq (d. 781 H/1379 CE) added a note to this manuscript of
the Iḥāṭa, after he moved to Cairo.112 Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s son ʿAlī also made additions
to it when he visited Cairo.113 Moreover, al-Maqqarī found in it the reading notes
of al-Maqrīzī and al-Suyūṭī, among others.114 When Ibn Marzūq’s grandson visited
Cairo, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī gave him a manuscript that his grandfather had
written in Cairo.115 Furthermore, there were lively letter exchanges among intel-
lectuals. Ibn Khaldūn himself had a great deal of correspondence with Ibn al-
Khaṭīb.116 Finally, we should not forget that the intellectual network extended
across not only political but also religious boundaries. The Jewish physician and
astronomer Ibn Zarzar, for example, was acquainted with Ibn Khaldūn and
praised him before Pedro I of Castile when Ibn Khaldūn visited Seville for a dip-
lomatic mission.117
Hence, should we suppose that it depends on the genre? As Ibn Khaldūn him-
self states,

||
110 See Björgman 1928, 83.
111 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 121; al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 7: 105.
112 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Durar (1993), 3: 362. On Ibn Marzūq, Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, see Hadj-Sadok, “Ibn Marzūḳ”, EI2; Peláez Rovira 2006.
113 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 7: 301–302.
114 Al-Maqqarī, Nafḥ al-ṭīb (1968), 7: 106.
115 Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Durar (1993), 3: 362.
116 See Fromherz 2014.
117 Ibn Khaldūn, al-Taʿrīf (1951), 85.
530 | Takao Ito

Some later historians [...] showed a tendency toward greater restriction [...] They brought
together the happenings of their own period and gave exhaustive historical information
about their own part of the world. They restricted themselves to the history of their own
dynasties and cities.118

Thus, there was certainly a gap, more or less, in the historiography of the western
and eastern Arab world.119 However, how deep was this gap, in comparison with
the gap between the Arab world and the “Persianate societies” or the “Persianate
world” stretching east and north of Iraq to include Iran, Central Asia, and India,
which formed distinctive Persianate cultural traditions, particularly in the Mon-
gol and post-Mongol periods? It seems that Ibn Khaldūn came to be known in the
Persianate world only much later because premodern Persian historiography
paid little attention to the regions west of Iraq.120 In addition, what were the other
disciplines such as jurisprudence, ḥadīth studies, Ṣūfism, philosophy, medicine,
and astronomy like? To answer these questions, further research is required on
how wide and dense an intellectual network or communication in the Islamic or
Islamicate world in the post-classical period from the 12th century CE through to
the early 16th century CE could have been, while taking into account the differ-
ences in genres and individuals.121

||
118 Ibn Khaldūn, al-ʿIbar (1956–60), 1: 4; Ibn Khaldūn, al-Muqaddima (1967), 1: 8. The English
translation is Franz Rosenthal’s.
119 However, it is noteworthy that al-Maqrīzī’s Durar al-ʿuqūd includes the biographies of many
“foreigners”, as Joseph Drory points out. I would like to thank Professor Drory for being generous
and showing me his paper “Foreign Rulers in al-Maqrīzī’s Biographical Dictionary Durar al-
ʿUqūd”, which was presented in May 2013 in the 22nd International Colloquium on the History
of Egypt and Syria in the Fāṭimid, Ayyūbid and Mamlūk Eras at Ghent University, Belgium,
which I did not attend. Al-Maqrīzī may have attempted to write a kind of world history, keeping
in mind Ibn Khaldūn’s statement quoted above. Whatever the case may be, Durar al-ʿuqūd de-
serves further investigation. I am preparing a paper on “Africans” in this biographical dicitonary.
120 The Tīmūrid Persian historiography did not refer to Tīmūr’s meeting with Ibn Khaldūn
(Fischel 1952, 4). The Urdu and the Persian translations of Ibn Khaldūn’s Muqaddima were pub-
lished respectively in 1924–1932 and in 1957–1959 (Fischel 1967, 9). It should be explored when
Ibn Khaldūn became first known in Iran.
121 In this context, the concept of “Islamic (or Islamicate) republic of letters” should also be
revisited. Muhsin J. al-Musawi recently provided several impressive examples that attest to this
concept (al-Musawi 2015). However, was such an Islamic consciousness really as pervasive in
every genre as he argues? For an overview of the cultural connections over time, see Romanov
2017.
 Writing the Biography of Ibn Khaldūn | 531

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Index of Names and Places
(compiled by Abdenour Padillo-Saoud and Mayte Penelas)

Abān b. Salama 195 ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Fāsī 439, 450

Abbā Jamāl b. Ḥājj Yūsuf 437, 450 ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Ṣafūrī (ʿAbd al-Qādir b.
Abbā Jihād al-Tijānī 447 Muṣṭafā al-Ṣafūrī al-Dimashqī) 20, 383
ʿAbbās, Ḥamzah Aḥmad 110 ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. Khālid b. Yazīd al-Jumaḥī
ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ b. Khalīl al-Malaṭī 526 215
ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī 20, 383 ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Bājarbaqī (Jamāl al-Dīn Abū
ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf (Abū Hammām) Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. ʿUmar b.
293, 324, 325 ʿUthmān) 191
ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī. See Ibn al-Kharrāṭ ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-ʿIrāqī. See al-ʿIrāqī, Zayn al-
ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Qayrawānī (ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ṣāliḥ b. ʿĪsā al- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf 177
Qayrawānī al-Qurašī) 441, 450 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Khaldūn 521, 525
ʿAbd al-Khāliq Khān al-Afghānī 3 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-
ʿAbd Allāh (Umayyad emir) 286 Malik b. Saʿīd 8, 87
ʿAbd Allāh al-Aṣīlī 218 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. Yakhlaftan
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās 177, 201 al-Fāzāzī. See al-Fāzāzī
ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad al-Fākihī 442 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I 10, 47, 72, 102
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĀmir al-Yaḥṣubī 206 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III 103
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ 49, 204 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kāwānī 527
ʿAbd Allāh b. Buluggīn 6 ʿAbd al-Salām b. al-Ṭayyib al-Qādirī al-Fāsī
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĪsā al-Shaybānī al-Andalusī 440, 450
220 ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. al-ʿĀshir 444, 450
ʿAbd Allāh b. Mālik b. Mawhab al-Andalusī ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Marrākushī (Abū
471 Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. ʿAlī al-
ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd 177 Tamīmī al-Marrākushī) 9, 132
ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Mubārak 202 ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Shaʿrānī 382
ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-Khayyāṭ al- Al-ʿAbdarī 8, 64, 65, 73, 86
Hārūshī al-Fāsī al-Tūnisī 450 ʿAbdī Beg Shīrāzī, Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ʿAlī 121,
ʿAbd Allāh b. Saʿīd b. ʿAmmār 258 123, 136
ʿAbd Allāh b. Salām 176 Al-Abharī 416
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb 177, 193, Al-Abharī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad 365
196 Al-Ābilī 402
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUthmān b. Aḥmad al-ʿUjaymī Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Mayūrqī 373
442 Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad II (Ḥafṣid ruler) 516
ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm. See ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-ʿAzafī 244
ʿAbd al-Laṭīf (Abū Hammām) Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī 134
ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī 271 Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī. See Ibn Muzayn al-
ʿAbd al-Malik b. Ḥabīb 219 Qurṭubī
ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd 261 Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sabtī 135
ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿUmayr 195 Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Tīfāshī. See al-Tīfāshī,
ʿAbd al-Muʾmin b. ʿAlī al-Kūmī (Almohad ruler) Sharaf al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad
12, 124, 422 Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Zawzanālī 240
ʿAbd al-Qādir b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad ʿUthmān 439

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538 | Index

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ's cousin) Abū al-Barakāt Ibn ʿAzūz. See Ibn ʿAzūz
148 Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAzafī 485 Muthannā 439
Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥamāda. See Ibn Ḥamāda Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī 184, 217, 461, 462
al-Sabtī Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān b. Najāḥ 243
Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. Jubayr 157 Abū Dharr Aḥmad. See Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Abū
Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Zarqūn 151 Dharr Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Kizānī 267 Abū al-Faraj ʿĪsā b. Masʿūd al-Zawāwī. See al-
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Laythī al-Andalusī 223, 224 Zawāwī, Abū al-Faraj ʿĪsā
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh 240 Abū Fāris ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (Ḥafṣid ruler) 518
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Nāṣir Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr Allāh b. ʿAlī b. Manṣūr b.
(Almohad ruler) 128 Harāsa/Kharāsha 194
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Qaysī Abū al-Fidāʾ, ʿImād al-Dīn Ismāʿīl b. Alī b.
al-Thaghrī 517 Maḥmūd 8, 9, 10, 65, 80, 88, 89, 91, 99,
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Quḍāʿī 194 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107,
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Yaḥyā al-Anṣārī 223 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 157, 158, 160,
Abū Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. Sukayna. See 273, 274, 276
Ibn Sukayna (jr.) Abū al-Ghayth al-Qashshāsh 230
Abū ʿAlī al-Anṣārī al-Baṭalyawsī 469 Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Ibn al-Naṣībī. See Ibn al-
Abū ʿAlī Ibn Khalāṣ 372 Naṣībī, Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar
Abū ʿAlī al-Shalawbīnī, ʿUmar b. Muḥammad Abū al-Ḥajjāj b. ʿUtba al-Ishbīlī 272
109, 115, 259, 273 Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Bayyāsī. See al-Bayyāsī
Abū ʿAlī al-Thaʿlabī 492 Abū al-Ḥakam ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd al-
Abū ʿAmr / Abū ʿUthmān (Ibn Diḥya al-Kalbī's Malik b. Ghashalyān 175
brother) 128 Abū Ḥāmid al-Gharnāṭī 457
Abū ʿAmr b. al-ʿAlāʾ 252 Abū Hammām. See ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm, ʿAbd al-
Abū ʿAmr b. al-Ṣalāḥ. See Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al- Laṭīf (Abū Ḥammām)
Shahrazūrī Abū Ḥammū II (Zayyānid ruler) 516
Abū Bakr 177, 185, 205 Abū Ḥanīfa 38, 41, 69, 418
Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh Ibn al-Naṣībī. See Ibn al- Abū Ḥanīfa 366
Naṣībī, Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Ghāfir b. Ismāʿīl al-
Abū Bakr b. Abī Shayba. See Ibn Abī Shayba Fārisī 220
Abū Bakr b. al-ʿArabī 16, 175, 221, 260 Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Marwān al-Zanātī 268
Abū Bakr (b.) al-Bāqillānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿUthmān II (Marīnid ruler)
Manṣūr b. ʿImrān 182, 195 123
Abū Bakr b. Hishām 259 Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Bahrām al-Ḥalabī 482,
Abū Bakr Ibn Baqī. See Ibn Baqī, Abū Bakr 483, 500
Yaḥyā Abū al-Ḥasān al-Anṭākī 237
Abū Bakr Ibn Zuhr. See Ibn Zuhr al-Ḥafīd Abū al-Ḥasan b. Ḥanīn 241
Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī. See al-Ismāʿīlī, Abū Bakr Abū al-Ḥasan b. Hārūn al-Mālaqī. See Ibn
Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm Hārūn al-Mālaqī
Abū Bakr al-Khazrajī 422 Abū al-Ḥasan b. Jamīl al-Maʿāfirī. See al-
Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Muʿāwiya b. ʿAbd al- Maʿāfirī
Raḥmān. See Ibn al-Aḥmar, Abū Bakr Abū al-Ḥasan b. al-Niʿma 175
Muḥammad Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn Kharūf al-Ishbīlī, ʿAlī b.
Abū Bakr al-Ṭurṭūshī. See al-Ṭurṭūshī Muḥammad b. ʿAlī 107, 113
Abū al-Barakāt al-Balafīqī. See al-Balafīqī
 Index | 539

Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʿāfirī al-Mālaqī. See al- Abū Muḥammad Ibn al-Qurṭubī 421
Maʿāfirī Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī 177
Abū al-Ḥasan Sahl Ibn Mālik 267 Abū Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī 407, 408
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī 134 Abū al-Najā Muḥammad Mujāhid al-Ṭantidāʾī
Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī 404, 406, 423 442
Abū Hurayra 177 Abū Naṣr ʿAbd al-Malik b. (Abī) Muslim b. Abī
Abū al-Ḥusayn Naṣr al-Shīrāzī 459 Naṣr al-Hamadānī. See al-Nahāwandī
Abū al-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā al-Maqdisī 458 Abū Naṣr b. Mākūlā. See Ibn Mākūlā, Abū
Abū ʿInān Fāris (Marīnid ruler) 484, 485, 486, Naṣr
487, 495, 515 Abū Numayy Muḥammad I 373
Abū Isḥāq (future ʿAbbāsid caliph al- Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad b. Baqī. See Ibn Baqī,
Muʿtaṣim) 43 Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad
Abū Isḥāq al-Ghanawī al-Raqqī, Ibrāhīm b. Abū al-Qāsim b. al-Jadd 145
Muḥammad b. Nabhān b. Muḥriz 184, Abū al-Qāsim Ibn al-Faḥḥām 240, 241
185, 187, 190, 196 Abū al-Qāsim Ibn Sahl 495
Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī 174 Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad al-
Abū Isḥāq al-Ṣirīfaynī 225 Iṣbahānī 220
Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad 340 Abū Saʿīd Ibn al-Aʿrābī 23
Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad al-Dhahabī al-Balansī 223 Abū Saʿīd Jamrān [Ḥumrān] b. Abān 204
Abū Jaʿfar b. ʿAlī al-Fanakī al-Qurṭubī. See Ibn Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī 177, 204
al-Fanakī Abū Sālim Ibrāhīm b. Qāsim al-ʿUqbānī 426
Abū Madyan, Shuʿayb b. al-Ḥusayn 134, 135, Abū Shāma al-Maqdisī, Shihāb al-Dīn ʿAbd al-
372, 375, 438, 449, 457 Raḥmān b. Ismāʿīl 11, 125, 126, 127, 128,
Abū al-Majd Muḥammad Ibn al-Wazīr 273 132, 133, 136, 243, 246, 253, 268, 444
Abū al-Manṣūr al-Thaʿālibī. See al-Thaʿālibī Abū Shujāʿ Muḥammad b. Abī Muḥammad b.
Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Abī al-Maʿālī al-Maqrūn 185
ʿAbd al-Malik ... b. Sharīʿa. See Ibn al- Abū al-Ṭāhir al-Dhuhlī 416
Bājī, Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿAbd Abū Ṭāhir Ibn ʿAwf. See Ibn ʿAwf al-Zuhrī
al-ʿAzīz b. ʿAbd al-Malik Abū Ṭālib 194
Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. Masarra al- Abū Ṭālib ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Mutanabbī 108,
Yaḥṣubī 175 110, 112
Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. Mūsā al-Warrāq Abū Ṭālib ʿAbd al-Laṭīf b. al-Qubayṭī 183
214–215 Abū Thaʿlaba al-Khushanī 197
Abū Marwān al-Bājī 422 Abū al-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd b. Manṣūr b. Abī Ṭāhir
Abū Masʿūd Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad al- 190
Dimashqī 178, 198, 201 Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām 15, 178
Abū al-Mawāhib Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Bāqī Abū ʿUbayda b. al-Jarrāḥ 177
al-Ḥanbalī al-Dimashqī 383 Abū al-ʿUlā Abū Dabbūs Idrīs II Muḥammad
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-ʿIẓm b. al-Wāthiq (Almohad ruler) 123
Arqam al-Numayrī al-Wādī Āshī 440, Abū Umāma Asʿad b. Sahl 204
449 Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn al-Shiḥna 490
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al- Abū al-Walīd al-Shaqundī 267
Mursī 134 Abū Wāqid al-Laythī, Ḥārith b. ʿAwf/Mālik 177
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Rabīʿ b. Abū Yaḥyā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad al-
Bannūsh al-Tamīmī 217 Sharīf al-Tilimsānī 517
Abū Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allāh 150 Abū Yūsuf 38, 41, 69
Abū Muḥammad Ibn ʿAṭiyya 421
540 | Index

Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. ʿAbd al-Salām al-Zuhrī Ajdabiya 86

221 Akhmim 66
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Yūsuf al-Manṣūr Al-Aʿlam al-Shantamarī, Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf b.
(Almohad ruler) 11, 121, 124, 125, 126, Sulaymān b. ʿĪsā 107, 115
127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, Alarcos 11, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
135, 136, 137, 455 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138
Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā (Ḥafṣid ruler) 267 Al-Albānī Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn 191
Adam 70, 101 Albarrán, Javier 5
Adang, Camilla 1, 4, 14 Alboran Sea 457
Addis Ababa 435 Alcalá la Real 79, 258, 261, 279
Al-ʿĀḍid (Fāṭimid ruler) 243, 324 Aleppo 11, 17, 48, 87, 92, 108, 155, 186, 189,
Al-ʿĀdil I (Ayyūbid ruler) 268 262, 263, 268, 272, 273, 276, 277, 279,
Al-Afḍal Kutayfāt, Abū ʿAlī Aḥmad 414, 416 286, 302, 317, 330, 413, 478, 479, 480,
Afghanistan 219 481, 488, 490, 491, 492, 493
ʿAfīf al-Dīn Sulaymān al-Tilimsānī 372, 380, Alexandria 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 49, 58, 73, 83,
381, 383 85, 86, 134, 157, 200, 215, 216, 225, 230,
Africa 7, 21, 35, 43, 49, 50, 80, 91, 436, 437, 239, 240, 241, 244, 257, 260, 267, 268,
439, 447, 448, 456. See also Horn of 273, 294, 361, 406, 407, 411, 414, 417,
Africa; North Africa 421, 425, 455, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461,
Al-Afshīn 44 462, 469, 479, 521
Agaro 437, 443, 446 Alfonso VI of León and Castile 125, 130
Aghmat 7, 108, 463 Alfonso VIII of Castile 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
Aḥmad (Ibn al-Faṣīḥ al-Hamadhānī's son) 495 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 136
Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Awḥadī 277 Algeciras 79, 259, 270, 461
Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Majīd b. Ḥadīd 458 Algeria 2, 48, 213, 214, 418, 457
Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd 262 ʿAlī (Ibn Kawthar al-Muḥāribī's son) 463
Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Hararī 439 ʿAlī (Ibn Khaldūn's son) 521, 528
Aḥmad b. Abī al-ʿAbbās al-Ṣamʿī 439 ʿAlī (Ibn al-Khaṭīb's son) 529
Aḥmad b. Duḥaym b. Khalīl b. ʿAbd al-Jabbār ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib 15, 177, 188, 193, 194, 195,
b. Ḥarb al-Qurṭubī 217 196, 199, 258
Aḥmad b. Ḥafṣ 181 ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Balansī 244, 245
Aḥmad b. al-Ḥājj 439, 442 ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Ghassānī al-Wādī Āshī 223
Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī. See al-Mawṣilī, ʿAlī b. ʿIyād al-Iskandarī 294, 296
Aḥmad b. Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Khalaf 240
Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Maʿn ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. Ḥasan b. Ibrāhīm al-
al-Andalusī al-Fāsī 440, 450 Ḍabbāʿ 444
Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al- ʿAlī b. Yūsuf (Almoravid ruler) 130, 145
Iskandarī al-Shādhilī 441 ʿAlī b. Yūsuf al-Madanī 439
Aḥmad b. ʿUmar 437 ʿAlī b. Ẓāfir al-Azdī 108
Aḥmad b. Zaynī Daḥlān 442 ʿAlī b. Zayd al-Qasānī 459
Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī 163, 527 ʿAlī b. Ziyād al-Tūnisī (al-Imām al-Ṭarābulusī)
Aḥmad al-Badawī 440, 450 216
Aḥmad Ibn Ṭalḥa 270 Almanzor. See al-Manṣūr, Muḥammad b. Abī
Aḥmad al-Nūr b. ʿAlī al-Faḍl al-Tijānī 450 ʿĀmir
Aḥmad al-Rabaʿī 274, 275 Almería 107, 145, 173, 175, 265, 286
Aḥmad Sukayrij 445, 450 Alṭunbughā al-Jūbānī 519
ʿĀʾisha bt. Abī Bakr 177, 196 Alubudi, Jasim 258
 Index | 541

Alzira 108, 110, 112 Asad b. al-Furāt 41, 216, 219

Al-Aʿmā al-Tuṭīlī 306, 333 Aṣbagh b. Khalīl 216
Amalric of Jerusalem 458 Al-Ashʿarī 374
America 324 Ashhab 215
Al-Amīn (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 417 Al-ʿAshīrī, Maḥmūd 324
Amīn al-Dawla b. Ghazzāl 359 Al-Ashraf (Ayyūbid ruler). See al-Malik al-
ʿAmmār b. Yāsir 258 Ashraf
Amorium 42 Al-Ashraf Barsbāy (Mamlūk sultan) 493
ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ 45, 244, 483 Al-Ashraf Ismāʿīl b. al-ʿAbbās (Rasūlid sultan)
ʿAmrūn (or ʿAmr) (al-Qāḍī Iyāḍ's great- 463
grandfather) 144 Asia 85. See also Central Asia; Southwest
Amum Agar 436 Asia
Anas b. Mālik 177 Asia Minor 39, 40
Anatolia 35, 39, 59, 472 ʿĀṣim b. Abī al-Najjūd 252, 253
Al-Andalus 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, Āsiya (Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī's wife) 187
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 35, 40, 41, 45, Asmāʾ bt. Abī Bakr 176
46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, Al-Aṣmaʿī 366
65, 66, 68, 70, 71, 72, 79, 81, 82, 86, 87, Al-ʿAsqalānī, Najm al-Dīn Abū Rabīʿ (or Abū
100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, Dāwūd) Sulaymān b. Khalīl 193
110, 111, 112, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, Assmann, Jan 496
127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, Aswān 85, 87
144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 152, 158, ʿAṭā, Aḥmad Muḥammad 302, 311, 317
162, 163, 164, 171,172, 173, 174, 175, 179, Atlantic Ocean 62, 88, 214, 215
199, 200, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 221, Atlas Mountains 12, 457. See also Anti-Atlas
224, 229, 230, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, Mountains; High Atlas Mountains
242, 243, 250, 251, 257, 258, 259, 260, Al-ʿAṭṭār, Ḥasan b. Muḥammad 277, 278
261, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 269, 270, Averroes. See Ibn Rushd (...) al-Ḥafīd
273, 278, 279, 286, 292, 293, 340, 343, Avicena. See Ibn Sīnā
347, 357, 358, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, Ávila, María Luisa 112, 411
367, 371, 372, 381, 399, 400, 401, 406, Al-Awzāʿī 216
408, 411, 412, 413, 415, 418, 419, 421, ʿAydhāb 87
422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 438, 444, ʿAyn Māḍī 436
445, 446, 456, 461, 463, 477, 478, 481, ʿAyn al-Shams 82
487, 491, 492, 514, 519, 527, 528, 529 Al-ʿAynī, Badr al-Dīn Maḥmūd 228, 518, 519,
Ankalās 84 521, 522, 525, 526
Anṭābulus (Pentapolis) 45 Al-ʿAzāzī, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-
Anti-Atlas Mountains 124, 214 Malik b. ʿAbd al-Munʿim 310, 311, 333,
Antrim, Zayde 38, 70 336
Aqūr 56, 84 Azerbaijan 53, 56
Arabia 49, 53, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 64 Azgal, Zohra 15, 16, 448
Arabian Peninsula 52, 61, 84, 91, 125, 215, Al-Azharī, Khālid b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Bakr
361 442
Aragon 150 Al-ʿAzīz (Ayyūbid ruler). See al-Malik al-ʿAzīz
Aristotle 229 ʿUthmān
Armenia 17, 18, 53, 56, 269, 361 Al-ʿAzīz (Fāṭimid caliph) 44, 45
Arrajān 269 Al-Azlakh 42
Arran 56
542 | Index

Badajoz 469 Al-Bayyāsī, Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf b. Muḥammad

Al-Bādisī 372 b. Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī 130, 259
Badr 177 Beirut 99, 149, 360, 361, 479
Badr al-Dīn al-Bālisī 407 Béjaïa 63, 372, 461, 515
Badr al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Bekir, Ahmed 415
Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Kinānī 379 Bellver, José 4, 19, 20
Badr al-Dīn al-Ubbī 436 Ben ʿAshūr, Yadh 216
Badr al-Jamalī 458 Benchekroun, Mohamed B. A. 527
Baeza 130 Bencherifa. See Ibn Sharīfa
Baghdad 13, 14, 17, 36, 43, 47, 66, 72, 87, Berlin 230
92, 99, 172, 173, 174, 180, 181, 182, 183, Berque, Jacques 426
185, 189, 196, 200, 217, 244, 245, 260, Bianquis, Thierry 417
262, 263, 268, 269, 276, 406, 407, 408, Bijāya. See Béjaïa
415, 418, 457 Al-Birzālī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b.
Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Qāsim 466, 470 Yūsuf al-Ishbīlī 469, 470, 471
Al-Bakrī, Abū ʿUbayd 7, 61, 62, 63, 69, 84 Al-Bishbīshī, Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh b.
Baʿlabakk 188 Aḥmad 521, 522
Al-Baladhurī 46 Bishr al-Ḥāfī 174
Al-Balafīqī, Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad b. Biskra 514
Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm 402, 481, 490, Blecher, Joel 218
524 Bockholt, Philip 10
Balʿamī 10, 121 Bongianino, Umberto 22
Balāṭ al-Saʿdī 525 Bornu 437
Balbala 440, 441 Bosra 160
Balkh 219 Bosworth, Clifford Edmund 42, 43, 44
Al-Balkhī 56 Bowen Savant, Sarah 123
Baqī b. Makhlad 2, 3, 4, 216, 217, 230, 402 Brauer, Ralph 37
Al-Bāqillānī 416 Bresc, Henri 64
Al-Baqūrī 421 Brockelmann, Carl 221, 527
Barīsamā (Bārūsmā) 194 Al-Buḥayra 43
Barniq 49 Bukhara 87, 188
Barqa 45, 48, 53, 57, 58, 83, 84, 85, 86, 214 Al-Bukhārī 14, 15, 172, 174, 176, 177, 178,
Al-Barqānī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Muḥammad 180, 181, 185, 188, 189, 192, 193, 194,
178, 181, 189, 198, 199, 201, 205 195, 197, 198, 201, 202, 203, 204, 218,
Barqūq (Mamlūk sultan) 494, 518, 519, 521 219, 220, 222, 225, 228, 231, 420, 423,
Barsbāy. See al-Ashraf Barsbāy 463, 523, 524
Basra 17, 50, 217, 269 Bulliet, Richard W. 4
Al-Baṭāʾiḥī 414 Al-Bulqīnī 198
Bauer, Thomas 490 Al-Būnī 480
Al-Bāʿūnī, Ibrāhīm b. Aḥmad 528 Al-Bunnāhī, Abū al-Ḥasan 148, 152, 153, 163
Al-Bawwāb, ʿAlī Ḥusayn 181 Burhān al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿa 494
Bay of Biscay 80 Al-Būṣīrī 515
Baybars, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir (Mamlūk sultan) Byzantium 39, 40, 62
21, 155, 373, 413, 414, 415, 425, 427
Al-Bayhaqī 43 Cahen, Claude 45, 46, 47, 71
Al-Bayhaqī 266 Cairo 16, 17, 20, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 63, 64,
65, 73, 82, 86, 92, 99, 132, 133, 157, 159,
 Index | 543

173, 186, 194, 197, 198, 237, 238, 239, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 486, 489, 493,
244, 245, 246, 247, 260, 261, 263, 264, 494, 495, 517, 519, 524
266, 267, 268, 269, 271, 272, 273, 276, Damietta. See Dumyāṭ
277, 278, 310, 359, 361, 372, 373, 377, Al-Dānī, Abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān b. Saʿīd 16, 237,
383, 399, 401, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 238, 239, 240, 241, 243, 251, 443, 449
408, 412, 413, 416, 420, 421, 424, 425, Daniel, Elton 36, 59
445, 457, 459, 460, 469, 470, 479, 480, Al-Dāraquṭnī 217
481, 483, 485, 487, 488, 499, 517, 519, Al-Dāwūdī, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad b. Naṣr al-
520, 521, 526, 528, 529 Tilimsānī 219, 220, 230
Calasso, Giovanna 4, 5, 6 Dawway 443
Calatrava la Vieja 458 Dāy 145
Cape Town 437 Ḍayf, Shawqī 278
Caspian Sea 54 Daylam 53, 56, 84, 215
Castile 124, 125, 130, 403, 520 Delamarter, Steve 435
Castile-La Mancha 458 Delta region of Egypt. See Nile Delta
Castro León, Víctor de 4, 8, 64, 65, 257, 258, Dénia 114, 147, 148, 162, 459
262, 279, 493 Al-Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn 11, 14, 23, 129,
Central Asia 35, 45, 61, 122, 530 132, 156, 158, 160, 161, 162, 172, 186,
Ceuta 12, 67, 113, 144, 145, 146, 149, 150, 191, 192, 200, 217, 407
153, 156, 157, 158, 179, 192, 244, 246, Dhāt al-Ḥumām 49
270, 271, 372, 400, 401, 402, 461 Dickinson, Eerik 189
Cheddadi, Abdesselam 516 Dietrich, Albert 359, 360, 361
China 36, 48, 49, 61, 63, 83, 85, 90, 180 Dinawar 51
Chodkiewicz, Michel 14 Dioscorides 357, 367
Ciudad Real 124 Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd
Claudius Ptolemy 83, 91 al-Wāḥid al-Ḥanbalī 186, 187, 188
Copenhagen 437 Djibouti 436, 440
Córdoba 7, 61, 105, 108, 109, 112, 113, 114, Drewe, Abraham J. 438
115, 127, 144, 145, 149, 151, 153, 172, 213, Drory, Joseph 530
216, 226, 230, 237, 265, 285, 401, 402, Dublin 251, 458, 465
403, 408, 421 Dujayl 180
Cortese, Delia 417 Dumyāṭ 85
Cottart, Nicole 219 Dūr 180
Cyrenaica 58 Al-Dustawāʾī 203

Al-Ḍabbī, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā 149, Écija 107

150, 153, 175, 223 Egypt 2, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 35,
Al-Dakhwār, Muhadhdhib al-Dīn ʿAbd al- 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 52, 53,
Raḥīm b. ʿAlī 358 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68,
Damascus 11, 17, 19, 48, 66, 67, 68, 100, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86,
126, 127, 128, 129, 131, 133, 136, 155, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 102, 119, 135,
156, 157, 159, 160, 173, 176, 186, 187, 137, 154, 155, 158, 159, 162, 172, 173,
188, 189, 190, 191, 237, 241, 244, 245, 185, 187, 214, 215, 219, 225, 230, 239,
246, 258, 260, 263, 267, 268, 269, 317, 240, 242, 243, 244, 245, 258, 260, 262,
358, 361, 366, 367, 383, 404, 406, 407, 264, 265, 267, 268, 271, 272, 278, 279,
413, 420, 421, 424, 425, 457, 464, 465, 288, 293, 294, 302, 321, 347, 358, 359,
466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 478, 361, 362, 366, 367, 405, 407, 411, 413,
544 | Index

415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, France 80, 252, 360, 463, 471
423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 437, 440, 447, Fromherz, Allen James 513, 523
455, 457, 458, 485, 486, 517, 519, 521, Fustat (al-Fusṭāṭ) 52, 60, 82, 84, 85, 217,
523, 524, 528, 529, 530 244, 262, 267, 278, 519
El Escorial 467, 468
El Shamsy, Ahmed 415, 416 Gabes 50
Elvira 265 Gafsa 50
Escovitz, Joseph H. 414 Gaigner, Jean 99
Ethiopia 436, 437, 438, 439, 444 Galen 229, 366
Europe 35, 36, 38, 40, 61, 62, 63, 65, 81, 105, Garcin, Jean-Claude 52, 55
120, 136, 261 Garulo, Teresa 1, 4, 18, 494
Eve (Job's wife) 466 Gaza 191, 361
Gellens, Sam 74
Fadel, Mohamed 21, 425, 426, 427 Ghaffārī Qazvīnī Kāshānī, Qāżī Aḥmad b.
Fakhkh 72 Muḥammad 121, 123, 136
Fakhr al-Dīn Abū Sulaymān Dāvūd Banākatī Al-Ghāfiqī 366
121 Gharaibeh, Mohammad 189
Fakhr al-Dīn Abū ʿUmar ʿUthmān 317 Al-Ghassānī al-Jayyānī, Abū ʿAlī 217, 224,
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī 515 226, 230
Fakhrī, Muḥammad 99 Al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid 260, 378
Fakhrī, Ṣabāḥ 302 Al-Ghāzī b. Qays, Abū Muḥammad 216, 219,
Fani, Sara 446 230, 239, 240
Al-Fārisī. See Ibn al-Khaṭīr Ghāzī, Sayyid 289, 299
Faro 115 Al-Ghumārī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṣiddīq
Fars (Fārs) 51, 52, 54, 56, 59, 60, 83, 84, 85 al-Ḥasanī 445, 450
Al-Fāsī, Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Makkī al- Goeje, Michael Jan de 48
Mālikī 373, 374, 464, 523, 524, 528 Goitein, Shelomo Dov 40
Al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān. See Ibn Khāqān Goldberg, Jessica 39
Fāṭima bt. Muḥammad 135, 194 Goliath. See Jālūt
Fāṭima bt. Saʿd al-Khayr 180, 186 Gómez-Rivas, Camilo 145
Al-Fayyūm 85, 519, 520, 522 González Artigao, Aurora 4
Al-Fāzāzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. González, Estefanía 24
Yakhlaftan 438, 449 Goodchild, Richard G. 45
Ferghana 42, 43, 55 Gordon, Matthew 43, 47
Ferhat, Halima 151 Gori, Alessandro 435, 437, 439
Fernandes, Leonor 408 Granada 6, 10, 22, 64, 67, 86, 104, 105, 110,
Fernando III 403 114, 120, 123, 130, 136, 145, 147, 148,
Fez 49, 63, 64, 131, 144, 154, 213, 219, 242, 152, 153, 157, 158, 242, 258, 264, 399,
245, 267, 399, 401, 420, 436, 439, 477, 401, 406, 411, 412, 426, 463, 464, 477,
486, 496, 516, 523, 527, 528 479, 481, 490, 514, 515, 528
Fierro, Maribel 3, 5, 20, 21, 35, 200, 250, Grand Atlas Mountains. See High Atlas
408, 447, 448, 458 Mountains
Al-Fihrī al-Basṭī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Abī Greater Syria 187, 455, 457, 470
Mahdī ʿĪsā b. Muḥammad al-Yumnālī Greece 39
489, 490 Gril, Denis 135, 417, 427
Fischel, Walter 513, 514, 528 Guadix 481, 487, 491, 493
Fleischer, Heinrich Leberecht 99
 Index | 545

Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū 122 Al-Ḥijāz. See Hejaz

Ḥājj Ḥamza b. Maḥmūd b. Kabīr Ḥamza b. Al-Ḥimyarī, Abū al-Walīd 285
Kabīr Maḥmūd 440 Hind 85
Ḥajjāj b. Muḥammad 206 Hind (Ibn Khaldūn's concubine) 515
Ḥājjī Khalīfa 275, 276, 359 Hippocrates 229
Al-Ḥakam I b. Hishām (Umayyad emir) 239, Hirschler, Konrad 466, 467
240 Hishām (Umayyad caliph) 47
Al-Ḥakam II al-Mustanṣir (Umayyad caliph) Holtzman, Livnat 191
218, 237 Homs 17, 48, 269, 276
Al-Ḥakamī, Muḥammad 491, 492, 493, 508 Horn of Africa 21, 435, 436, 437, 438, 441,
Al-Ḥākim (Fāṭimid caliph) 44 442, 444, 448
Hama 100, 101, 158, 306, 414, 470, 491, 492 Al-Hudhalī, Abū al-Qāsim 249
Hamadan 188, 189 Hudhayl al-Ishbīlī 270
Ḥamdūn b. Ismāʿīl 43 Al-Hudhudī, Muḥammad b. Manṣūr 439
Ḥamza al-Zayyāt 252 Huici Miranda, Ambrosio 120
Harar 441 Humām b. Munabbih 206
Al-Harawī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad Ḥumayd, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Ḥasan al-
180 Anṣārī 418, 421, 422, 423
Hargeisa 440 Ḥumayd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf 201, 202,
Al-Ḥarīrī 443 203
Ḥāritha b. Shurāḥīl 109 Al-Ḥumaydī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b.
Haro 437, 440, 443, 447 Abī Naṣr Futūḥ 14, 15, 18, 114, 149, 171,
Al-Ḥarrālī, Abū al-Ḥasan 163 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179,
Hārūn 91 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187,
Hārūn al-Rashīd 38, 69, 70, 194, 417 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195,
Al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī 194, 195 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 285, 293, 406,
Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Kafrāwī 442 413
Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-ʿAṭṭār. See al-ʿAṭṭār, Al-Ḥumaydī, Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr
Ḥasan b. Muḥammad 175
Al-Hāṭī, Muḥammad 163 Al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī 194, 195
Al-Ḥaṭṭāb, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al- Al-Ḥusayn b. Masʿūd al-Baghawī 221
Ruʿaynī 442 Ḥusayn, Yaḥyā Sayyid 99
Al-Ḥawf 43 Al-Ḥuṣrī, Burhān al-Dīn Abū al-Futūḥ Naṣr b.
Hawran 358 Abī al-Faraj 193
Ḥaydara b. Badr al-Rashīdī al-Hāshimī al- Al-Ḥuṣrī al-Qayrawānī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b.
Wāsiṭī, Abū Yaʿlā 194, 195 ʿAbd al-Ghanī 107, 113
Hayṭal 57
Hejaz 12, 48, 67, 86, 87, 173, 187, 252, 361, Iberia 10, 11, 71, 463
405, 406, 463 Iberian Peninsula 6, 11, 19, 46, 61, 62, 79,
Herat 10, 120, 122, 126, 133, 135, 136 102, 105, 106, 111, 121, 122, 123, 136,
Hermes Trismegistus 447 137, 173, 213, 263, 264, 362, 411, 412
Hermosilla, María José 144, 162 Ibn ʿAbbād, Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Rundī
Hernández, Adday 21 441, 449
Herrero Soto, Omayra 120 Ibn al-Abbār 150, 151, 152, 153, 155, 159, 162,
High Atlas Mountains 124, 214 171, 237, 238, 241, 267, 293
Al-Ḥijārī, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh 261, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Abū ʿUmar Yūsuf b. ʿAbd
262, 264, 265 Allāh 3, 107, 109, 115, 173, 217, 415
546 | Index

Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam 45, 46, 48, 49 Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī, Majd al-Dīn Abū al-
Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, ʿAbd Allāh 215, 415 Saʿādāt al-Mubārak b. Muḥammad 183,
Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Khazrajī 402 184, 185, 186, 187, 194, 366
Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Marrākushī 148, 274 Ibn ʿAṭiyya 220, 408
Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi, Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad b. Ibn ʿAṭiyya, Abū Zakariyyāʾ Hilāl 129
Muḥammad 13, 107, 109, 110, 113, 266, Ibn ʿAṭiyya al-Quḍāʿī, ʿAqīl 129
286 Ibn ʿAttāb, Abū Muḥammad 3
Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām 402, 404 Ibn ʿAwf al-Zuhrī, Abū al-Ṭāhir Ismāʿīl 406,
Ibn Abī al-Aḥwaṣ 223 417, 458
Ibn Abī ʿĀmir (Almanzor). See al-Manṣūr, Ibn ʿAwjān 494
Muḥammad b. Abī ʿĀmir Ibn al-Azraq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b.
Ibn Abī al-Fayyāḍ 107 Muḥammad 527, 528
Ibn Abī Ḥijja 199 Ibn ʿAzrūn, Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. Isḥāq al-
Ibn Abī Jamra, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad 223 Isrāʾīlī 447, 449
Ibn Abī Naṣr al-Bijāʾ ī 461 Ibn ʿAzūz, Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad b.
Ibn Abī Shayba, Abū Bakr 2, 3, 205, 216, 217 Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Anṣārī al-
Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa 358, 359, 360 Tūnisī al-Maghribī 488, 490, 491
Ibn Abī Zarʿ al-Fāsī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Ibn ʿAẓẓūm al-Qayrawānī, ʿAbd al-Jalīl b.
Allāh 131, 136–137 Muḥammad b. Aḥmad 21, 438, 450
Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī 21, 444, 450 Ibn Bahrām al-Ḥalabī. See Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī
Ibn Abī Zayd al-Sabtī 461 Ibn Bahrām al-Ḥalabī
Ibn al-ʿAdīm, Kamāl al-Dīn ʿUmar 17, 186, Ibn al-Bājī, Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿAbd
268, 272, 273, 274, 276, 277 al-ʿAzīz b. ʿAbd al-Malik 3
Ibn ʿAfīf al-Tilimsānī. See al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf Ibn Baqī, Abū Bakr Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
Ibn Aḥlā, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī 107, 108, 115, 326
al-Anṣārī 379 Ibn Baqī, Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad 200, 402,
Ibn al-Aḥmar, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. 403, 404
Muʿāwiya b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān 217 (Ibn) al-Bāqillānī. See Abū Bakr (b.) al-
Ibn al-Aḥmar, Abū al-Walīd 515, 516 Bāqillānī
Ibn Ājurrūm 442, 450 Ibn Barrajān, Abū al-Ḥakam ʿAbd al-Salām 3,
Ibn ʿAmmār 526 220, 380, 381
Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ẓāhirī, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān 174 Ibn Bashkuwāl, Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf b. ʿAbd
Ibn al-ʿArabī, Abū Bakr. See Abū Bakr b. al- al-Malik b. Masʿūd 107, 113, 149, 150,
ʿArabī 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160,
Ibn al-ʿArabī, Muḥyī al-Dīn 3, 11, 14, 19, 20, 161, 163, 171, 174, 179
22, 24, 128, 200, 298, 371, 377, 380, Ibn Bassām 42, 81, 108, 266, 285, 286, 287,
382, 383, 438, 449, 472, 523 293
Ibn ʿArabshāh 524, 525 Ibn Baṭṭāl 423
Ibn ʿArafa, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ibn al-Baṭṭī, Abū al-Fatḥ Muḥammad b. ʿAbd
Muḥammad al-Warghammī 516, 528 al-Bāqī 182, 183, 187, 188, 193
Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾsuh 287 Ibn Baṭṭūṭa 73, 274
Ibn ʿAsākir 180, 221, 268, 466, 469, 470, 471 Ibn al-Bayṭār, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad
Ibn ʿAskar 267, 285, 421 ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad al-Mālaqī 19, 358,
Ibn al-Athīr, ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī 9, 360, 363, 366, 367, 446, 447, 449
10, 11, 45, 71, 102, 104, 106, 107, 108, Ibn Bint al-Aʿazz, Tāj al-Dīn 414, 425
110, 111, 112, 131, 132, 133, 158, 458 Ibn Bishrī 287, 340, 342, 348
 Index | 547

Ibn al-Biṭrīq, Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan al-Asadī al- Ibn Ḥamdīn 145, 146
Ḥillī 182, 193, 194, 195, 196, 199 Ibn Hamūshk al-Tinmalī, Muḥammad 17, 270,
Ibn Burrāl 524 271, 276, 279
Ibn Bushrā. See Ibn Bishrī Ibn Ḥamūya, Tāj al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd
Ibn Dahāq, Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Awsī, Ibn al- Allāh b. ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-
Marʾa 379 Sarakhsī 129, 130, 131, 133, 135
Ibn Diḥya al-Kalbī, Abū al-Khaṭṭāb ʿUmar b. Ibn Ḥanbal 181, 193, 217
al-Ḥasan 1, 23, 128, 162, 163, 288, 423 Ibn Hāniʾ al-Andalusī, Abū al-Qāsim/Abū al-
Ibn Duqmāq, Ibrāhīm 17, 58, 275, 277, 278, Ḥasan Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm 114
518, 523 Ibn Ḥarīra al-Mālaqī 461
Ibn Durayd 366 Ibn Ḥārith al-Khushanī 128
Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī. See al-ʿUmarī, Ibn Ibn Hārūn al-Mālaqī, Abū al-Ḥasan 157
Faḍl Allāh Ibn Hārūn al-Ṭāʾī 402, 403, 404, 406
Ibn Fahd al-Makkī 493 Ibn Ḥawqal 7, 38, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57,
Ibn al-Fakhkhār 130 58, 60, 62, 63, 70, 73, 83, 266
Ibn al-Fanakī, Abū Jaʿfar b. ʿAlī al-Qurṭubī Ibn Ḥayyān 106, 107, 178, 285
240, 241 Ibn Ḥazm 1, 3, 13, 14, 15, 18, 109, 172, 174,
Ibn al-Faqīh 7, 13, 48, 49 177, 188, 191, 199, 200, 217, 285, 293,
Ibn al-Faraḍī 171, 237, 240, 266 413, 422, 447, 449
Ibn Farḥ/Faraḥ al-Ishbīlī (Shihāb al-Dīn Abū Ibn Ḥijjī 518
al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Faraḥ b. Aḥmad b. Ibn Ḥizb Allāh, Muḥammad al-Ṭāʾī al-Wādī
Muḥammad b. Faraḥ al-Ishbīlī al-Lakhmī Āshī 23, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483,
al-Khawlānī al-Shāfiʿī) 21, 435, 448, 449 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491,
Ibn Farḥ al-Qurṭubī. See al-Qurṭubī, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499,
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr b. Farḥ 500, 508
Ibn Farḥūn 20, 158, 159, 161, 162, 274, 406, Ibn Hubayra, ʿAwn al-Dīn Abū al-Muẓaffar
417, 419, 421, 422, 423, 424, 429 Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad al-Shaybānī al-Dūrī
Ibn Farrūkh, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh al- al-Baghdādī 179, 180, 181, 182, 185, 186
Fārisī 41 Ibn Hūd al-Judhāmī. See Ibn Hūd al-
Ibn al-Faṣīḥ al-Hamadhānī 495 Mutawakkil
Ibn Fāṭima 80 Ibn Hūd al-Mutawakkil 79, 257, 259, 260,
Ibn al-Furāt 517, 518 266, 411
Ibn Ghālib 266 Ibn Hudhayl 243
Ibn al-Ghammāz 406 Ibn Hudhayl, Abū Bakr Yaḥyā 492
Ibn Ghulām al-Faras 459, 460, 461 Ibn Hudhayl al-Fazārī, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
Ibn Ḥabāqa al-Khazrajī 268 446, 449
Ibn Ḥabīb al-Dimashqī 101 Ibn ʿIdhārī al-Marrākushī 107, 130
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī 15, 20, 23, 198, 199, Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī 105, 220, 526
200, 228, 229, 230, 403, 404, 405, 406, Ibn Iyās al-Ḥanafī 310, 317, 526
407, 423, 424, 479, 493, 494, 495, 496, Ibn Jābir al-Hawwārī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh
520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 529 Muḥammad al-Aʿmā 438, 449, 479, 480
Ibn al-Ḥājib, ʿUthmān b. Abī Bakr 420, 421, Ibn Jābir al-Jazīrī al-Khaḍrāʾī 461
424, 425, 426 Ibn al-Jallāb al-Baṣrī 416
Ibn al-Ḥājj 220 Ibn Jamāʿa 435
Ibn al-Ḥājj al-ʿAbdarī 421 Ibn Jannān al-Shāṭibī 269
Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Numayrī 485, 486, 487
Ibn Ḥamāda al-Sabtī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh 156, 160
548 | Index

Ibn al-Jawzī, Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ibn al-Khaṭīb, Lisān al-Dīn 67, 86, 130, 152,
Muḥammad b. ʿAlī 181, 182, 183, 185, 153, 159, 161, 162, 163, 268, 274, 279,
186, 187, 188, 192, 196, 199 287, 438, 449, 484, 485, 486, 493, 496,
Ibn al-Jayyāb, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Anṣārī al- 514, 515, 519, 521, 522, 527, 528, 529
Gharnāṭī 438, 449, 490 Ibn Khaṭīb al-Nāṣiriyya 489, 490
Ibn al-Jazarī 246, 481 Ibn Khātima, Aḥmad 481
Ibn Jazla 366 Ibn al-Khaṭīr (Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. al-Khaṭīr b.
Ibn al-Jazzār 361, 366 Abī al-Ḥusayn al-Nuʿmānī al-Ẓahīr) 185
Ibn Jinnī al-Mawṣilī 459, 460 Ibn Khayr 175
Ibn Jubayr, Abū al-Ḥusayn 8, 13, 39, 64, 66, Ibn Khurradādhbih 70
67, 68, 69, 85, 86, 157, 241, 458, 469 Ibn Kumāsha 485
Ibn Juljul 366 Ibn Kuwayk 495
Ibn Jumayl 421 Ibn al-Labbāna, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā
Ibn Jurayj 201, 206 b. Muḥammad 109, 114, 287
Ibn Juzayy, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad 487 Ibn Lubb, Faraj 481
Ibn Juzayy, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh 489, Ibn Lubbūn 287
490 Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ, ʿUbāda 18, 285, 286, 287,
Ibn al-Kardabūs, Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. 288, 292, 293, 298, 302, 306, 307, 310,
Abī al-Qāsim al-Tawzarī 131, 132 311, 314, 317, 321, 324, 325, 326, 330,
Ibn Kathīr 252, 253 333, 340, 343, 344, 347
Ibn Kathīr, ʿImād al-Dīn Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar 132, Ibn al-Maghāzilī 193
158, 160 Ibn Māja 217
Ibn al-Kattānī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad Ibn Mākūlā 13
285 Ibn Mākūlā, Abū Naṣr 173
Ibn Kawthar al-Muḥāribī, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad Ibn Mālik, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh
463 Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Jayyānī 21,
Ibn Khālawayh 251, 252 114, 441, 442, 443, 448, 449
Ibn Khaldūn 13, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24, 56, 220, Ibn Mālik al-Ruʿaynī, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad 479,
222, 275, 286, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 480
404, 407, 408, 419, 423, 485, 486, 497, Ibn Mammātī 108
513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, Ibn al-Marʾa. See Ibn Dahāq
521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, Ibn Mardanīsh, Muḥammad 243
529, 530 Ibn Marzūq 200
Ibn Khallikān, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad 11, 107, Ibn Marzūq, Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh
108, 109, 110, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad 163, 485, 486,
132, 133, 136, 137, 155, 156, 158, 159, 497, 529
160, 161, 162, 249, 273 Ibn Masarra 23
Ibn Khalqān 220 Ibn Masdī al-Gharnāṭī 464
Ibn Khamīs 285 Ibn Masdī al-Muhallabī, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf
Ibn Khamīs, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn 190 438, 449
Ibn Khāqān, Abū Naṣr al-Fatḥ b. Muḥammad Ibn al-Mawwāq 223
107, 108, 109, 113, 145, 147, 148, 151, Ibn Maymūn al-Balawī, Abū al-Ḥasan/Abū
152, 153, 154, 157, 159, 160, 161 ʿAbd Allāh 478, 480, 481, 482, 483,
Ibn al-Kharrāṭ 404 484, 485, 486, 487, 489, 495, 496, 497,
Ibn al-Kharrāṭ, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq 500
al-Ishbīlī 23, 174, 190, 198, 199, 200 Ibn Mufarrij al-Umawī 270
Ibn al-Khashshāb 245 Ibn Mujāhid 249
 Index | 549

Ibn Mawjuwāl al-Balansī 223 Ibn Rushd, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b.

Ibn al-Mulaqqin 198 Muḥammad, al-Ḥafīd (Averroes) 24,
Ibn al-Murābiṭ, Abū ʿAmr Muḥammad 495 422, 444, 449
Ibn Muzayn al-Qurṭubī, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Sabʿīn, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b.
b. ʿUmar b. Ibrāhīm 15, 214, 223, 224, Ibrāhīm 19, 20, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375,
225, 228, 229, 230, 411, 417, 423 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 383, 391,
Ibn Nadī al-Jazarī, Muḥyī al-Dīn Muḥammad 392
271, 275, 276 Ibn Saʿdūn, Abū Bakr Yaḥyā al-Qurṭubī 107,
Ibn al-Nadīm 13 115, 183, 240, 241
Ibn al-Naḥwī, Yūsuf b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf Ibn Sahl al-Azdī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad
al-Tawzarī 440, 450 114
Ibn al-Najjār, Muḥibb al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ibn Sahl al-Isrāʾīlī, Abū Isḥāq 259, 270, 412
Maḥmūd 196 Ibn Saʿīd, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Mūsā b.
Ibn al-Naṣībī, Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh 488, 491, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-ʿAnsī 8,
492 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 64, 65, 79, 80, 81, 82,
Ibn al-Naṣībī, Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar 488, 491, 492, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93,
508 109, 242, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262,
Ibn al-Naṣībī, Kamāl al-Dīn Aḥmad 488 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270,
Ibn al-Naṣībī, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn 488, 491 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278,
Ibn Nujayya, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm b. 279, 286, 288
Naḥā 185 Ibn Saʿīd, Mūsā b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-
Ibn al-Qāḍī al-Miknāsī 163, 275, 527 Malik 79, 257, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264,
Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba 523 265, 266, 267, 270
Ibn al-Qāsim 215, 219, 414, 415 Ibn al-Sakkāk, Abū Yaḥyā Muḥammad b. Abī
Ibn Qāsim al-Ghassānī 481 Ghālib al-Miknāsī al-ʿIyāḍī 516, 517
Ibn al-Qasṭallānī 420 Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī, Taqī al-Dīn Abū
Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī 23, 174, 199 ʿAmr ʿUthmān b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya 191 Kurdī 151, 189, 190, 191, 197, 198, 199,
Ibn al-Qazzāz, Muḥammad b. ʿUbāda 285– 222, 421
286, 292 Ibn Sālim al-Kalāʿī 150, 151
Ibn al-Qifṭī. See al-Qifṭī, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al- Ibn al-Ṣalt, Abū Yaʿqūb b. Shayba 173
Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk 18, 286, 287, 292, 293,
Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī, Muwaffaq al-Dīn 302, 306, 313, 314, 317, 321, 325, 333,
187, 188 343, 347
Ibn Qurqūl 223 Ibn Sarḥān, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbbād al-Maʿāfirī
Ibn Qutayba 14, 47, 178 174, 175, 179
Ibn al-Qūṭiyya 120, 492 Ibn al-Ṣayrafī 525
Ibn Rājiḥ, Najm al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn al-Ṣayrafī, Abū Bakr Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad
b. Muḥammad b. Khalaf al-Maqdisī 187, b. Yūsuf al-Anṣārī al-Gharnāṭī 130
188 Ibn Sayyid al-Nās 157
Ibn Rashīq, ʿIlm al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn Shākir al-Kutubī 274, 288, 292
Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan (or al-Ḥusayn) b. Ibn al-Shammāʿ 404
ʿAtīq 157 Ibn Sharaf al-Dīn, Muḥammad 293, 321, 324
Ibn Riḍwān (ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Ibn Sharīfa, Muḥammad 147
al-ʿAzīz b. Riḍwān b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq) 192 Ibn Shāsh, Jalāl al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh b. Najm al-
Ibn Rushayd 270, 271, 274, 400, 401 Dīn Muḥammad al-Judhāmī al-Saʿdī 417,
Ibn Rushd al-Jadd 3, 146 424
550 | Index

Ibn al-Shāṭ 223 Ibn Ẓāfir al-Ḥaddād 17, 294

Ibn al-Shaykh, Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf al-Balawī Ibn Zarzar 529
455, 456, 457, 458, 459 Ibn Zaydūn, Abū al-Walīd Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh
Ibn Shihāb al-Andalusī, ʿAbd al-Mālik b. b. Aḥmad 107, 112
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Shahīd Ibn al-Zubayr al-Thaqafī 495
al-Qurṭubī 440, 449 Ibn Zuhr al-Ḥafīd, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b.
Ibn al-Shiḥna, Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad 101, ʿAbd al-Malik 107, 114, 288, 298, 326
488, 489, 490 Ibn Zurayq 488
Ibn Shuhayd 7, 285 Ibrahim, Ahmed Fekry 424
Ibn Shujāʿ 244, 245 Ibrāhīm b. Aḥmad b. Ṭarkhān 360
Ibn al-Sīd al-Baṭalyawsī 14 Ibrāhīm b. Idrīs al-Sanūsī al-Ḥasanī al-Fāsī
Ibn Sīdah al-Mursī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. 441, 450
Ismāʿīl 107, 113 Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b.
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) 359, 377 Khaldūn 514
Ibn Sufyān 226 Ibrāhīm b. Tāshfīn b. ʿAlī 145
Ibn Suḥmān 421 Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Aghlab 70
Ibn Sukayna (jr.), Abū Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Wahhāb Al-Ibshīhī 302
b. ʿAlī 184, 187, 189, 196 Idrīs b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-Ṣanhājī 420
Ibn Sukayna (sr.), ʿAlī b. ʿAlī b. ʿUbayd Allāh Idrīs b. ʿAbdallāh 72
b. Abī Manṣūr al-Amīn 184, 187 Al-Idrīsī (al-Sharīf al-Idrīsī) 50, 61, 62, 63, 64,
Ibn Sūrīn 278 69, 80, 84, 85, 214, 365
Ibn al-Suwaydī. See al-Suwaydī Al-Idrīsī, Muḥammad al-Fāṭimī 440, 450
Ibn Taghrībirdī 275, 292, 306, 310, 333, 525, Ifrīqiya 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 44, 47, 48, 49, 55, 63,
526 65, 70, 72, 73, 81, 84, 86, 87, 150, 213,
Ibn Ṭarkhān (Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Ṭarkhān 214, 216, 217, 242, 264, 265, 267, 271,
b. Baltakīn b. Bajkam al-Turkī) 175 278, 358, 362, 366, 413, 418, 420, 423,
Ibn Tāshufīn. See Yūsuf b. Tāshufīn 427
Ibn Ṭāwūs, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī b. Mūsā al- Al-Iftikhār b. al-ʿAdīm 273
Ḥasanī al-Ḥillī 193, 195, 196, 197, 199 ʿIlm al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. al-
Ibn Taymiyya 24, 191, 199, 421, 424 Ḥasan (or al-Ḥusayn) b. ʿAtīq b. Rashīq.
Ibn Ṭulūn 70 See Ibn Rashīq
Ibn Tūmart 12, 72, 124, 422, 423 Al-ʿImād Abū al-Ḥasan (Abū Muḥammad) ʿAbd
Ibn ʿUbayd Allāh 150 al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-
Ibn ʿUmar, Shihāb al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī al-Shāfiʿī al-Makkī 193
Ismāʿīl al-Ḥijāzī 302 ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī 153, 154, 156, 157,
Ibn Waḍḍāḥ, Muḥammad al-Qurṭubī 216, 217, 159, 160, 161, 241, 294, 296, 297
240, 444, 445, 449 Al-Imām al-Ṭarābulusī. See ʿAlī b. Ziyād al-
Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī. See al-Yaʿqūbī, Ibn Tūnisī
Wāḍiḥ Imām al-Yāfiʿī. See al-Yāfiʿī
Ibn Wahb 202, 415 India 3, 36, 48, 61, 83, 85, 90, 119, 217, 470,
Ibn Wahīb al-Andalusī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Mālik 530
b. Yaḥyā 113 Indian Ocean 52, 53
Ibn al-Walī al-Balansī 461 Indonesia 448
Ibn al-Wardī, Zayn al-Dīn ʿUmar b. Muẓaffar Indus 83
101, 157, 158, 160, 330, 333 Iran 10, 17, 35, 51, 53, 54, 60, 119, 122, 126,
Ibn Yāqūt al-Iskandarī al-Muqriʾ al-Mālikī 461 135, 136, 187, 269, 470, 530
Ibn Yūnus 13
 Index | 551

Iraq 7, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 56, 57, 59, 60, 67, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b.
69, 70, 83, 84, 86, 122, 155, 159, 160, Abī Bakr b. Khaṭlakh al-Fārisī al-Urmawī
162, 173, 174, 185, 187, 189, 194, 215, 272
244, 251, 252, 275, 361, 455, 530 Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAlī b.
Al-ʿIrāqī, Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. al- Muḥammad Kāshānī 121
Ḥusayn 197, 198, 405 Jamāl al-Dīn al-Amīr Mūsā Ibn Yaghmūr 267
Irbil 151, 155, 159, 189 Jamāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd b. ʿAlī al-Ustādār. See
Irwin, Robert 521, 522, 523 Maḥmūd al-Ustādār
ʿĪsā b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Lakhmī 438 Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf al-Ṣūfī al-Khaṭīb 306, 333
ʿĪsā b. Luṭf Allāh 321 Jamāl al-Ghīṭānī 325
ʿĪsā b. Makhlūf b. ʿĪsā al-Maghīlī 420 James I of Aragon 150
ʿĪsā b. Makkī 245 Jāmī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Nūr al-Dīn 133, 134,
ʿIsā b. Ṭalḥa 203 135, 137
Isbījāb 55 Jarīr b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Bajalī, Abū ʿAmr 205
Isfahan 51, 154, 159 Játiva 238, 242, 243
Ismāʿīl b. Abī ʿUways 202 Jawhar 73
Ismāʿīl b. Isḥāq al-Mālikī al-Azdī. See al-Qāḍī Al-Jawzaqī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿAbd
Ismāʿīl al-Baghdādī Allāh 176, 186, 191
Ismāʿīl I (Naṣrid ruler) 104 Al-Jazarī (Muḥyī al-Dīn b. Nadī). See Ibn Nadī
Ismāʿīl I (Ṣafavid ruler) 122 al-Jazarī
Ismāʿīl al-Ṣāliḥ (Ayyūbid ruler) 425 Jazira (al-Jazīra) 53, 56, 275
Al-Ismāʿīlī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm 178, Al-Jazūlī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b.
181, 189, 198, 199, 201 Sulaymān b. Abī Bakr al-Samlālī 21,
Al-Iṣṭakhrī 51, 52, 53, 60, 63, 70 438, 450
Istanbul 20, 192, 371, 375, 376, 377, 378, Al-Jazzār 287
379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 464 Jeppie, Shamil 437
Italy 39 Jerusalem 102, 185, 186, 189, 241, 361, 458,
Ito, Takao 23 463, 465, 466, 481, 482, 485, 486, 493,
ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā al-Yaḥṣubī. See al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ 494
ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Jesus 102, 380, 394
Ibn al-Wazīr 194 Jibal (Jibāl) 47, 53, 56, 84
ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām 420 Jidda 87
ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Mawṣilī, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Jimata 437, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447
Abī Bakr 317 Job 466
Al-ʿIzz Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Ghanī 185 Jones, Alan 341
Jordan 48
Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr al-Anṣārī 177, 183 Juan (infante of Castile) 104
Jābir b. Samura 195 Jurjan (Jurjān) 59, 83
Jackson, Sherman A. 414 Al- Juwaynī 23
Jaén 114, 147, 153
Jaʿfar b. Abī Ṭālib 194 Kaʿb al-Aḥbār 203
Al-Jalīlī, Maḥmūd 519 Kaʿba 57, 69
Jālūt (Goliath) 88 Kabul 85
Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al- Kairouan 41, 47, 48, 49, 50, 62, 85, 173, 213,
Masīlī 420 216, 218, 239, 362, 441, 467
Kamāl al-Dīn Aḥmad. See Ibn al-Naṣībī, Kamāl
al-Dīn Aḥmad
552 | Index

Al-Kāmil b. al-ʿĀdil (Ayyūbid ruler). See al- Locubín 279

Malik al-Kāmil Loja 492
Karīma al-Marwaziyya 174, 194 London 80, 123
Käs, Fabian 361 Lorca 149, 153
Kāshān 459 Lower Egypt 48
Kennedy, Hugh 43
Kerman (Kirmān) 56, 59, 83, 84, 85 Al-Maʿāfirī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad
Khadīja 194 b. Jamīl al-Mālaqī 241, 465, 466, 472
Khaldūn (Ibn Khaldūn's ancestor) 514, 521, Maʿarrat al-Nuʿmān 158, 160, 330
525 Macedonia 62
Khalīl 366 Maghrib 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15,
Khalīl b. Isḥāq al-Jundī 424, 425, 426 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 36, 40, 41, 42,
Khalīl b. ʿUmar al-Muḥtāj al-Ashʿarī 277 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55,
Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī 173 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66,
Al-Khaṭṭābī, Abū Sulaymān b. Muḥammad 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 81, 82, 83, 84,
219, 220 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 103,
Al-Khawlānī, Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik 173 110, 111, 119, 120, 121, 128, 129, 132, 135,
Al-Khazrajī. See Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Khazrajī 136, 137, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149,
Khorasan (Khurasān) 42, 43, 47, 50, 54, 55, 151, 152, 159, 161, 162, 163, 164, 173,
57, 59, 69, 83, 85, 215, 242, 470 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 220, 222,
Khūzistān 56, 83, 84 223, 224, 226, 228, 230, 238, 240, 242,
Khvāndamīr, Ghiyās al-Dīn Muḥammad 10, 257, 258, 264, 266, 268, 279, 358, 362,
11, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 366, 372, 399, 401, 403, 407, 412, 413,
128, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424,
Khwārizm 55, 57 425, 426, 427, 435, 438, 440, 441, 444,
Kirmān. See Kerman 456, 459, 461, 463, 466, 477, 481, 483,
Al-Kisāʾī, ʿAlī 252, 253 485, 486, 493, 495, 514, 516, 517, 519,
Al-Kōhēn al-ʿAṭṭār 366 527, 528, 529
Kohlberg, Etan 195 Al-Maghrib al-aqṣā 48, 63, 72, 84, 418
Kropp, Manfred 84 Al-Maghrib al-awsaṭ 418
Kufa 50 Al-Mahdawī, Abū al-ʿAbbās b. ʿAmmār 239
Al-Kurūkhī, ʿAbd al-Mālik b. Abī al-Qāsim al- Al-Mahdiyya 220, 230
Qazzāz al-Harawī 463, 464 Maḥmūd al-Ustādār (Jamāl al-Dīn Maḥmūd b.
ʿAlī) 494, 517, 518
La Peza (Labasa) 491 Maimonides. See Mūsā b. Maymūn al-Qurṭubī
Laroui, Abdallah 2, 5 Majorca / Mallorca 114, 172, 406
Las Navas de Tolosa 128, 411, 412 Al-Majūsī 359
Lebanon 361, 362 Makkī b. Abī Ṭālib al-Qaysī al-Qayrawānī 16,
Lebda 40 239
Leclerc, Lucien 360, 361 Málaga 148, 152, 153, 241, 265, 285, 358,
Lecomte, Gérard 47 362, 421, 455, 461
Leiden 438, 470 Malatya 472
Leipzig 99, 488 Malaysia 448
Leiser, Gary 458 Al-Malik al-ʿĀdil. See al-ʿĀdil I
León 125, 130 Al-Malik al-Ashraf (Ayyūbid ruler) 190
Lev, Yaacob 40 Al-Malik al-ʿAzīz ʿUthmān (Ayyūbid ruler) 185
Libya 2, 40, 58, 213, 214
 Index | 553

Mālik b. Anas 20, 23, 41, 183, 215, 216, 219, 199, 200, 213, 214, 215, 223, 224, 225,
399, 401, 403, 407, 412, 413, 415, 417, 228, 230,240, 251, 262, 371, 400, 406,
524 407, 421, 455, 456, 457, 464, 466, 467,
Mālik b. Yukhāmir 202, 203 477, 478, 486, 487, 493, 495, 496, 497,
Al-Malik al-Kāmil (Ayyūbid ruler) 162, 275 514, 517, 524, 527, 529
Al-Malik al-Muʾayyad (Mamlūk sultan) 278 Al-Masʿūdī 42, 43, 46
Al-Malik al-Nāṣir (Ayyūbid ruler) 268, 272, Al-Mawṣilī, Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar b. Badr 186
273, 276 Al-Mawṣilī, Aḥmad b. Ḥasan 306, 333
Al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb (Ayyūbid Al-Māzarī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī
ruler) 17, 267, 269, 414 al-Tamīmī 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225,
Al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī (Ayyūbid ruler) 154 226, 227, 230, 426
Mallorca. See Majorca Mazyār (ruler of Tabaristan) 44
Maʿmar 202 Mazzoli-Guintard, Christine 82
Al-Maʾmūn (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 42, 43, 417 Mecca 17, 20, 21, 47, 48, 49, 53, 66, 67, 68,
Al-Manāwī, ʿAbd al-Raʾūf 230 69, 86, 125, 126, 135, 136, 150, 173, 177,
Al-Manṣūr (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 413 179, 184, 193, 216, 239, 240, 241, 243,
Al-Manṣūr (Almohad caliph). See Abū Yūsuf 260, 268, 269, 367, 372, 373, 406, 437,
Yaʿqūb b. Yūsuf al-Manṣūr 447, 448, 459, 463, 464, 469, 472, 480,
Al-Manṣūr (Ayyūbid ruler) 306 523, 529
Al-Manṣūr, Muḥammad b. Abī ʿĀmir Medina 41, 47, 49, 158, 161, 173, 201, 203,
(Almanzor) 10, 103, 144 215, 216, 221, 239, 243, 252, 401, 406,
Al-Maqqarī, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās 407, 417, 463, 485
Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Tilimsānī 10, Mediterranean Sea 53, 54, 57, 62, 63, 65, 66,
89, 92, 132, 133, 135, 137, 144, 145, 159, 67, 69, 120, 136, 213, 455, 456, 457, 459,
242, 261, 264, 268, 269, 271, 272, 273, 466
275, 276, 277, 278, 333, 438, 439, 442, Mesopotamia 215, 361
450, 528, 529 Messenger [of God]. See Muḥammad
Al-Maqrīzī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī 8, 58, 65, 80, 89, (prophet)
91, 92, 110, 275, 277, 403, 519, 520, 521, Messiah 91
522, 525, 526, 528, 529, 530 Meyerhof, Max 357, 361
Al-Marāghī, Abū al-Fatḥ b. Abī Bakr b. al- Middle East 18, 361, 367
Ḥusayn 524 Milyāna 214
Marçais, Georges 50 Al-Mintawrī 175
Al-Marīnī, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad 135, 137 Miquel, André 52, 56, 59, 70
Al-Marj 58 Mīrkhvānd, Muḥammad b. Khvāndshāh 120,
Marrakesh 7, 119, 124, 134, 135, 145, 146, 122
163, 421, 463 Miṣr 483, 487, 489
Al-Marrākushī. See ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al- Al-Mizzī, Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Marrākushī Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Abī Ṭālib al-
Martinez-Gros, Gabriel 54, 63 Anṣārī al-Dimashqī 366
Marw 189 Molina, Luis 4, 9, 45, 46, 106, 120, 262, 263,
Marwa 201 419, 497
Mashriq 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15, 18, 22, 36, 40, Morocco 2, 48, 63, 70, 71, 124, 129, 144, 145,
42, 45, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 214, 215, 292, 418, 445, 457, 463, 528
61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, Moses 91, 102
74, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 92, 143, 144, 149, Mosul 17, 131, 183, 184, 186, 189, 191, 240,
154, 155, 156, 161, 162, 164, 172, 175, 241, 268, 269, 276
554 | Index

Muʿādh b. Jabal 177, 202, 203 Muḥammad b. Juzayy al-Kalbī al-Gharnaṭī

Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān 176, 178, 182, 201, 223
202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 258 Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd 286
Al-Muʿaẓẓam (Ayyūbid ruler) 189 Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Amīr 277
Mubārak, Ḥusnī 325 Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Qaṣṣāṣ al-
Al-Muḍawwī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Miṣrī al-Bakrī al-Wafāʾī 277
Akaddāwī al-Qināwī al-Miṣrī 439 Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Marrākushī
Muḥammad (Ibn Abī Zayd al-Sabtī's son) 461 223
Muḥammad (Ibn Khaldūn's son) 521, 528 Muḥammad b. al-Muthannā 201
Muḥammad (prophet) 12, 13, 21, 61, 91, 102, Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad
109, 135, 146, 157, 163, 177, 185, 193, b. Raḥīma al-Kinānī al-Shāṭibī 415
194, 195, 196, 197, 201, 202, 203, 204, Muḥammad b. Sharaf al-Dīn. See Ibn Sharaf
205, 206, 213, 246, 247, 258, 317, 381, al-Dīn
382, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395, 402, 438, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf 244, 245
443, 445, 447, 515 Muḥammad b. Zarqūn 199
Muḥammad Amān 443 Muḥammad al-Bakrī al-Ṣiddīqī 440
Muḥammad al-Amīn b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf al- Muḥammad al-Fāsī 445, 450
Hararī al-Buwayṭī al-Shāfiʿī al-Urumī al- Muḥammad I (Naṣrid ruler) 259, 422. See
ʿAlawī 442, 443 also Muḥammad Ibn Naṣr
Muḥammad al-Andalusī al-Tiṭwānī 18, 348 Muḥammad Ibn Ḥizb Allāh al-Wādī Āshī. See
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Saʿīd 262 Ibn Ḥizb Allāh, Muḥammad al-Ṭāʾī al-
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Bājarbaqī Wādī
191 Muḥammad Ibn Naṣr (future Muḥammad I)
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Khaldūn 79. See also Muḥammad I
514 Muḥammad II (Naṣrid ruler) 495
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saraqusṭī Muḥammad al-Mahdī al-Fāsī (Muḥammad al-
245 Mahdī b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf al-Fāsī)
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Aghmātī 438, 450
463 Muḥammad al-Salāmī 488
Muḥammad b. Abī Usāma 294 Muḥammad V (Naṣrid ruler) 520
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Anṣārī al-Mayūrqī Muḥyī al-Dīn b. Nadī al-Jazarī. See Ibn Nadī al-
471 Jazarī
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Bārī al-Ahdal Al-Muʿizz (Fāṭimid caliph) 416, 423
442 Al-Muʿizz ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak al-Turkmānī al-
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al- Ṣāliḥī (Mamlūk sultan) 422
Mawṣilī al-Ḥanbalī. See Shuʿla Mukarram b. Saʿīd 287
Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Madgharī al-Ḥasanī Mukhtār b. Abbā Jihād 443, 447
439 Mundhir b. Saʿīd al-Ballūṭī (Abū al-Ḥakam
Muḥammad b. Hamūshk al-Tinmalī. See Ibn Mundhir b. Saʿīd b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ballūṭī)
Hamūshk al-Tinmalī 114
Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā. See al-Tamīmī, Abū ʿAbd Muqaddam b. Muʿāfā 286
Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā Al-Muqaddasī 7, 51, 52, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60,
Muḥammad b. ʿIyāḍ, Abū ʿAbd Allāh 144, 63, 70, 83, 84, 87
146, 147, 148, 151, 152, 153, 159, 160, Al-Muqtafī (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 179
161, 162, 163 Al-Murādī, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĪsā b. ʿUbayd Allāh
Muḥammad b. Jubayr b. Muṭʿim 204 b. ʿĪsā al-Ishbīlī 468, 469, 472
 Index | 555

Murcia 79, 113, 128, 145, 150, 200, 257, 259, Naṣr Allāh al-Baghdādī 408
371, 372, 379 Navāʾī, Mīr ʿAlī Shīr 133
Mūsā. See Moses Nawā 155, 159
Mūsā b. ʿAlī al-Iskandarānī 296 Al-Nawājī 302, 333
Mūsā b. Maymūn al-Qurṭubī (Maimonides) Al-Nawawī, Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā b. Sharaf 15,
22, 358 155, 159, 162, 190, 222, 225, 226, 227,
Mūsā Ibn Saʿīd. See Ibn Saʿīd, Mūsā b. 228
Muḥammad Al-Nayfar, Muḥammad al-Shādhilī 220
Al-Musawi, Muhsin J. 530 Near East 38
Muslim (Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAsākir al-Dīn Muslim Nef, Annliese 64
b. al-Ḥajjāj) 14, 15, 172, 174, 176, 177, Neuwirth, Angelika 251
178, 180, 181, 185, 189, 190, 192, 195, Niger 439
197, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 214, 217, Nihavand 51
218, 220, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, Nile 43, 82, 85, 89, 215, 458, 522
228, 230, 421, 423, 467, 468 Nile Delta 42, 43, 45
Al-Mustaḍīʾ (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 243 Nimr 205
Al-Mustanjid (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 179, 181 Nishapur 51, 176, 189
Al-Mustanṣir, Abū ʿAbd Allāh (Ḥafṣid ruler) Noguchi, Maiko 12
269 Nöldeke, Theodor 250
Al-Mustarshid (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 194 North Africa 7, 10, 17, 35, 40, 42, 46, 47, 53,
Al-Muʿtaḍid al-Bājī 79 56, 57, 60, 62, 63, 65, 71, 72, 84, 86, 87,
Al-Muʿtamid (ʿAbbādid ruler) 7, 107, 108, 109 103, 125, 127, 129, 133, 150, 162, 173,
Al-Muʿtamid (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 70 199, 214, 218, 244, 249, 264, 265, 267,
Al-Mutanabbī, Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad b. al- 269, 273, 278, 362, 367, 413, 418, 420,
Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī 130, 131, 133 421, 437, 438, 487
Al-Muʿtaṣim (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 42, 43, 44 Al-Nubāhī. See al-Bunnāhī
Al-Muʿtaṣim b. Ṣumādiḥ 286 Nubia 18, 48, 361
Muẓaffar al-ʿAylānī 18, 302, 347 Al-Nuʿmān. See al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān
Al-Nuʿmāniyya 185
Nāfiʿ 239, 252 Nūr al-Dīn b. Zangī (Zangid ruler) 126, 153
Nāfiʿ b. Jubayr 205 Al-Nuwayrī, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-
Al-Nafzī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad 242, 243 Wahhāb al-Bakrī al-Tamīmī 132
Al-Nahāwandī, Abū Naṣr ʿAbd al-Malik b. (Abī)
Muslim b. Abī Naṣr al-Hamadānī 179 Oman 361
Nahrawan 51 Oumlil, Ali 522
Al-Najamī, Khālid b. ʿAlī 173, 174 Oxford 80, 99, 446, 461, 462
Najd 361 Oxus 57
Najm al-Dīn al-Bālisī 406
Najm al-Rayḥānī 268 Padillo-Saoud, Abdenour 5, 9
Al-Nasāʾī 184, 217, 495 Palestine 48, 60, 88, 361, 362
Al-Nāṣir (ʿAbbāsid caliph) 9 Paris 80
Al-Nāṣir Faraj (Mamlūk sultan) 525 Patna 470, 471
Al-Nāṣir al-Malik (Ayyūbid ruler). See al-Malik Pavia 440
al-Nāṣir Pedro (infante of Castile) 104
Al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn (Mamlūk Pedro I of Castile 104, 520, 528, 529
sultan) 100, 407 Persia 83, 102, 162, 215
Al-Nāṣir Yūsuf. See al-Malik al-Nāṣir Persian Gulf 52
556 | Index

Petrone, Michele 437, 439 Al-Qifṭī, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī 154,
Pouzet, Louis 128 155, 159
Princeton 189, 488 Queen of Sheba 466
Prophet Muḥammad. See Muḥammad Al-Qurṭī 266
(prophet) Al-Qurṭubī, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b.
Ptolemy. See Claudius Ptolemy Ibrāhīm. See Ibn Muzayn al-Qurṭubī
Al-Qurṭubī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr
Al-Qābisī, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī 218, 230 b. Farḥ al-Anṣārī al-Khazrajī 423, 443,
Al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil, Abū ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Raḥīm b. ʿAlī 449
al-Baysānī 244, 246, 417 Qusanṭīna 481, 485
Al-Qāḍī Ibn al-Shiḥna al-Ḥalabī. See Ibn al- Quṭb al-Dīn Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Aḥmad
Shiḥna, Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-
Al-Qāḍī Ismāʿīl al-Baghdādī 416 Qasṭalānī 268
Al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (Abū al-Faḍl ʿIyāḍ b. Mūsā b. Quṭb al-Dīn Mūsā b. Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī 188
ʿIyāḍ b. ʿAmrūn al-Yaḥṣubī al-Sabtī) 11,
12, 13, 15, 20, 41, 73, 143, 144, 145, 146, Raḥīm, Miqdād 287
147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, Al-Rahūnī 421
155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 163, Al-Rāʿī al-Gharnāṭī (Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd
164, 173, 179, 214, 220, 223, 224, 225, Allāh Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b.
226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 418, 419, 428, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Rāʿī al-Gharnāṭī
445, 449 al-Andalusī al-Maghribī al-Qāhirī al-
Al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān 416 Naḥwī al-Mālik) 411, 412, 413, 418, 427
Al-Qāhira 73, 483. See also Cairo Al-Ramādī, Yūsuf b. Hārūn 286, 287
Al-Qalānisī, Abū Muḥammad Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Rapoport, Yossef 414
al-Ḥasan b. al-Mughīra b. ʿAbd al- Al-Raqīq 266
Raḥmān 226 Rashīd al-Dīn Fażlallāh Hamadānī 121, 122
Qalʿat Banī Saʿīd. See Alcalá la Real Rayy 51, 59, 83
Qalʿat Yaḥṣub. See Alcalá la Real Al-Rāzī 366
Qalāwūn 155 Al-Rāzī, Aḥmad 62
Al-Qalqashandī 8, 58, 80, 275, 520, 528 Razīn b. Muʿāwiya, Abū al-Ḥasan (or Ḥusayn)
Qālūn 253 al-ʿAbdarī 184, 185, 186, 193
Al-Qarāfī, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Red Sea 87
b. Idrīs b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd Allāh Regourd, Anne 446
al-Qarāfī al-Ṣanhājī 415, 420, 423, 425 Reynolds, Dwight F. 478
Qāsim b. Aṣbagh 216, 218, 230 Ribāḥ 127
Qāsim b. Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Qādirī al-Barāwī Richardson, Kristina 478
440 Ricote 371
Qāsiyūn (Jabal) 480 Riḍwān b. Walkhashī 458
Al-Qasṭallānī, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad 16, 228, Riedel, Dagmar 12
242, 246, 247 Al-Riḥāb 56, 84
Qasṭīliya 50 Roger II of Sicily 63
Qatāda 201 Romanov, Maxim 5, 11
Qays 43 Rome 62
Qazvin / Qazwin 51, 189 Rosenthal, Franz 526, 530
Al-Qazwīnī 85 Rowson, Everett K. 47
Qifṭ 85, 154, 159 Al-Rūmī, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Dammūn
b. Muṣṭafā 191
 Index | 557

Sabra, Abdelhamid I. 22 Al-Sanūsī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b.

Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ 177 Yūsuf b. ʿUmar b. Shuʿayb 21, 223, 224,
Saʿd al-Dīn Saʿīd 488 225, 439, 448, 450
Saʿd al-Khayr, Abū al-Ḥasan (Abū al-Ḥasan Sarakhs 51
Saʿd al-Khayr Muḥammad b. Sahl) 180, Ṣarghitmish 408
183, 186, 190 Sato, Kentaro 5, 20
Al-Ṣadafī, Abū ʿAlī 145, 146, 151, 163, 179, Saudi Arabia 243
230 Sawād (of Iraq) 194
Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī 380 Sawda 192
Ṣafad 157, 160 Sayyidī ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Qayrawānī. See ʿAbd
Al-Ṣafadī, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Khalīl b. Aybak 17, al-Ḥaqq al-Qayrawānī
128, 131, 157, 160, 273, 274, 276, 277, Semah, David 321
278, 288, 292, 299, 306, 310, 313, 314, Setif 57
325, 326, 330, 333, 336, 343, 344, 347 Seville 7, 79, 108, 113, 114, 115, 123, 147, 149,
Ṣafī al-Dīn b. Abī al-Manṣūr b. Ẓāfir 135 153, 157, 173, 200, 259, 265, 278, 362,
Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī 317 469, 529
Sahara 63, 145, 457 Sezgin, Fuat 221
Al-Ṣāḥib b. ʿAbbād 13 Al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf, Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad
Sahl b. Mālik 479 b. ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī 372
Saḥnūn 145, 216, 219, 458 Shabṭūn, Ziyād b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Lakhmī
Al-Sāʾib 205 216
Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib, Abū Muḥammad 201 Al-Shāfiʿī 69, 152, 415, 416, 419, 455
Saʿīd b. Zayd 177 Al-Shām 202, 203
Al-Sakhāwī, ʿAlam al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan 243, Shams al-Dīn (Muḥyī al-Dīn b. Nadī al-Jazarī's
244, 245, 253, 471 father) 275
Al-Sakhāwī, Shams al-Dīn 198, 199, 275, 278, Sharaf al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Yūsuf
317, 404, 490, 524, 525, 526, 527 al-Tīfāshī. See al-Tīfāshī
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī's Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAlī b. Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī 188,
father) 190 199
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn b. Ayyūb (Saladin) 9, 10, 39, 68, Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī
111, 126, 153, 154, 185, 241, 243, 244, al-Faḍl al-Sulamī al-Mursī 379
417, 418, 420, 455, 458, 465 Al-Shaʿrānī 359
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Ibn al-Naṣībī. See Ibn al-Naṣībī, Al-Shaʿrānī, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb 443, 458
Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Al-Sharīf Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Ḥanafī al-
Salama b. al-Akwaʿ 195 Ḥamawī 277
Al-Salāmī, Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad b. Nāṣir b. Al-Sharīf al-Fāsī 437, 450
Muḥammad b. ʿAlī 182, 195 Al-Sharīf al-Idrīsī. See al-Idrīsī
Salé 215 Al-Sharīf al-Karakī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmrān b.
Salibi, Kamal S. 415, 418, 421 Mūsā 420
Al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb. See al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Al-Sharīf al-Sallāwī al-Idrīsī 223, 224
Salobreña 109, 273 Al-Sharīf al-Tilimsānī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Samarkand / Samarqand 83, 524 Muḥammad b. Aḥmad 516, 517
Samarra 42, 43, 47, 180 Shāṭiba. See Játiva
Santarém 108 Al-Shāṭibī, Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā al-
Santás de Arcos, Iria 5, 16 Lakhmī 444, 449
Al-Shāṭibī, Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh b. Khalaf
15, 16, 238, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246,
558 | Index

247, 249, 251, 252, 253, 423, 424, 443, Subayʿa 192
444, 449 Al-Subkī, Taqī al-Dīn 424
Shāwar b. Mujīr 458 Sudan 21, 437, 444, 447
Al-Shāwī al-Fāsī 84 Al-Suhaylī, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b.
Al-Shaybānī 38, 41, 69 ʿAbd Allāh 440, 450
Shaykh Ḥabīb 436 Sulṭān-Ḥusayn Bāyqarā (Tīmūrid ruler) 133
Al-Shihāb Aḥmad b. Khalūf al-Qayrawānī Sūs (Sous) 48, 57, 124, 214
441, 450 Susiana 83
Shihāb al-Dīn Abū Jaʿfar al-ʿAjamī 488 Suuse 441, 442
Shihāb al-Dīn al-ʿAzāzī. See al-ʿAzāzī, Shihāb Al-Suwaydāʾ 358
al-Dīn Al-Suwaydī, ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq b.
Al-Shihāb al-Ṭūsī, Abū al-Fatḥ 185, 186 Muḥammad b. Ṭarkhān 18, 19, 358, 359,
Shiraz 185 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367
Shuʿba 205 Al-Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn 14, 162, 172, 221, 225,
Shuhda (Ibn al-ʿAdīm's daughter) 186 231, 275, 277, 401, 526, 529
Shuʿla, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Syria 7, 10, 17, 18, 19, 35, 43, 48, 49, 53, 56,
al-Mawṣilī al-Ḥanbalī 444 57, 59, 60, 67, 68, 72, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87,
Shurayḥ al-Ruʿaynī 14, 200 89, 91, 126, 158, 160, 162, 173, 185, 244,
Al-Shushtarī, Abū al-Ḥasan 372, 375, 383 260, 288, 292, 293, 302, 330, 347, 358,
Sībawayh 471 361, 362, 405, 464, 466, 467, 469, 524,
Sibṭ b. al-Jawzī 188 528, 529, 530
Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Abū Dharr Aḥmad b.
Ibrāhīm 479, 491, 492 Al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar 42, 44, 46, 61, 70, 106,
Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī, Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm 121
478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 486, Tabaristan (Ṭabaristān) 53, 59, 83, 258, 456
487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 495, Al-Tabbāʿ, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz 439, 450
496, 497, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, Al-Tādhilī / al-Tādilī, Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm b.
505, 506, 507, 508 Muḥammad 518
Sicily 40, 52, 53, 56, 57, 63, 72, 86, 362, 365 Al-Tādilī, Ibn al-Zayyāt 151, 152
Sijilmasa 48, 129 Tādlā 145
Sijistan 54, 59, 83, 215 Al-Tāhartī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī 144
Al-Silafī, Abū Ṭāhir 200, 244, 417, 455, 456, Tahert 48, 49, 50, 63
459 Talbi, Muhammad 40, 41, 42, 72
Sind / Sindh 49, 56, 57, 59, 83, 84, 85, 215 Ṭalḥa 177
Al-Ṣinhājī, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz 110 Ṭālūt 120
Sirāj b. ʿAbd al-Malik 145, 146 Al-Tamīmī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā
Sirte 84 144, 157
Sistan 215. See also Sijistan Tangiers 55
Somaliland 436, 440 Al-Ṭanjī, Muḥammad b. Tāwīt 515
Sourdel, Dominique 464 Al-Tanūkhī, Ibrāhīm 404, 405, 406
Sourdel, Janine 464 Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd 490
Southwest Asia 448 Taqī al-Dīn al-Ijnāʾī 421
Spain 40, 45, 122, 124, 130, 218, 324 Taqī al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Spies, Otto 221 Muḥammad b. Aḥmad 187, 188, 190
Stern, Samuel Miklos 333 Tarifa 481
Strait of Gibraltar 7, 87, 130, 457 Ṭāriq b. Ziyād 120, 171
Stroomer, Harry 439 Al-Ṭarsūsī 413
 Index | 559

Tāshfīn/Tāshufīn b. ʿAlī (Almoravid ruler) ʿUbayd Allāh b. Salama 237

130, 145 Ubayy b. Kaʿb 177, 181
Al-Thaʿālibī, Abū al-Manṣūr 154, 266, 293 Ubayy b. Mālik 181
Al-Thaʿlabī 193 Al-Ubbī al-Tūnisī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh 223, 224,
Al-Thawrī 216 225
Thessalia 62 Al-ʿUdhrī, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad 62, 173
Thrace 62 Ul-Hasan, Mahmood 107
Tīfāsh 271 Al-ʿUlaymī, Mujīr al-Dīn 494, 496
Al-Tīfāshī, Sharaf al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ullmann, Manfred 359
b. Yūsuf 17, 267, 271, 272, 273, 276, 279 ʿUmar b. ʿAṭāʾ b. Abī al-Juwār 205
Tigris 42 ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb 173, 177, 185, 193, 196,
Al-Tijānī, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Muḥammad 205, 206
b. al-Mukhtār 436, 446, 450 ʿUmar b. Muḥammad al-Shalawbīnī. See Abū
Tije 437 ʿAlī al-Shalawbīnī
Tīmūr 408, 519, 521, 523, 524, 530 Al-ʿUmarī, Ibn Faḍl Allāh 8, 65, 80, 83, 89,
Tinmal 12 90, 91, 93, 110, 157, 160, 258, 263, 274,
Tinnīs 85 276, 277
Al-Tirmidhī 163, 181, 184, 217, 221, 463 ʿUmayr b. Hāniʾ 202
Tixier, Emanuelle 62 Umm Ḥabība 192
Tlemcen 124, 133, 134, 163, 220, 421, 426, Umm Hāniʾ 192
516, 528 Umm Ḥarām al-Ghumayṣāʾ bt. Milḥān b.
Toba 437 Khālid al-Khazrajiyya 177
Todros Abulafia 326 Umm Salama 192
Toledo 103, 265 Upper Egypt 48, 154, 159, 418, 424
Tortosa 114 Upper Mesopotamia 215
Toy, Orhan 435 Al-ʿUqbīn. See Locubín
Trad, Khaoula 15 Ushrūsana 43, 55
Transoxania / Transoxiana 47, 54, 55, 57, 59, Al-ʿUtbī 3
83, 187, 215, 249 ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān 177
Tripoli (Ṭarābulus al-Gharb) 40, 50, 477 ʿUways, ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm 174
Tripoli (Ṭarābulus al-Shām) 414 Uzbekistan 43
Tripolitania 71
Al-Tujībī, al-Qāsim b. Yūsuf al-Sabtī 192, 193, Vajda, George 463
222, 402, 403 Valencia 128, 150, 153, 162, 180, 192, 238,
Ṭulayb b. Kāmil al-Lakhmī 215 240, 243, 245, 461
Tunis 17, 79, 130, 131, 150, 260, 267, 269, Valley of Ricote 259
270, 273, 362, 372, 399, 402, 403, 404, Vidal Castro, Francisco 446
405, 406, 413, 418, 421, 477, 481, 488, Villaverde Amieva, Juan Carlos 18
515, 516, 518, 521, 528
Tunisia 2, 6, 158, 213, 457 Al-Waḍḥ 88
Turkey 383 Wādī Āsh. See Guadix
Al-Ṭurṭūshī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. al-Walīd Al-Wādī Āshī (Ibn Jābir al-Wādī Āshī) 402,
b. Muḥammad, Ibn Abī Randaqa 20, 114, 403, 404, 406
406, 414, 417, 419, 424, 458 Al-Wakīʿī 3
Al-Walīd b. Bakr b. Makhlad, Abū al-ʿAbbās
ʿUbāda Ibn Māʾ al-Samāʾ. See Ibn Māʾ al- 115
Samāʾ Walker, Paul E. 44
560 | Index

Wallo 436, 443 Yūnus b. Yazīd 202

Wārqalān 84 Yūshaʿ 91
Al-Warrāq 62 Yūsuf 91
Warsh 239, 240, 252 Yūsuf b. Dūnās al-Findalāwī 469
Warukko 437, 439, 441 Yūsuf b. Tāshufīn (Almoravid ruler) 6, 11, 104,
Wasit 173, 182, 185, 194 125, 130
Al-Waṭwāṭ 366 Yūsuf b. ʿUmar al-Tajrāwī al-Hararī 439
Winter, Michael 418 Yūsuf b. Zīrī 55
Yūsuf Katkhudāh 246, 247
Al-Yāfiʿī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Asʿad ʿAfīf al-Dīn 11,
125, 126, 127, 128, 132, 134, 135, 136, Zab 50
137, 157, 158, 160 Zabī Molla 436, 441, 444
Yaḥyā (Ibn Khaldūn's brother) 516 Al-Ẓāhir Baybars. See Baybars
Yaḥyā al-Anṣārī al-Andalusī 494 Al-Zahrāwī 363
Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Sabʿīn 20, 371, 373, Zakariyyāʾ al-Anṣārī 440
374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, Al-Zallāqa 11, 125, 126, 128, 130
382, 388, 392 Zaragoza 115, 179, 259
Yaḥyā b. Abī ʿImrān al-Maghīlī al-Māzūnī 426 Al-Zarkashī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Badr al-Dīn
Yaḥyā b. Abī Kathīr 203 Muḥammad 198
Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf Ibn al-Jayyānī Zarrūq, Aḥmad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b.
217, 218 ʿĪsā al-Burnusī al-Fāsī 439, 450, 527
Yaḥyā b. Sabʿīn. See Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq b. Al-Zawāwī 421
Sabʿīn Al-Zawāwī, Abū al-Faraj ʿĪsā b. Masʿūd 223,
Yaḥyā b. Saʿdūn. See Ibn Saʿdūn 421, 424
Yaḥyā b. Yaḥyā al-Laythī 20, 401, 402, 403, Zayd (b. Ḥāritha b. Shurāḥīl) 109
404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 413 Zayd b. Thābit 176
Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān 201 Zayn b. Shuʿayb b. Kurayb al-Maʿāfirī 215
Yaʿqūb 91 Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ b. Khalīl 526
Yaʿqūb b. Mūsā (or ʿAbd Allāh) al-Saytānī 527 Zayn al-Dīn Ibn Makhlūf 421
Al-Yaʿqūbī, Ibn Wāḍiḥ 6, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, Zaynahum, Muḥammad 99
49, 50, 51, 53, 58, 60, 70 Ženka, Josef 22, 23
Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī 13, 14, 47, 58, 85, 172, 214, Ziyād b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Lakhmī. See
251 Shabṭūn
Al-Yasaʿ b. ʿĪsā b. Ḥazm al-Ghāfiqī 9, 423, Zouihal, Motia 240
458 Al-Zubaydī 240
Yazīd b. al-Aṣamm 203 Al-Zubayr 177
Yehūda al-Harīzī 11 Al-Zubayr b. ʿAlī al-Uswānī 158
Yemen 21, 43, 47, 49, 144, 158, 160, 361, Ẓufar b. al-Hudhayl 41
437, 447, 448, 463, 480 Al-Zuhrī 84, 85
Yukawa, Takeshi 15 Al-Zuhrī 202
Yūnus b. Shaddād 181