A Literary History of the Arabs Part 54

[472] Noldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, tr. by J. S. Black, p.

108 seq.

[473] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 307.

[474] _Recherches sur la domination Arabe_, p. 46 sqq.

[475] Dinawari, ed. by Guirga.s.s, p. 356.

[476] _Ibid._, p. 360, l. 15. The whole poem has been translated by Professor Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 242.

[477] _Sketches from Eastern History_, p. 111.

[478] Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following observations, points out that this translation of _al-Saffa?_, although it has been generally adopted by European scholars, is very doubtful. According to Professor De Goeje, _al-Saffa?_ means 'the munificent' (literally, 'pouring out' gifts, &c.). In any case it is important to notice that the name was given to certain Pre-islamic chieftains. Thus Salama b. Khalid, who commanded the Banu Taghlib at the first battle of al-Kulab (Ibnu 'l-Athir, ed. by Tornberg, vol. i, p.

406, last line), is said to have been called _al-Saffa?_ because he 'emptied out' the skin bottles (_mazad_) of his army before a battle (Ibn Durayd, ed. by Wustenfeld, p. 203, l. 16); and we find mention of a poet named al-Saffa? b. 'Abd Manat (_ibid._, p. 277, penult. line).

[479] See p. 205.

[480] G. Le Strange, _Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate_, p. 4 seq.

[481] Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following references:--?abari, ii, 78, l. 10, where Ziyad is called the _Wazir_ of Mu'awiya; Ibn Sa'd, iii, 121, l. 6 (Abu Bakr the _Wazir_ of the Prophet). The word occurs in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibn Qutayba, _K.

al-s.h.i.+'r wa-'l-Shu'ara_, p. 414, l. 1). Professor De Goeje adds that the 'Abbasid Caliphs gave the name _Wazir_ as t.i.tle to the minister who was formerly called _Katib_ (Secretary). Thus it would seem that the Arabic _Wazir_ (literally 'burden-bearer'), who was at first merely a 'helper'

or 'henchman,' afterwards became the representative and successor of the _Dapir_ (official scribe or secretary) of the Sasanian kings.

[482] This division is convenient, and may be justified on general grounds. In a strictly political sense, the period of decline begins thirty years earlier with the Caliphate of Ma'mun (813-833 A.D.). The historian Abu 'l-Ma?asin ( 1469 A.D.) dates the decline of the Caliphate from the accession of Muktafi in 902 A.D. (_al-Nujum al-Zahira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 134).

[483] See Noldeke's essay, _Caliph Man?ur_, in his _Sketches from Eastern History_, trans. by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq.

[484] Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these ultra-s.h.i.+'ite insurgents in his _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, ch. ix.

[485] ?abari, iii, 404, l. 5 sqq.

[486] ?abari, iii, 406, l. 1 sqq.

[487] _Muruju 'l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq.

[488] When the Caliph Hadi wished to proclaim his son Ja'far heir-apparent instead of Harun, Ya?ya pointed out the danger of this course and dissuaded him (_al-Fakhri_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281).

[489] Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105.

[490] Mas'udi, _Muruju 'l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 364.

[491] See, for example, _Haroun Alraschid_, by E. H. Palmer, in the New Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq.

[492] _Cf._ A. Muller, _Der Islam_, vol. i, p. 481 seq.

[493] Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112.

[494] Literally, "No father to your father!" a common form of imprecation.

[495] Green was the party colour of the 'Alids, black of the 'Abbasids.

[496] _Al-Nujum al-Zahira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631.

[497] The court remained at Samarra for fifty-six years (836-892 A.D.).

The official spelling of Samarra was _Surra-man-ra'a_, which may be freely rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.'

[498] My account of these dynasties is necessarily of the briefest and barest character. The reader will find copious details concerning most of them in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_: ?affarids and Samanids in vol. i, p. 346 sqq.; Fa?imids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 and vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap. ii; and Seljuqs, _ibid._, chaps. iii to v.

[499] Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, _?abaqatu 'l-Atibba_, ed. by A. Muller, vol.

ii, p. 4, l. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of age.

[500] 'Abdu 'l-Hamid flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad dynasty. See Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173, Mas'udi, _Muruju 'l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 81.

[501] See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of 'Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri_, p. xxiv.

[502] Abu 'l-Mahasin, _al-Nujum al-Zahira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p.

333. The original Rafi?ites were those schismatics who rejected (_rafa?a_) the Caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Umar, but the term is generally used as synonymous with s.h.i.+'ite.

[503] Mutanabbi, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foll.

[504] D. B. Macdonald, _Muslim Theology_, p. 43 seq.

[505] I regret that lack of s.p.a.ce compels me to omit the further history of the Fa?imids. Readers who desire information on this subject may consult Stanley Lane-Poole's _History of Egypt in the Middle Ages_; Wustenfeld's _Geschichte der Fa?imiden-Chalifen_ (Gottingen, 1881); and Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.

[506] Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441.

[507] See the Introduction.

[508] Ibn Khaldun, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq.--De Slane, _Prolegomena_, vol. iii, p. 296 sqq.

[509] _Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 114 seq.

[510] Read _masharati 'l-buqul_ (beds of vegetables), not _musharat_ as my rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, but _masharat_, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here.

[511] _Aghani_, xii, 177, l. 5 sqq; Von Kremer, _Culturgesch.

Streifzuge_, p. 32. These lines are aimed, as has been remarked by S.

Khuda Bukhsh (_Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilisation_, Calcutta, 1905, p. 92), against Nabataeans who falsely claimed to be Persians.

[512] The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13: "_O Men, We have created you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples_ (shu'uban) _and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the n.o.blest of you in the sight of G.o.d are they that do most fear Him._" Thus the designation 'Shu'ubite' emphasises the fact that according to Mu?ammad's teaching the Arab Moslems are no better than their non-Arab brethren.

[513] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 147 sqq.

[514] The term _Falsafa_ properly includes Logic, Metaphysics, Mathematics, Medicine, and the Natural Sciences.

[515] Here we might add the various branches of Mathematics, such as Arithmetic, Algebra, Mechanics, &c.

[516] 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man Jami ( 1492 A.D.).