Chapter 27

384Wellhausen,Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz, p. 38.

385I.e., the main body of Moslems—Sunnís, followers of theSunna, as they were afterwards called—who were neither Shí‘ites nor Khárijites, but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem community, and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's tribe. All these parties arose out of the struggle between ‘Alí and Mu‘áwiya, and their original difference turned solely of the question of the Caliphate.

386Brünnow,Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden(Leiden, 1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the Khárijites called themselves by this name. In any case, the term impliessecession(khurúj) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by 'Seceder' or 'Nonconformist.'

387Cf.Koran, ix, 112.

388Brünnow,op. cit., p. 8.

389Wellhausen,Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam(Abhandlungen der Königl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen,Phil.-Hist. Klasse, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues against Brünnow that the oldest Khárijites were not true Bedouins (A‘rábí), and were, in fact, even further removed than the rest of the military colonists of Kúfa and Baṣra from their Bedouin traditions. He points out that the extreme piety of the Readers—their constant prayers, vigils, and repetitions of the Koran—exactly agrees with what is related of the Khárijites, and is described in similar language. Moreover, among the oldest Khárijites we find mention made of a company clad in long cloaks (baránis, pl. ofburnus), which were at that time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, the earliest authority (Abú Mikhnaf in Ṭabarí, i, 3330, l. 6 sqq.) regards the Khárijites as an offshoot from the Readers, and names individual Readers who afterwards became rabid Khárijites.

390Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the Khárijite ranks the field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even slaves.

391Ṭabarí, ii, 40, 13 sqq.

392Shahrastání, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88. l. 12.

393Ibid., p. 86, l. 3 from foot.

394Ṭabarí, ii, 36, ll. 7, 8, 11-16.

395Ḥamása, 44.

396Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, l. 4 seq.; De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 523.

397Dozy,Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme(French translation by Victor Chauvin), p. 219 sqq.

398Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the Shí‘ites are derived from Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the Saba’ites in his most instructive paper, to which I have already referred,Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam(Abh. der König. Ges. der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen,Phil.-Hist. Klasse, 1901), p. 89 sqq.

399Ṭabarí, i, 2942, 2.

400"Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee(i.e., for Muḥammad)will bring thee back to a place of return" (i.e., to Mecca). The ambiguity of the word meaning 'place of return' (ma‘ád) gave some colour to Ibn Sabá's contention that it alluded to the return of Muḥammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the Resurrection.

401This is a Jewish idea. ‘Alí stands in the same relation to Muḥammad as Aaron to Moses.

402Ṭabarí,loc. cit.

403Shahrastání, ed. by Cureton, p. 132, l. 15.

404Aghání, viii, 32, l. 17 sqq. The three sons of ‘Alí are Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, and Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya.

405Concerning the origin of these sects see Professor Browne'sLit. Hist. of Persia, vol. i, p. 295 seq.

406See Darmesteter's interesting essay,Le Mahdi depuis les origines de l'Islam jusqu’à nos jours(Paris, 1885). The subject is treated more scientifically by Snouck Hurgronje in his paperDer Mahdi, reprinted from theRevue coloniale internationale(1886).

407Ṣiddíqmeans 'veracious.' Professor Bevan remarks that in this root the notion of 'veracity' easily passes into that of 'endurance,' 'fortitude.'

408Ṭabarí, ii, 546. These 'Penitents' were free Arabs of Kúfa, a fact which, as Wellhausen has noticed, would seem to indicate that theta‘ziyais Semitic in origin.

409Wellhausen,Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien, p. 79.

410Ṭabarí, ii, 650, l. 7 sqq.

411Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 169.

412Von Kremer,Culturgeschicht.Streifzüge, p. 2 sqq.

413The best account of the early Murjites that has hitherto appeared is contained in a paper by Van Vloten, entitledIrdjâ(Z.D.M.G., vol. 45, p. 161 sqq.). The reader may also consult Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's trans., Part I, p. 156 sqq.; Goldziher,Muhammedanische Studien, Part II, p. 89 sqq.; Van Vloten,La domination Arabe, p. 31 seq.

414Van Vloten thinks that in the name 'Murjite' (murji’) there is an allusion to Koran, ix, 107: "And others are remanded (murjawna) until God shall decree; whether He shall punish them or take pity on them—for God is knowing and wise."

415Cf.the poem of Thábit Quṭna (Z.D.M.G.,loc. cit., p. 162), which states the whole Murjite doctrine in popular form. The author, who was himself a Murjite, lived in Khurásán during the latter half of the first centurya.h.

416Van Vloten,La domination Arabe, p. 29 sqq.

417Ibn Ḥazm, cited inZ.D.M.G., vol. 45, p. 169, n. 7. Jahm († about 747a.d.) was a Persian, as might be inferred from the boldness of his speculations.

418Ḥasan himself inclined for a time to the doctrine of free-will, but afterwards gave it up (Ibn Qutayba,Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif, p. 225). He is said to have held that everything happens by fate, except sin (Al-Mu‘tazilah, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 12, l. 3 from foot). See, however, Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's trans., Part I, p. 46.

419Koran, lxxiv, 41.

420Ibid., xli, 46.

421Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif, p. 301. Those who held the doctrine of free-will were called the Qadarites (al-Qadariyya), fromqadar(power), which may denote (1) the power of God to determine human actions, and (2) the power of man to determine his own actions. Their opponents asserted that men act under compulsion (jabr); hence they were called the Jabarites (al-Jabariyya).

422As regards Ghaylán seeAl-Mu‘tazilah, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 15, l. 16 sqq.

423Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 642; Shahrastání, trans. by Haarbrücker, Part I, p. 44.

424Sha‘rání,Lawáqihu ’l-Anwár(Cairo, 1299a.h.), p. 31.

425Ibid.

426See Von Kremer,Herrschende Ideen, p. 52 sqq.; Goldziher,Materialien zur Entwickelungsgesch. des Súfismus(Vienna Oriental Journal, vol. 13, p. 35 sqq.).

427Sha‘rání,Lawáqiḥ, p. 38.

428Qushayrí'sRisála(1287a.h.), p. 77, l. 10.

429Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliyáof Farídu’ddín ‘Aṭṭár, Part I, p. 37, l. 8 of my edition.

430Kámil(ed. by Wright), p. 57, l. 16.

431The point of this metaphor lies in the fact that Arab horses were put on short commons during the period of training, which usually began forty days before the race.

432Kámil, p. 57, last line.

433Kámil, p. 58, l. 14.

434Ibid., p. 67, l. 9.

435Ibid., p. 91, l. 14.

436Ibid., p. 120, l. 4.

437Qushayrí'sRisála, p. 63, last line.

438It is noteworthy that Qushayrí († 1073a.d.), one of the oldest authorities on Ṣúfiism, does not include Ḥasan among the Ṣúfí Shaykhs whose biographies are given in theRisála(pp. 8-35), and hardly mentions him above half a dozen times in the course of his work. The sayings of Ḥasan which he cites are of the same character as those preserved in theKámil.

439See Nöldeke's article,'Ṣūfī,' inZ.D.M.G., vol. 48, p. 45.

440An allusion toṣafáoccurs in thirteen out of the seventy definitions of Ṣúfí and Ṣúfiism (Taṣawwuf) which are contained in theTadhkiratu ’l-Awliyá, or 'Memoirs of the Saints,' of the well-known Persian mystic, Farídu’ddín ‘Aṭṭár (†circa1230a.d.), whereasṣúfis mentioned only twice.

441Said by Bishr al-Ḥáfí (the bare-footed), who died in 841-842a.d.

442Said by Junayd of Baghdád († 909-910a.d.), one of the most celebrated Ṣúfí Shaykhs.

443Ibn Khaldún'sMuqaddima(Beyrout, 1900), p. 467 = vol. iii, p. 85 seq. of the French translation by De Slane. The same things are said at greater length by Suhrawardí in his‘Awárifu ’l-Ma‘árif(printed on the margin of Ghazálí'sIḥyá, Cairo, 1289a.h.), vol. i, p. 172et seqq.Cf.also the passage from Qushayrí translated by Professor E. G. Browne on pp. 297-298 of vol. i. of hisLiterary History of Persia.

444Suhrawardí,loc. cit., p. 136 seq.

445Loc. cit., p. 145.

446I.e., he yields himself unreservedly to the spiritual 'state' (aḥwál) which pass over him, according as God wills.

447Possibly Ibráhím was one of theShikaftiyyaor 'Cave-dwellers' of Khurásán (shikaftmeans 'cave' in Persian), whom the people of Syria calledal-Jú‘íyya,i.e., 'the Fasters.' See Suhrawardí,loc. cit., p. 171.

448Ghazálí,Iḥyá(Cairo, 1289a.h.), vol. iv, p. 298.

449Brockelmann,Gesch. d. Arab. Litteratur, vol. i, p. 45.

450E.g., Ma‘bad, Gharíḍ, Ibn Surayj, Ṭuways, and Ibn ‘Á’isha.

451Kámilof Mubarrad, p. 570 sqq.

452Aghání, i, 43, l. 15 sqq.; Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 17, last line and foll.

453Nöldeke'sDelectus, p. 9, l. 11 sqq., omitting l. 13.

454An edition of theNaqá’iḍby Professor A. A. Bevan has been published at Leyden.

455Aghání, vii, 55, l. 12 sqq.

456Aghání, vii, 182, l. 23 sqq.

457Ibid., vii, 183, l. 6 sqq.

458Ibid., p. 178, l. 1 seq.

459Ibid., xiii, 148, l. 23.

460Encomium Omayadarum, ed. by Houtsma (Leyden, 1878).

461Aghání, vii, 172, l. 27 sqq.

462Ibid., p. 179, l. 25 sqq.

463Ibid., p. 178, l. 26 seq.

464Aghání, xix, 34, l. 18.

465Kámilof Mubarrad. p. 70, l. 17 sqq.

466Al-Kusa‘í broke an excellent bow which he had made for himself. SeeThe Assemblies of Ḥarírí, trans. by Chenery, p. 351. Professor Bevan remarks that this half-verse is an almost verbal citation from a verse ascribed to ‘Adí b. Maríná of Ḥíra, an enemy of ‘Adí b. Zayd the poet (Aghání, ii, 24, l. 5).

467Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 129; De Slane's translation vol. i, p. 298.

468Aghání, iii, 23, l. 13.

469Aghání, vii, 49, l. 8 sqq.

470The following account is mainly derived from Goldziher'sMuhamm. Studien, Part II, p. 203 sqq.

471Cf. Browne'sLit. Hist. of Persia, vol. i, p. 230.

472Nöldeke,Sketches from Eastern History, tr. by J. S. Black, p. 108 seq.

473Wellhausen,Das Arabische Reich, p. 307.

474Recherches sur la domination Arabe, p. 46 sqq.

475Dínawarí, ed. by Guirgass, p. 356.

476Ibid., p. 360, l. 15. The whole poem has been translated by Professor Browne in hisLiterary History of Persia, vol. i, p. 242.

477Sketches from Eastern History, p. 111.

478Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following observations, points out that this translation ofal-Saffáḥ, although it has been generally adopted by European scholars, is very doubtful. According to Professor De Goeje,al-Saffáḥmeans '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. Khálid, who commanded the Banú Taghlib at the first battle of al-Kuláb (Ibnu ’l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, vol. i, p. 406, last line), is said to have been calledal-Saffáḥbecause he 'emptied out' the skin bottles (mazád) of his army before a battle (Ibn Durayd, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 203, l. 16); and we find mention of a poet named al-Saffáḥ b. ‘Abd Manát (ibid., p. 277, penult. line).

479See p. 205.

480G. Le Strange,Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate, p. 4 seq.

481Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following references :—Ṭabarí, ii, 78, l. 10, where Ziyád is called theWazírof Mu‘áwiya; Ibn Sa‘d, iii, 121, l. 6 (Abú Bakr theWazírof the Prophet). The word occurs in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibu Qutayba,K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará, p. 414, l. 1). Professor De Goeje adds that the ‘Abbásid Caliphs gave the nameWazíras title to the minister who was formerly calledKátib(Secretary). Thus it would seem that the ArabicWazír(literally 'burden-bearer'), who was at first merely a 'helper' or 'henchman,' afterwards became the representative and successor of theDapír(official scribe or secretary) of the Sásánian kings.

482This 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’mún (813-833a.d.). The historian Abu ’l-Maḥásin († 1469a.d.) dates the decline of the Caliphate from the accession of Muktafí in 902a.d.(al-Nujúm al-Záhira, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 134).

483See Nöldeke's essay,Caliph Manṣur, in hisSketches from Eastern History, trans. by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq.

484Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these ultra-Shí‘ite insurgents in hisLit. Hist. of Persia, vol. i, ch. ix.

485Ṭabarí, iii, 404, l. 5 sqq.

486Ṭabarí, iii, 406, l. 1 sqq.

487Murúju ‘l-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq.

488When the Caliph Hádí wished to proclaim his son Ja‘far heir-apparent instead of Hárún, Yaḥyá pointed out the danger of this course and dissuaded him (al-Fakhrí, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281).

489Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105.

490Mas‘údí,Murúju ’l-Dhahab, vol. vi, p. 364.

491See, for example,Haroun Alraschid, by E. H. Palmer, in the New Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq.

492Cf. A. Müller,Der Islam, vol. i, p. 481 seq.

493Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112.

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

495Green was the party colour of the ‘Alids, black of the ‘Abbásids.

496Al-Nujúm al-Záhira, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631.

497The court remained at Sámarrá for fifty-six years (836-892a.d.). The official spelling of Sámarrá wasSurra-man-ra’á, which may be freely rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.'

498My 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'sLiterary History of Persia: Ṣaffárids and Sámánids in vol. i, p. 346 sqq.; Fáṭimids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 and vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap. ii; and Seljúqs,ibid., chaps, iii to v.

499Ibn Abí Usaybi‘a,Ṭabaqátu ’l-Atibbá, ed. by A. Müller, vol. ii, p. 4, l. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of age.

500‘Abdu ’l-Hamíd flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad dynasty. See Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173, Mas‘údí,Murúju ’l-Dhahab, vol. vi, p. 81.

501See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to theLetters of ‘Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí, p. xxiv.

502Abu ’l-Mahásin,al-Nujúm al-Záhira, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 333. The original Ráfiḍites were those schismatics who rejected (rafaḍa) the Caliphs Abú Bakr and ‘Umar, but the term is generally used as synonymous with Shí‘ite.

503Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foll.

504D. B. Macdonald,Muslim Theology, p. 43 seq.

505I regret that lack of space compels me to omit the further history of the Fáṭimids. Readers who desire information on this subject may consult Stanley Lane-Poole'sHistory of Egypt in the Middle Ages; Wüstenfeld'sGeschichte der Faṭimiden-Chalifen(Göttingen, 1881); and Professor Browne'sLit. Hist. of Persia, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.

506Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441.

507See the Introduction.

508Ibn Khaldún,Muqaddima(Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq.—De Slane,Prolegomena, vol. iii, p. 296 sqq.

509Cf.Goldziher,Muhamm. Studien, Part I, p. 114 seq.

510Readmashárátí ’l-buqúl(beds of vegetables), notmushárátas my rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, butmashárat, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here.

511Aghání, xii, 177, l. 5 sqq; Von Kremer,Culturgesch. Streifzüge, 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 Nabatæans who falsely claimed to be Persians.

512The 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‘úban)and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you inthe sight of God are they that do most fear Him." Thus the designation 'Shu‘úbite' emphasises the fact that according to Muḥammad's teaching the Arab Moslems are no better than their non-Arab brethren.

513Muhamm. Studien, Part I, p. 147 sqq.

514The termFalsafaproperly includes Logic, Metaphysics, Mathematics Medicine, and the Natural Sciences.

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

516‘Abdu ’l-Raḥman Jámí († 1492a.d.).

517I am deeply indebted in the following pages to Goldziher's essay entitledAlte und Neue Poesie im Urtheile der Arabischen Kritikerin hisAbhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I, pp. 122-174.

518Cf.the remark made by Abú ‘Amr b. al-‘Alá about the poet Akhṭal (p. 242supra).

519Diwan des Abu Nowas, Die Weinlieder, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 10, vv. 1-5.

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