Search

, a term of Greek origin, πάπυρος, is one of the world’s oldest writing materials; it seems to have been used in Egypt, the land of its provenance, since the 6th dynasty, ca. 2470-2270 A.D. As an equivalent for this word the Arabs, after their conquest of this country, used bardī , abardī , or better still waraḳ al-bardī . However, these expressions were not of widespread usage, and in Egypt the term employed was fāfīr , corresponding more closely to the original Greek. Elsewhere, the word ḳirṭās was also used, derived from the Greek χάρτης through the intermediary of the Aramaic ḳarṭīs …

al-Balawī (b.?, d. 76/695), Arab commander, stemming from Balī, one of the Ḳuḍāʿa [ q.v.] tribes, of reputed Yemeni descent. Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar, Iṣāba i, 555-6, includes him among the Prophet’s Companions and mentions his role in the conquest of Egypt, whilst al-Suyūṭī, Ḥusn al-muḥāḍara , i, 200, lists him as a Ṣaḥābī but in i, 258 as a Tābiʿ or Successor, showing that he belonged to the two groups. He took part in the campaigns against the Mag̲h̲rib in the time of ʿUḳba b. Nāfiʿ [ q.v.], one of them against Surt/Syrte where, after its conquest, Zuhayr was left, together with ʿUmar b. …

b. Ḥisl b. al-Ad̲j̲abb … al-Ḳuras̲h̲ī al-Fihrī, Companion of the Prophet ( ṣaḥābī ), as also his son al-Mustawrid , who transmitted on the authority of his father. It is unknown when he was born or when he died. But since his son was also a Companion, he must have been of a certain age in the earliest Islamic period. But contrariwise, there is known a tradition of his from the Islamic period, transmitted by his son from S̲h̲addād and going back to the Prophet Muḥammad himself, “I went along to the Prophet’s side … took his hand, and lo, it was softer than silk and colder than snow” (see Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar, Iṣāb…

b. Mūsā b. al-Furāt al-Fārisī, Abū Rifāʿa, mediaeval Islamic historian, b. at Fusṭāṭ, where his father had installed himself, d. 23 Ḏj̲umādā II 289/4 June 902. Few biographers mention him separately from his father. His birth date is unknown, nor is anything definite known of his life. On the other hand, we owe to him one of the oldest compilations on the history of the Biblical prophets, the oldest which has survived in Islam in book form: the K. Badʾ al-k̲h̲alḳ wa-ḳiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ (ed. R.G. Khoury, Les légendes prophétiques en Islam , 1978). ʿUmāra was part of …

, Umayyad governor of Egypt, Ifrīḳiya and al-Andalus, b. at an unknown date, d. after 123/741. He was chief of the tribe of Salūl of northern ʿIrāḳ and famed for his talent as an orator. Beginning a career in the administration, he was first appointed head of taxation in Egypt, and as such, told the caliph His̲h̲ām that the land of Egypt could yield more money, thereby provoking a revolt of the Copts in several districts. His links with the caliph seem to have been close, since at his request, His̲h̲ām dismisse…

b. al-Furāt al-Fārisī al-Fasawī (in addition, in the heading of his book, al-Azhar al-G̲h̲anī), Muslim historian and trader in silk, of Persian origin and a resident of Fusṭāṭ. The date of his birth is unknown, but he hailed from a Persian town renowned for the commerce of silk (on Fasā, see Yāḳūt, Buldān , Beirut 1374-6/1955-7, iv, 260-1). To this natal milieu, Wat̲h̲īma owed his profession, which adhered to his own name in the form of a nickname: al-Was̲h̲s̲h̲āʾ or trader in embroideries. He left the town of his birth for B…

, Abū ʿAbd Allāh , Yemeni narrator and author-transmitter from South Arabia. He was of Persian origin, having been born at D̲h̲imar, two days’ march from Ṣanʿāʾ in the year 34/654-5. Information about his conversion to Islam in the year 10 A.H. is unreliable. More probably the details concerned his father Munabbih, of whom it was said that “he converted to Islam at the time of the Prophet and that he was a good Muslim” (Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar, Tahd̲h̲īb , xi, 167). He lived with his five brothers at Ṣanʿāʾ, and Hammām was the eldest of them. The most reasonabl…

, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd allāḥ , Yemenite historian whose full name is Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-Rāzī. The date of his birth in Ṣanʿāʾ is unknown; he died there ca. 460/1068. The little that is known of this historian is owed to al-D̲j̲anadī (d. 732/1332) who, in his book al-Sulūk (ms.), indicates that he was a native of the capital of the Yemen, and that he was an imām , well informed in matters of fiḳh and ḥadīt̲h̲ . Furthermore, it seems that he was a Sunnī, a fact to which his work alludes, and al-D̲j̲anadī attributes to him an “extensi…

b. al-Ḏj̲arrāḥ b. Malīḥ al-Ruʾāsī, Abū Sufyān, famous ʿIrāḳī traditionist, b. Kūfa 129/746, where his father was head of the bayt al-māl , d. at Fayd [ q.v. in Suppl.] on the Pilgrimage route in 197/812. He was schooled in the Islamic sciences, above all ḥadīt̲h̲, through his father, and transmitted not only from this last but also from many ʿIrāḳī and nonʿIrāḳī scholars of the 2nd/8th century, such as Ismāʿīl b. Abī K̲h̲ālid, ʿIkrima b. ʿAmmār, al-Aʿmas̲h̲, al-Awzāʿī ¶ and Mālik, amongst the long list given by Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar, Tahd̲h̲īb , xi, 124-5, together with a…

The renowned ancient Mesopotamian city. Babylon (Bābil) is mentioned once in the Qurʾān: “And follow what the devils used to recite in the reign of Solomon (q.v.). Solomon did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching the people magic and what had been sent down to the two angels, Hārūt and Mārūt (q.v.), in Babylon. They do not teach anyone without first saying, ‘We are only a temptation, so do not disbelieve’” ( q 2:102). According to the geographer and biographer Yāqūt (d. 626/1228), Babylon constituted an entire region famed for its magic and wine ( Buldān, i, 309-11). The co…

A plain extending about six and a half km in breadth from east to west and about twelve km in length, lying twenty-one km to the east of Mecca (q.v.). The grammarians agree that the word ʿArafāt is a singular noun in the form of a plural. Although the plain is also referred to by the singular ¶ form ʿArafa, this is regarded by some experts as a later-day corruption (Yāqūt, Buldān, iv, 104). The name, according to the classical scholars, is derived from the verbs based on the root ʿ-r-f. According to one account, Gabriel (q.v.) is said to have taught (ʿarrafa) the rites of the pilgrimage to Abraham (q.v…

The most popular interpretation was that ʿarim (sing. ʿarima) were dam-like structures designed to hold back flood waters. The words occurs only once in the Qurʾān: “They turned away [from God], so we sent upon them the flood of the dams (sayl al-ʿarim) and gave them, instead of their two gardens, two which produced bitter fruit, and tamarisks and a few lote trees” ( q 34:16). Citing other Muslim sources, al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) describes the construction of the dams and their destruction after the people of Sheba (Sabā, see sheba ), who had enjoyed the easiest existence on earth, rej…

A large, ruminant mammal used for carrying burdens and for riding in the desert regions of Asia and Africa. The central Asiatic species has two humps on its back, while the Arabian camel, or dromedary, has only one. The presence of this animal in the Near East and North Africa appears to date back to the third millennium b.c.e., although there is no evidence of the domesticated dromedary prior to the 11th century b.c.e. (cf. H. von Wissmann, Badw). The camel played an important role in sacrifices (see sacrifice; consecration of animals): Before Muḥammad's time, they were ritually slau…

b. ʿabd al-malik b. marwān b. al-ḥakam al-umawī , Arab traditionist and author of ascetic writings. He was born in Egypt in 132/750 (according to others in Baṣra (Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar, Tahd̲h̲īb , i, 260), and died in Egypt in 212/827. He made his reputation as a ḥāfiẓ , rāwī or ak̲h̲bārī , had disciples and was nick-named Asas al-Sunna. He exchanged ḥadīt̲h̲s , with the majority of the Egyptians who are known to us from this period, in particular with ʿAbd Allāh b. Lahīʿa (97-174/715-90) and al-Layt̲h̲ b. Saʿd (94-175/713-91), a great master…

, Hārūn b. ʿAbd Allāh , judge in Egypt, considered the greatest Mālikī scholar there, d. 232/846. A native of Mecca, he came to Bag̲h̲dād, but nothing is known of his activities there until al-Maʾmūn nominated him ḳāḍī of Egypt on 14 Ramaḍān 217/13 October 832 (al-Kindī) or a few days later (Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam), where he remained in post till 13 Ṣafar 226/12 December 840. As a judge, his career was marked by innovations. He moved his seat as judge, and sat in front of the mosque in winter and in the middle of i…

b. Mūsā b. al-Furāt al-Fārisī, Abū Rifāʿa, historien musulman, d’origine persane, né à Fusṭāṭ en Égypte, où était venu s’installer son père Wat̲h̲īma, et mort le 23 d̲j̲umādā II 289/4 juin 902. Très peu de biographes le mentionnent à part, d’une manière indépendante de son père. On ne sait ni la date de sa naissance ni quoi que ce soit de concret sur sa vie. Par contre, nous avons de lui une des plus vieilles compilations sur l’histoire des prophètes bibliques, la plus vieille qui ait survécu sous forme de livre en Islam: K. Badʾ al-k̲h̲alḳ wa-ḳiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ (publié par R. G. Khoury, Les légend…

, Aḥmad Ibn ʿAbd Allāh, historien yéménite dont le nom complet est Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Muḥammad al-Rāzī. On ne sait pas quand il est né à Ṣanʿāʾ, où il est mort autour de 460/1068. le peu de données sur cet historien est dû à al-Ḏj̲anadī (m. 732/1332) qui, dans son livre al-Sulūk (ms.), signale qu’il était originaire de la capitale du Yémen, et qu’il était un imām compétent en fiḳh et en ḥadīt̲h̲. De plus il aurait été sunnite, fait auquel son œuvre renvoie, et al-Ḏj̲anadī de lui attribuer une «tradition étendue» et un «esprit parfait». Le biographe cro…

b. al-Furāt al-Fārisī al-Fasawī (et en tête de son livre, de plus: al-Azhar al-G̲h̲anī), historien musulman et commerçant en soieries, d’origine persane et installé à Fusṭāṭ. On ne sait pas quand il est né, mais il sort d’une ville persane réputée pour le commerce des soieries (sur Fasā, voir Yāḳūt, Muʿd̲j̲am al-buldān, éd. Beyr., IV, 260 sq.). A ce milieu natal, Wat̲h̲īma doit son métier, qui colla comme surnom à son propre nom: al-Was̲h̲s̲h̲āʾ ou marchand de broderies. Il quitta sa ville natale pour Baṣra, puis pour l’Égypte et al-Andalus, on ne sait pas pour combi…

, gouverneur umayyade d’Égypte, d’Ifrīḳiya et d’al-Andalus. On ne sait pas quand il est né; il est mort après 123/741 (voir plus bas). Il était seigneur de la tribu des Salūl (ʿIrāḳ du Nord) et renommé pour son grand talent d’orateur. Ayant commencé sa carrière dans l’administration, il fut nommé d’abord à la tête de la direction des impôts d’Égypte; et en tant que tel, il fit savoir au calife umayyade, His̲h̲ām b. ʿAbd al-Malik, que la terre d’Égypte pouvait supporter plus d’impôts, ce qui eut pour conséquence une révolte de plusieurs districts coptes. Les liens de ʿUbayd Allāh avec le …

b. Ibrāhīm b. al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān b. al-Ḥakam al-Umawī, traditionniste arabe et auteur d’écrits ascétiques. Il naquit en Égypte en 132/750 (pour d’autres à Baṣra; Ibn Ḥad̲j̲ar, Tahd̲h̲īb, I, 260), et y mourut en 212/827, se fit connaître comme ḥāfiẓ, rāwī ou ak̲h̲bārī, eut des disciples et fut surnommé Asad al-Sunna. Il échangea des ḥadīt̲h̲s avec la plupart des Égyptiens connus à cette époque, en particulier avec ʿAbd Allah b. Lahīʿa (97-174/715-90) et al-Layt̲h̲ b. Saʿd (94-175/713-91) chez lequel il entra travesti, lors de sa fuite …