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Abu al-Salt Abd al-Salam ibn Salih

أبو الصلت عبد السلام بن صالح

An intimate of al-Ma'mun's; sleeping over he found the lamp-lighter asleep and watched the caliph trim the wick himself, murmuring that the servants sometimes curse him unawares — 'and I pardon them' 1.

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Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
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Overview

Abu al-Salt Abd al-Salam ibn Salih, one of the intimates of al-Ma'mun. Al-Suyuti relates that he spent a night with him, and the attendant in charge of the lamp fell asleep, so al-Ma'mun rose and set it right himself, saying: "Perhaps I am in the ablution room, and the servants revile me without knowing that I hear them, and I pardon them." 2

Connections

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Related to
Abd Allah al-Ma'mun ibn Harun al-Rashid

People and things also explored

Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· Census of the Descendants of al-Abbas in the Year 200· al-Ma'mun's designation of Ali al-Rida as heir· Clash of Tahir ibn al-Husayn with Ali ibn Isa· The Conquest of Crete· The Accession of Harun al-Rashid· The Division of the Caliphate among al-Rashid's Sons· Kabul Shah's Submission to al-Ma'mun

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 503
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.503
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Abu al-Salt Abd al-Salam ibn Salih”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abu-al-salt-abd-al-salam-ibn-salih/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom

The House of Wisdom at Baghdad, the greatest library whose report survives from the first Abbasid age: al-Rashid laid its nucleus and al-Ma'mun enlarged and strengthened it. Al-Rashid put Yuhanna ibn Masawayh over the translation of the ancient medical books found in Byzantine lands with skilled scribes writing before him; Abu Sahl al-Fadl ibn Nawbakht rendered Persian wisdom-books into Arabic in its khizana, and Allan al-Shu'ubi copied for al-Rashid, al-Ma'mun and the Barmakids. Al-Ma'mun widened it, sending to the Byzantine emperor for the ancient sciences an embassy of al-Hajjaj ibn Matar, Ibn al-Bitriq and Salm the master of the House, and making Sahl ibn Harun keeper of its treasuries — though its precise organisation and site remain wrapped in obscurity.