Literature
Family: Arts, economy and the world · 258 entries
Entries on this theme
Person
al-Walid ibn al-Mughira
c. 550 CEThe grand old man of Banu Makhzum — arbiter of Quraysh's elders, father of Khalid, and the man whose poetic verdicts shaped how Mecca first named the Prophet's recitation.al-Nadr ibn al-Harith
c. 575 CEA Qurashi who had traveled to al-Hira and returned with Persian tales of kings and heroes, offering them against the Prophet's recitation — captured at Badr and executed on the march home.Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
c. 585 CEA poet of Banu Nadir — Jewish on his father's side, Arab on his mother's — whose verses mourned the Meccan dead of Badr and satirized the Muslims and their women; assassinated with the Prophet's sanction in the first political killing of the Medinan period.Abu Afak
An old man of Banu Amr ibn Awf, then of Banu Ubayda, of al-Aws; Ibn Ishaq says his hypocrisy became open when al-Harith ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit was killed, and he composed verses reviling a rider who had split the unity of the sons of Qayla; the Prophet said 'who will deal with this wretch for me?' and Salim ibn Umayr killed him; Umama al-Muzayriyya's verses allude to his great age.Asma' bint Marwan
A woman of Banu Umayya ibn Zayd married to Yazid ibn Zayd of Banu Khatma, with five grown sons; Ibn Ishaq says she showed hypocrisy after Abu Afak's killing and composed verses reviling Islam and its people and inciting against the Prophet, which Hassan answered; Umayr ibn Adi al-Khatmi killed her at night in her house after the Prophet said 'is there no one to deal with the daughter of Marwan for me?'Abd Allah ibn Rawaha
Companion from the Ansar and poet of early Islam; appointed third commander of the Mu'tah expedition. After both of his comrades Zayd and Ja'far were killed he hesitated briefly then charged and was martyred. The Prophet announced his death while still in Medina, reporting in a vision that his throne was slightly tilted beside his companions' because of his hesitation before pressing on.Durayd ibn al-Simma
A legendary pre-Islamic knight, tribal champion and poet of Banu Jusham (Hawazin); an old, blind veteran carried in a litter at Hunayn, he vehemently criticized Malik ibn Awf's strategy of bringing women and herds into battle, and was slain at Awtas.Al-Hutay'a, Jarwal
A poet of the Abs tribe, known for satire and panegyric, who lived into the Islamic period.Yazid ibn Rabi'a ibn Mufarrigh
A poet of the Himyar tribe, whose poetry belongs to the Umayyad period. The sources differ on his father's name.Shamardal ibn Shurayk
A poet of the Yarbu' clan, associated with the Kharijites and the poetry of heroic valour.Khidas ibn Bishr
A poet of the Mujashi' branch of Tamim, with the kunyas Abu Malik and Abu Yazid. His son Malik was also a poet.al-Jahiz
c. 767 CE · 150 AHThe man of letters — his 'Imamat wuld al-'Abbas argues the Rawandiyya case through the Fadak affair, composed in sport and display rather than conviction, beside his 'Uthmaniyya.Al-Husayn ibn al-Dahhak al-Khali'
c. 773 CE · c. 156 AH†A poet born and raised in Basra, of Khurasani origin, known as al-Khali' al-Ashqar.'Ali ibn Jabala al-'Akawwak (Abbasid poet, 776–828)
c. 776 CE · 160 AH'Ali ibn Jabala al-'Akawwak ('thick-set'), an Abbasid poet born at Baghdad in 160/776 of a Khurasani family of mawali. He praised Abu Dulaf al-'Ijli, Humayd b. 'Abd al-Hamid al-Tusi and the vizier al-Hasan b. Sahl. The exaggerated eulogies of the first two angered the caliph al-Ma'mun, who had his tongue torn out; he died of it in 213/828.Al-Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf
An Abbasid poet raised in Baghdad, with family in Basra. He was linked by nisba to the Banu Hanifa.Aban al-Lahiqi
A poet and man of letters from Basra who attached himself to the Barmakids and served as their poet; he versified the Kalila wa-Dimna in verse.Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Hassan al-Khuraymi
An Arab poet of the early Abbasid court, a client of the Banu Khuraym, who probably died under al-Ma'mun about 206/821. He wrote panegyrics and elegies for his patrons and sided with al-Amin in the civil war.Ibn Hamdun, Muhammad ibn al-Husayn
From a Baghdad literary family that was active in the third century AH and produced several notable writers.Qudama ibn Ja'far
888 CE · 275 AHWriter and literary critic whose grandfather, a Christian, converted to Islam; his father was a scribe; died 337 AH (948 CE).Ali ibn Muhammad al-Tanukhi
891 CE · 278 AHFrom the Tanukh tribe and father of Abu Ali al-Muhassin al-Tanukhi. His father's name was Dawud ibn Ibrahim ibn Tamim.Abu al-Faraj al-Makhzumi
927 CE · 315 AHA poet, prose writer and man of letters born in Nasibin. Little is known of his upbringing.Abu Ali al-Muhassin al-Tanukhi
938 CE · 327 AHA judge and man of letters from the Tanukh tribe, who compiled reports on judges and on those who did good.Al-Kharashi, Samarra akhbari
An Iraqi from Samarra, a historian of reports, who collected anecdotes and rarities and was original in his writings.al-Jahshiyari Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abdus
Man of letters of Kufan origin, who played a political role in the early fourth century AH through his ties with the viziers of his time; died 331 AH (942 CE).Al-Ifliili, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad
963 CE · 352 AHA vizier and an authority on language and literature in al-Andalus, from Cordoba. His nisba refers to a village in Syria where his ancestors are said to have lived.al-Tanukhi al-Qadi Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn al-Muhsin
975 CE · 365 AHJudge Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn al-Muhsin al-Tanukhi, companion and pupil of Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri; died 474 AH (1081 CE).Al-Amidi, Abu al-Qasim al-Hasan ibn Bishr
A literary critic and philologist from Basra who worked as a secretary in the offices of Basra and Baghdad; author of al-Muwazana, comparing the poetry of Abu Tammam and al-Buhturi.Al-Raffaqi, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad
983 CE · 373 AHA man of letters from al-Raqqa, with the kunya Abu Abd Allah.al-Basri Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Hamza
Lexicographer, man of letters and critic of Basra who stayed for a time in Baghdad, where al-Mutanabbi lodged at his house; died 375 AH (985 CE).Al-Jurjani, Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz
Born and raised in Jurjan, where he studied the learning of his time. He wrote on literary criticism, including al-Wasata between al-Mutanabbi and his opponents.أبو عبد الله الحسين بن أحمد بن الحجاج الشاعر
أبو الفتح عثمان بن جني الموصلي النحوي
Abu al-Faraj al-Makhzumi al-Babbagha
Abd al-Wahid ibn Nasr ibn Ali, Abu al-Faraj al-Makhzumi, the poet called al-Babbagha; a cultivated man of letters, an elegant epistolary writer and a fine poet. Among his best-known verses is one addressed to Amid al-Juyush, appealing for help while he was imprisoned, when his house had been seized, his slaves had fled, his clothes were ruined and he had sold his furnishings. He had been nicknamed al-Babbagha long before, and in that verse he says that time has torn his garment, and that where his food was once fine rice he now makes do with plainer fare. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Hilal al-Sabi wrote to him from the prison, after visiting him in his confinement. He died in Sha'ban 398.Al-A'lam al-Shantamari, Yusuf ibn Sulayman
1019 CE · 410 AHAn Andalusian scholar from Shantamariyya al-Gharb, nicknamed al-A'lam for a wide split in his upper lip.أبو القاسم عبد الصمد بن بابك الشاعر
al-Husri Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ali
Of Qayrawan, named after the reed-mat trade or the village of al-Husr near Qayrawan; died 413 AH (1022 CE).Ali ibn Abd al-Ghani al-Fihri
1029 CE · 420 AHA blind poet and reciter, born in al-Andalus, with the kunya Abu al-Hasan.Ibn Khafaja, Ibrahim ibn Abi al-Fath
1058 CE · 450 AHAn Andalusian poet from Jazirat Shuqr, known for his nature description.Qawwam al-Sunna, Isma'il ibn Muhammad
1064 CE · 457 AHFrom Isfahan and descended from Talha ibn Ubayd Allah. He was learned in tafsir, hadith, jurisprudence, the readings, language and literature.al-Bakharzi
Poet and man of letters from Bakharz in Khurasan, trained in Shafi'i jurisprudence and author of a biographical dictionary of poets of his time.Ibn Khaqan, al-Fath ibn Muhammad al-Qaysi
1087 CE · 480 AHA man of letters from Seville, author of Qala'id al-Iqyan and Matmah al-Anfus.Ibn al-Khurasani Abu al-Izz Muhammad ibn Muhammad
1100 CE · 494 AHGrammarian, prosodist, poet and writer; born 494 AH (1100 CE) and died 576 AH (1180 CE); sources record only some of his teachers.Al-A'ma al-Tutili, Ahmad ibn Abd Allah
An Andalusian poet who was blind and known as al-A'ma. He is linked by nisba to Tudela and to Seville.Ibn al-Abrash, Khalaf ibn Yusuf
An Andalusian grammarian and poet from Santarem (Shantarin), who died in Cordoba in 532 AH.Ibn Baqi, Yahya ibn Ahmad
An Andalusian poet. The sources differ on the name of his father.Ibn al-Athir Diya' al-Din
1162 CE · 558 AHThe man of letters Diya' al-Din Abu al-Fath Nasr Allah ibn Muhammad al-Jazari al-Shaybani, third of the Ibn al-Athir brothers; author of 'al-Mathal al-Sa'ir fi Adab al-Katib wa-l-Sha'ir' on the craft of the pen, and served the Atabeg chanceries of Mosul.Abu Amir al-Balawi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad
An Andalusian vizier and secretary, a man of learning and a poet.al-Thaqafi al-Jayyani Muhammad ibn al-Hasan
1174 CE · 570 AHPreacher, reader, hadith scholar and man of letters of Jaen in al-Andalus, who travelled through the southern cities; died 663 AH (1264 CE).Yaqut al-Hamawi
1179 CE · 575 AHA geographer and lexicographer, author of Mu'jam al-Buldan and Mu'jam al-Udaba'. Sold young from Byzantine lands to a Baghdad merchant who freed him; he copied books for hire, traded in them, fled Damascus in 613 when a defence of Ali nearly cost his life, then fled the Tatars at Khwarazm 'like one risen from his grave on Judgement Day', settling outside Aleppo. His books he endowed to the Zaydi mosque at Darb Dinar, Baghdad, delivered to Ibn al-Athir himself; late in life he took the name Ya'qub.Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Tifashi
1184 CE · 580 AHA scholar and writer of the Qays lineage, named after Tifash in the Maghrib.Ibn Abi al-Isba, Zaki al-Din ibn Zafir
c. 1199 CE · 595 AHAn Egyptian writer and man of letters, raised in the schools of Egypt under the Ayyubids and part of the Bahri Mamluk period, author of works on rhetoric and figures of speech.Ibn al-Abbar, Muhammad ibn Abd Allah
1199 CE · 595 AHA historian, hadith scholar, linguist and poet from Valencia (Balansiya) in eastern al-Andalus, author of al-Takmila li-Kitab al-Silla.Jalal al-Din Rumi
1207 CE · 603 AH†Jalal al-Din Rumi.Al-Jara'i, Ahmad ibn Abd al-Salam
From Jarawa in the Maghrib, known for poetry and learning.Ibn al-Athir Imad al-Din
c. 1245 CE · c. 643 AH†The historian Imad al-Din Isma'il ibn Ahmad ibn Sa'id al-Jazari al-Shaybani, of the Ibn al-Athir scholarly family; author of 'al-Bahir fi Tarikh Dawlat al-Atabika bi-l-Mawsil', combining historical narrative with verse.Al-Adfawi, Ja'far ibn Tha'laba
1286 CE · 685 AHCombined jurisprudence with literature. From Adfu in Upper Egypt; died in 748 AH.Ibn Jabir al-Andalusi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad
1298 CE · 698 AHAn Andalusian poet and scholar of Arabic from Almeria.Ibn al-Ahmar, Isma'il ibn Yusuf
c. 1324 CE · c. 724 AH†An Andalusian man of letters and historian of the Nasrid family in Granada. After leaving Granada with his father he lived in Bougie and then Fez.Ahmadi Taj al-Din Ibrahim ibn Khidr
c. 1334 CE · 735 AHOne of the best-known Ottoman poets of the fourteenth century, named Ibrahim with the laqab Taj al-Din and father Khidr; died 815 AH (1412 CE).Ibn al-Athir Najm al-Din
The chancery writer Najm al-Din Ahmad ibn Isma'il ibn Sa'id al-Jazari al-Shaybani, of the Ibn al-Athir family; known for the art of insha' (official letter-writing) and served the chanceries of his day at Mosul.Ibn Arqam al-Numayri
Andalusi scholar and poet who travelled to Ceuta and took part in the affairs of his time.Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi
1385 CE · 786 AHAn Algerian scholar linked to the Tha'aliba tribe, who lived on the Mitija plain.al-Abshihi, Abu al-Fath
1388 CE · 790 AHEgyptian man of letters and author of the Mamluk period who gathered anecdotes and curiosities in his books.al-Shihab ibn al-Hayyim 'al-Qa'im'
c. 1397 CE · 799 AHIbn al-Hayyim 'al-Qa'im' (b. 799) — 'the poet of his age': a large diwan 'all in the utmost beauty', singular in his last years; died Jumada II 887.Jami, Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad
1414 CE · 817 AHThe Persian poet and Sufi of Jam — Sa'd al-Din Kashghari's disciple and Khwaja 'Ubaydallah Ahrar's companion, 'the wonder of his age in learning, deeds, letters and poetry'; Sharh Fusus al-Hikam, the best sharh of the Kafiya, Nafahat al-Uns, Silsilat al-Dhahab, al-Durra al-Fakhira; he got as far as Hamadan answering Bayezid's summons then begged off for the plague in Rum; died at Herat 898, his chronogram 'whoever enters it is safe'.Al-Balawi, Ahmad ibn Ali
1462 CE · 866 AHA philologist, man of letters and poet from Wadi Ash, linked to the tribe of Bali.'Ali al-Qitali-zade, the poet-qadi
c. 1512 CE · 918 AHMolla 'Ali al-Qitali-zade — b. 918, 'one of the excellent poet-courtier qadis'; author of a tract on the mashbab punishment, poet of 'al-Tarid ila'llah'; killed by a poisoned draught said to be given by his wife at Antioch, died 7 Ramadan 979.Al-Akhdari, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad
1514 CE · 920 AHA Maliki jurist and versifier from the Maghrib, known for verse treatises on law and worship that were taught in the Quranic schools.'Abd Allah Ibn al-Shishiri
A Persian-lands scholar who excelled in Arabic and the rational sciences, then entered Anatolia on Selim's thirty-uthmani daily stipend; his thirty-line Persian qasida carries a chronogram for Sulayman's accession in one hemistich and for the conquest of Rhodes in the other; author of glosses on the Sharif's Talkhis sharh and a sharh on the Kafiya.Idris ibn Husam al-Din al-'Ajami
The Persian panegyrist-secretary of the 'Ajami amirs' diwan who fled Ardabil's fitna to Rum — Bayezid showered him with honours and commissioned him to compose the history of the House of 'Uthman in Persian; 'without peer, bereft of rival, his prose outreaching every latecomer'; d. about 925.Shihab al-Din Ibn al-'Ulayf
The second Ibn al-'Ulayf — a smooth versifier 'on every theme' who 'took his share of fortune's cream'; a stipend arranged under his cousin Qaytbay was continued as iqta' under al-Ghuri, and his affairs prospered through that reign; d. 926.Burhan al-Din ibn al-Mabit
A Cairo poet — his lines in praise of coffee survive in the Shadharat: 'O you who fault our coffee's blackness — in it is a cure for souls of their ills — do you not see it in its cup — telling of the black of the eye amid its whiteness'.Sa'd ibn al-Dayl
The trilingual poet-jurist of the Mardaniyya — Aleppo deputy qadi who settled at Damascus's Sumaysatiyya khanqah composing in Arabic, Turkish and Persian; found cast dead on the khanqah doorstep beneath his cell window, thumbs bound, strangled, no killer known — end of Safar 953, in his seventies.Baha' al-Din al-'Amili (al-Bahai, 953–1030/1547–1621)
1547 CE · 953 AHBaha' al-Din al-'Amili, Muhammad b. Husayn, known as al-Bahai (953-1030 AH, 1547-1621 CE). From Jabal 'Amila in Syria, he moved to Persia and obtained an honoured place at the court of Shah 'Abbas. His best-known work is the anthology al-Kashkul, and he also wrote a Persian exposition of Shi'i fiqh, the Jami'-i 'Abbasi.Afuqay, Ahmad ibn al-Qasim al-Hajari
1570 CE · 977 AHAn Andalusian from the Red Stone quarter near Granada. He lived under Spanish rule and was known as al-Shihab.Muhammad al-Samarqandi al-Husayni, the five-language munshi
Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Samarqandi al-Husayni — munshi who wrote and composed in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Tajik and Uzbek; Qur'an-hafiz, hadith student of Abu al-Fadl al-Madani; his library held over 1,090 books and a hundred hadith codices; died Thursday eve 9 Muharram 996 at Hayyan.Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi
1621 CE · 1030 AHBorn in Baghdad, he was drawn to literature and the study of Arabic from childhood. He wrote Khizanat al-Adab.Muhammad ibn al-Jayyib al-'Alami (Moroccan poet, d. 1134/1721–23)
Muhammad ibn al-Jayyib al-'Alami, a Moroccan poet and man of letters of the 'Alamiyyun sharifs, born and educated at Fez, died at Cairo on his way to the pilgrimage in 1134 or 1135 AH (1721–23 CE). His al-Anis al-mutrib bi-man laqituhu min udaba' al-Maghrib is an anthology with information on Moroccan literary life in the early 18th century.Al-Afyuni, Abd Allah ibn Umar
A man of letters and poet from Tripoli in Syria, where he was born and raised; he later worked in Egypt.Abd al-Ghaffar al-Akhras
c. 1805 CE · c. 1220 AH†A poet from Mosul who moved to Baghdad and grew up there. He was called al-Akhras because of a speech impediment.Mirza Fath 'Ali Akhund-zada (dramatist, 1812–1878)
1812 CE · 1227 AH†Mirza Fath 'Ali Akhund-zada, the first writer of original plays in a Turkish idiom (Azerbaijani). Born at Sheki (now Nukha) in 1812, he died in 1878. Between 1850 and 1857 he wrote six comedies and a historical-satirical narrative, which attacked feudalism, corruption and superstition.Amanat (Sayyid Agha Hasan, Lucknow poet, 1815–1858)
1815 CE · 1231 AHAmanat, the poetical name of Sayyid Agha Hasan (1231–1275 AH, 1815–1858 CE), a poet of Muslim India in whom the artificiality of the Lucknow school of Urdu poetry reached its height. He is chiefly remembered for the musical comedy Indar Sabha, completed in 1270/1853, which became the prototype of many later plays.Abd al-Hadi Naja al-Abyari
1821 CE · 1236 AHAn Egyptian grammarian trained at al-Azhar. He tutored the children of Khedive Isma'il and served as personal imam and mufti to Khedive Tawfiq.al-Ahdab, Ibrahim ibn Ali
1826 CE · 1242 AHMan of letters, poet and jurist from Tripoli in Syria, who left a large body of books and treatises.Mulla Hasan al-Bazzaz
1845 CE · 1261 AHOne of the best-known poets of Mosul, who studied with several of its scholars.Akbar Allahabadi (Urdu satirical poet, 1846–1921)
1846 CE · 1262 AH†Akbar Allahabadi, an Urdu poet of Indian Islam born near Allahabad in 1846 and dead in September 1921, who used satire and wordplay to comment on the social and political life of British India, earning the title 'the mouthpiece of the age'.Taymur Ahmad ibn Isma'il
1871 CE · 1288 AHFigure of the Arab cultural renaissance in modern Egypt, from a Kurdish family settled in Egypt; born in Cairo 1288 AH (1871 CE), died 1348 AH (1930 CE).Mehmet Akif Ersoy
1873 CE · 1290 AH†A Turkish poet and man of letters, born in Istanbul in 1873 and died in 1936.Muhammad ibn Isa Al Khalifa
1876 CE · 1293 AHA prince and poet of the Al Khalifa family of Bahrain.Muhammad Iqbal
1877 CE · 1294 AH†Muhammad Iqbal.Muhammad al-Shadhili Khuznadar
1881 CE · 1299 AHA Tunisian poet from the suburbs of Tunis, known as al-Sha'ir.Iskandar Abkarius
A Lebanese man of letters, poet, journalist and historian from an Armenian family settled in Beirut; one of the figures of the Arabic literary revival in the second half of the nineteenth century.Amin al-Khuli
1895 CE · 1313 AHBorn in Sharshay, a village in the Minufiya province of Egypt.Jibril Tawfiq Salih
1897 CE · 1315 AHOne of the notable poets of Sudan, whose verse was tied to the political struggle; he was among the militants of the Unionist movement that led the 1924 uprising against colonial rule; died 1386 AH (1966 CE).al-Jundi Ali al-Sayyid
1898 CE · 1316 AHMan of letters, poet and professor of Arabic literature, dean of Dar al-Ulum and member of the Arabic Language Academy; born 1316 AH (1898 CE), died 1393 AH (1973 CE).Tawfiq al-Hakim
1898 CE · 1316 AHAn Egyptian writer born in Alexandria in October 1898, grew up in Alexandria and Cairo, and was a pioneer of the Arabic theatre and novel.Al-Tahir al-Khamiri
1899 CE · 1317 AHBorn in the Bab Suwayqa quarter of the old city of Tunis in 1899.Yahya Haqqi
1905 CE · 1323 AHAn Egyptian writer born in the Sayyida Zaynab district of Cairo in January 1905, who held a law degree.Kazim Jawad al-Arada
1928 CE · c. 1347 AHAn Iraqi poet, writer and translator, born in Nasiriyya in southern Iraq.Abbas ibn Mirdas al-Sulami
A knight, poet and chieftain of Banu Sulaym; he embraced Islam prior to the conquest of Mecca after a miraculous encounter with his idol Dimar, led the Sulaym contingent at the Conquest and Hunayn, and was renowned for his stirring war poetry.Abdullah ibn Abi Atiq
Abdullah ibn Abi Atiq, of the family of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, a man of lineage, restraint and standing, known for much jesting. Al-Nuwayri records an exchange with Abdullah ibn Umar about a verse of satire against him.Abdullah ibn al-Zib'ara
One of the finest poets of Quraysh, harsh against the Muslims, who embraced Islam at the conquest; he fled to Najran after the fall of Mecca, verses of Hassan ibn Thabit reached him, he returned and became Muslim and composed verses of apology; al-Marzubani says the Prophet ordered him a robe when he praised him.Abu al-Jahm
A courtier who confirmed a debt, with Salman ibn Mujalid, in an anecdote of Abu Dulama.Abu al-Shabl
A witty poet with anecdotes about Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Hubayra and his singing slave-girl, and another about Khalid's mother.Abu Sadaqa Miskin ibn Sadaqa
A witty, greedy singer from Medina whom Harun al-Rashid enjoyed teasing; anecdotes include his mimicry of the blind singer Abu Zakkar at drinking parties.Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith
The Prophet's paternal cousin and milk-brother, fostered with him in Banu Sa'd under Halima's care; he later became one of the poets of Islam after initially opposing it.Abu Zakkar al-A'ma
A blind singer who became furious when Abu Sadaqa mimicked him at a drinking party and cursed him.Aktham ibn Sayfi
A pre-Islamic Arab sage to whom proverbs are attributed; the book cites his saying: when you are wronged, beware of seeking revenge.al-Ahwal, Abu al-Abbas
Poet and philologist of Basra, mentioned in the classical biographies of poets.al-Ahwas al-Ansari
Umayyad poet from the Ansar of Medina, known for love poetry and for his standing in Arabic letters.al-Akhzar ibn Lut al-Dili
A poet of Banu al-Dil who boasted in verse of driving Banu Ka'b of Khuza'a away from al-Watir; Budayl ibn Umm Asram answered him in a poem Ibn Hisham records under a non-Ibn-Ishaq strand.al-Aqayshar (Abu Mu'arrid)
A Kufan poet of the Asad tribe, nicknamed al-Aqayshar, known for wine poetry and anecdotes of tavern drinking.Al-Fadl al-Raqqashi
Abu'l-Abbas al-Raqqashi — the Basran panegyrist of al-Rashid, al-Amin and the Barmakids whose lampoon war with Abu Nuwas ended only at death; al-Mubarrad mocked him as a man who feigned wealth while poor.al-Harith ibn Sulayl al-Asadi
Of Banu Asad, an ally of Alqama ibn Hasafa; named as the first to say the proverb 'the free woman goes hungry rather than sell her milk'.al-Mutalammis
A pre-Islamic poet, maternal uncle of Tarafa ibn al-Abd; he threw away the letter he was carrying to the governor of Bahrain and survived, giving rise to the proverb 'he came with al-Mutalammis's letter'.al-Shayhi
Draft card for Shayhi Sinan, the fifteenth-century Ottoman poet and physician author of Khusraw u Shirin, d. 1431; the biographical entry is not yet checked on the page.al-Zibriqan ibn Badr
A Tamimi notable and poet of Banu Bahdala of Sa'd who came among his people's chiefs to Medina in 9 AH and declaimed a boast before the Prophet; Hassan ibn Thabit answered him, al-Aqra' conceded the Muslims' superiority, and he accepted Islam; later sources make him sadaqa collector over part of Banu Sa'd.Ali ibn al-Mughira al-Athram
Abu'l-Hasan al-Athram — the warraq grammarian whom Isma'il b. Subayh famously locked in a house with Abu 'Ubayda's books to have them copied through the door-gap while al-Athram sat in his classes, Abu 'Ubayda, 'the most protective of men over his books', none the wiser; one of Baghdad's three transmitters of the lugha beside al-Lihyani and al-Asma'i. Died Jumada I 232.Alqama ibn Hasafa al-Ta'i
Of the tribe of Tayyi'; named in connection with his ally al-Harith ibn Sulayl and the proverb 'the free woman goes hungry'.Amir ibn Judhayma
A pre-Islamic king of Himyar's line, killed by his own people; the proverb 'the dog sometimes eats its trainer' is attributed to his death.Amr al-Ghazzal
A singer named in anecdotes of Abu Sadaqa at Harun al-Rashid's court.Amr ibn al-Ahtam al-Tamimi
A poet of Banu Minqar of Tamim; he came in the Tamim delegation of 9 AH as its youngest member and was left with the mounts, Qays ibn Asim belittled him before the Prophet, who gave him the same gift as the others, and he lampooned Qays in two verses; in Umar's caliphate he carried the news of the Rayshahr victory, as al-Baladhuri relates.'Amr ibn Qami'a
A pre-Islamic Arab poet of the Bakr group, of the Kays ibn Tha'laba branch, who travelled to Byzantium with Imru' al-Qays and died in Byzantine territory around 530-540 CE. His poems were collected by the philologists of the second/eighth century and often quoted by critics.Amr ibn Salim al-Khuza'i
A man of Banu Ka'b of Khuza'a who stood before the Prophet in the Medina mosque and recited his famous plea for help after the al-Watir attack — 'that which stirred the conquest of Mecca', in Ibn Ishaq's words.Amr ibn Uds
A pre-Islamic Arab; al-Nuwayri says he married Dakhtanus when old, and the proverb 'You wasted the milk in summer' is attached to his story.Anmar ibn Nizar
One of Nizar's sons; al-Nuwayri says he received the purse and the assembly in the inheritance story, and that al-Afa decided the case.Ash'ab ibn Jubayr
Ash'ab ibn Jubayr, among the best-known Medinese jesters in the anecdotes of wit, who sang well. Al-Nuwayri says his mother was a freedwoman of Asma bint Abi Bakr and his father a client of Uthman ibn Affan; that he was raised in the households of the Abu Talib family under Aisha bint Uthman; and that he lived until the reign of al-Mahdi.Asim ibn Wahb ibn al-Barajim
A Basran poet born in Kufa who came to Samarra under al-Mutawakkil and received 30,000 dirhams for a praise poem; he also praised Malik ibn Tawq, who sent him 100 dinars.Barsuma
A singer named in anecdotes of Abu Sadaqa at Harun al-Rashid's court.Budayl ibn Warqa' al-Khuza'i
A Khuza'i leader of the truce years: he sheltered the driven-in Khuza'a in his house, led their complaint delegation to Medina, met Abu Sufyan at Usfan while concealing his own visit, and scouted the Muslim army with him at Marr al-Zahran — where he slipped away to warn the Prophet. As 'Budayl ibn Umm Asram' he answered al-Akhzar's war poem.Dakhtanus
A woman of pre-Islamic Arabia who figures in the story of her husband Amr ibn Uds, which became a proverb.Farwa ibn Musayk al-Muradi
A chief of Murad and poet; he came to the Prophet breaking with the kings of Kinda and embraced Islam, the Prophet asked him about the Day of al-Radm on which Hamdan had crushed his people, and set him over Murad, Zubayd and all Madhhij with Khalid ibn Sa'id sent with him over the sadaqa; after the Prophet's death Amr ibn Ma'dikarib rebelled against him and satirised him. Al-Baladhuri adds that the Prophet sent him with Qays ibn al-Makshuh to Yemen against al-Aswad al-Ansi.Fatima bint al-Kharshub
A woman of Banu Anmar in pre-Islamic times, mother of al-Rabi' ibn Ziyad; her words to her son became a proverb: 'hearing of evil is enough for you'.Fitnat Hanim
Draft card for Zubeyda Fitnat Hanim, the eighteenth-century Ottoman poet of Istanbul, d. 1780; the biographical entry is not yet checked on the page.Ghunayya al-A'rabiyya
A Bedouin woman whose words to her son became a proverb after she took blood-money for his ear and lip.Hakam al-Wadi
A singer named in the section on Mutiy ibn Iyas.Halima bint al-Harith
A daughter of al-Harith ibn Abi Shamir al-Ghassani. Al-Nuwayri records that when her father went out to meet an army, she brought out a basin and perfumed the troops; the passage is in the context of a poem on a pleasant day.Hamra bint Damra
An old woman of Tamim captured in Amr's revenge; her words 'Will no young man take an old woman's place?' became a proverb.Hamza ibn Bay al-Hanafi
A Kufan poet of Banu Hanifa in the Umayyad period, who praised al-Muhallab and his sons and Aban ibn al-Walid; an anecdote involves Abd al-Malik ibn Bishr ibn Marwan.Hanzala ibn Malik
An old Arab man in pre-Islamic times; Jundala bint al-Harith was married to him while still a virgin, and the story belongs to the proverb 'he wounded him where the healer cannot put his nose'.Hassan ibn Thabit
The renowned 'Poet of the Prophet'; an Ansari chief of Banu al-Najjar who defended Islam and the Prophet with his eloquent poetry, endorsed by the Prophet with the supplication 'O God, support him with the Holy Spirit'; lived to over a hundred years.Haydar al-Araqt
An Arab poet remembered in anecdotes of miserliness for satirising his guests. Al-Abshihi reports that when guests visited him he fed them dates, and that they ate the stones; he is cited for verses in dispraise of the guest.Himas ibn Qays al-Dili
A warrior of Banu Bakr who prepared weapons before the Conquest boasting he would kill Muhammad's companions; he fought at al-Khandama, broke and fled to his house, reciting famous verses to his wife.Ibn Abi Muqbil
Poet of the Umayyad period whose verses are preserved in the adab literature.Ibrahim ibn Sayyaba
A known wit; the book gives his anecdotes with the blind poet Bashshar and with his host in Nishapur.Iyad ibn Nizar
One of Nizar's sons; al-Nuwayri says he received the old female servant and the piebald horses and livestock.Juha (Abu al-Ghusn)
The Arab Juha, Abu al-Ghusn, a jester proverbial for foolishness and heedlessness. The editor records that his mother served Anas ibn Malik's mother, that he witnessed Abu Muslim's revolt, that al-Jahiz was the first Arab author to mention him, and that Ibn al-Nadim lists a Nawadir Juha among books on fools.Jundala bint al-Harith
A woman of the Arabs, wife of Hanzala ibn Malik; on a rainy night a man violated her and she said 'I was stung where the healer cannot put his nose', which became a proverb.Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari
One of the three chief poets of the Prophet from the Ansar (Banu Salama of Khazraj); he witnessed the Second Pledge of al-Aqaba, fought in the early campaigns, defended the community with his eloquent verses at Hunayn, and was later one of the three whose repentance at Tabuk was accepted. وحديثه عن تخلفه عن تبوك من أطول أخبار الصحيح وأشهرها.Ka'b ibn Mama
Of the Iyad tribe in pre-Islamic times, known for good neighbourliness so that his name became a proverb: 'a neighbour like the neighbour of Abu Du'ad'.Ka'b ibn Zuhayr
The famous poet, son of the poet Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, a known Companion; he satirised the Prophet, who declared his blood forfeit, then he embraced Islam and recited his poem 'Banat Su'ad' and was forgiven; the sources tell the story of his Islam in two versions.Kulab ibn Rabi'a al-Qaysi
A man of Qays in pre-Islamic times, described as foolish; he tied a bull calf to race with, and the proverb about him is used for someone who attempts the impossible.Latifi
Draft card for Latifi, the sixteenth-century Ottoman poet and biographer of poets, d. 1582; the biographical entry is not yet checked on the page.Mahmud al-Warraq
Owner of a slave-girl that al-Mu'tasim wanted for 7,000 dinars; he refused to sell, and after his death she was bought from the estate for 700.Malik ibn al-Namat al-Hamdani, Dhu al-Mish'ar
The envoy of Hamdan who met the Prophet on his return from Tabuk, chanted rajaz before the company, then stood before the Prophet and said that the pick of Hamdan, settled and nomad, had come on swift camels bound to the ropes of Islam; the Prophet wrote him a letter for the district of Kharif and the people of the highland slopes and sand dunes granting them their heights and lowlands while they prayed and paid zakat, and he composed verses recalling the Messenger in the blackness of night. Later sources say the Prophet set him over the Muslims of Hamdan.Princess Maria (as printed)
A princess named in a horseman's boast in the Juha anecdotes as a cousin of the prince of Serbia; the name is unverified.Mudar ibn Nizar
One of Nizar's sons, from whom a branch of the northern Arabs is traced; al-Nuwayri tells the story of his father's inheritance and the sons' dispute before al-Afa al-Jurhumi.Mutiy ibn Iyas al-Kinani
A witty Kufan poet with a reputation for heresy in the anecdotes; he moved between patrons, including al-Walid ibn Yazid, and the section includes his dealings with singers.Muzabbad
A well-known dissolute wit; the book records his drinking anecdotes and his jokes with governors.Nasreddin Hoca
Sheikh Nasreddin Hoca, a Turk from Anatolia, born in Seyitgazi and died in Akşehir. The Turks attribute many Juha stories to him; the editor notes his tomb in Akşehir and the confusion between the two figures.Qabus ibn al-Mundhir
A brother of Amr ibn al-Mundhir, one of the rulers of al-Hira in pre-Islamic times; he was a young man fond of revelry, with whom Tarafa and al-Mutalammis stayed.Qays ibn al-Musahhar al-Ya'muri
A Companion and poet of Banu Ya'mar; he killed Mas'ada ibn Hakama al-Fazari in Zayd ibn Haritha's second raid on Fazara and composed verses on it, and on Zayd's order killed Umm Qirfa; he also has verses on Mu'ta excusing what happened and praising Khalid ibn al-Walid.Qays ibn Zuhayr
An Arab leader in pre-Islamic times known as Qays al-Ra'y; he gave up leadership, lived in asceticism and died in Oman. He appears in the proverb about taking a mount.Rabi'a ibn Nizar
One of Nizar's sons; al-Nuwayri tells how, in the dispute over their father's inheritance, he received the dark horses.Ruh ibn Hatim al-Muhallabi
A military commander named in an anecdote of Abu Dulama, who was pressed into a campaign under him against the Kharijites.Salik ibn al-Salaka
A pre-Islamic vagrant poet of the Arabs; the proverb 'Farting, and you on top?' is attributed to him after a man pinned him at night.Salma bint Attab
A woman poet of Tamim who spoke two verses on the day of Uyayna ibn Hisn's raid on Banu al-Anbar, lamenting the evil that befell Adi ibn Jundab, the enemies closing in from every side and the absence of their might and fortune; nothing else of her is known from Ibn Ishaq.Salman ibn Mujalid
A courtier of al-Mansur who confirmed a debt, with Abu al-Jahm, in an anecdote of Abu Dulama.Seyyid Vehbi
Draft card for Seyyid Vehbi Huseyin, the eighteenth-century Ottoman court poet, d. 1736; the biographical entry is not yet checked on the page.Suwaybit ibn Sa'd
A Badri Companion. In the jest attributed to Nu'aymān, he was in charge of the provisions on a campaign with Abu Bakr to Busra. Nu'aymān sold him, falsely, as a slave to a caravan; he protested that he was free until Abu Bakr came and the camels were returned. The book says the Prophet laughed at the story for a year.Suwayd ibn Rabi'a al-Tamimi
A man of Tamim in pre-Islamic times who killed his brother; the story of Amr's revenge, including the Barajim man, gave rise to the proverb 'the wretched one came to the Barajim'.Suwayd ibn Samit
A renowned poet and noble warrior of the Aws tribe in Yathrib, called 'al-Kamil' for his valor and lineage; he met the Prophet in Mecca carrying the wisdom of Luqman, listened to the Qur'an, approved of it, and was killed at the battle of Bu'ath before fully establishing his practice.Tamim ibn Asad al-Khuza'i
The Khuza'i man who escaped the al-Watir night attack when his companion Munabbih fell; the long apology poem to Budayl ibn Umm Asram is his — though Ibn Hisham notes it is also ascribed to Hubayb ibn Abdullah al-A'lam al-Hudhali.Tarafa ibn al-Abd
A pre-Islamic poet, one of the Mu'allaqat poets; al-Nuwayri records his story with al-Mutalammis and the letter that led to his death, and quotes his verse on the good neighbour.Thumama al-Ufi
A poet in an anecdote in which a woman asks his trade and he answers with verses about heroes in battle.al-Tufayl ibn Amr al-Dawsi
A noble chief and renowned poet of the Daws tribe who arrived in Mecca around the eleventh year of prophethood; warned against listening to Muhammad, he stuffed his ears with cotton but upon hearing the recitation at the Kaaba embraced Islam, later calling his entire tribe to the faith.Ubayd ibn al-Abras
A pre-Islamic poet. Al-Nuwayri records 'the day of Ubayd' as a proverb for an unlucky day on which no one who meets it prospers, and quotes Abu Tammam on it.Umama al-Muzayriyya
A woman who spoke two verses on the killing of Abu Afak, addressing him: that he gave the lie to God's religion and to the man Ahmad, and that a Muslim had granted him a thrust at the end of the night which he should take in his old age; nothing more is known of her from Ibn Ishaq.Umar ibn Yazid al-Asadi
An Asadi poet remembered in anecdotes of miserliness. Al-Abshihi records that he suffered from colic and was treated with oil, in a passage about his extreme stinginess.Uqayl ibn Bilal
A transmitter of an anecdote in which a Bedouin woman overhears him recite a verse and says he should have sinned.al-Wirtha bint Tha'laba
A woman of Banu Tha'laba in pre-Islamic times who said 'Bakh bakh, a leg with an anklet' on seeing a co-wife in two anklets; the phrase became a proverb.Zalzal
A singer named in anecdotes of Abu Sadaqa at Harun al-Rashid's court.Zubayr ibn Dahman
A singer named in anecdotes of Abu Sadaqa at Harun al-Rashid's court.
Event
The killing of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
c. September 624 CE · 14 Rabi' I 3 AHThe assassination of the Jewish poet Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf in Rabi' al-Awwal 3 AH by a band led by Muhammad ibn Maslama, after he incited Quraysh to war and satirized Muslim women.Salim ibn Umayr's mission to kill Abu Afak
c. 625 CE · c. 3 AHIbn Ishaq relates that Abu Afak, of Banu Amr ibn Awf and then of Banu Ubayda, showed his hypocrisy openly when al-Harith ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit was killed, and composed verses reviling a rider who had split the sons of Qayla and broken their unity; the Prophet said: who will deal with this wretch for me? and Salim ibn Umayr, one of the Weepers, went out and killed him; Umama al-Muzayriyya spoke two verses on it.Umayr ibn Adi al-Khatmi's mission to kill Asma' bint Marwan
c. 625 CE · c. 3 AHIbn Ishaq relates from Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn al-Fudayl from his father that Asma' bint Marwan, of Banu Umayya ibn Zayd and married to Yazid ibn Zayd of Banu Khatma, showed hypocrisy after Abu Afak's killing and composed verses reviling Islam and its people and inciting against the Prophet, which Hassan ibn Thabit answered; when it reached the Prophet he said 'is there no one to deal with the daughter of Marwan for me?' Umayr ibn Adi al-Khatmi heard him, went to her house that night and killed her, and the Prophet told him 'you have helped God and His Messenger, Umayr', and that no two goats would butt heads over her. Ibn Ishaq says that day was the first on which Islam became strong among Banu Khatma.Khuza'a's appeal to Medina
629 CE · 8 AHAfter al-Watir, Amr ibn Salim al-Khuza'i stood before the Prophet in the Medina mosque and recited his plea invoking the pact of the fathers — 'and that was what stirred the conquest of Mecca' — then Budayl ibn Warqa' arrived with Khuza'i men reporting Quraysh's backing of Bakr.Ka'b ibn Zuhayr's pardon and recitation of Banat Su'ad
c. 630 CE · 8 AHWarned by his brother Bujayr after the Prophet's return from al-Ta'if, the poet Ka'b ibn Zuhayr came to Medina, announced himself in the mosque, was spared despite an Ansari's request to strike his neck, and recited his apology-ode Banat Su'ad before the Prophet.The delegation of Banu Tamim and the boasting contest
c. 631 CE · 9 AHUtarid ibn Hajib led the notables of Banu Tamim to the Prophet in 9 AH, with al-Aqra' ibn Habis, al-Zibriqan ibn Badr, Amr ibn al-Ahtam, al-Hutat ibn Yazid, Qays ibn Asim and others, and Uyayna ibn Hisn with them. They called him from behind his apartments, then challenged him to a boasting contest; Thabit ibn Qays answered Utarid and Hassan answered al-Zibriqan, al-Aqra' conceded that the Muslims' orator and poet were better, and they embraced Islam and were given gifts. The opening of sura al-Hujurat was revealed about them.
Work
Hassan ibn Thabit's elegies for the Mu'tah martyrs
Three elegies by Hassan ibn Thabit mourning the Mu'tah commanders: the first for all three together, the second for Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and the third for Zayd and Ibn Rawaha. Transmitted by Ibn Ishaq within his Mu'tah account.Ka'b ibn Malik's elegy for the Mu'tah martyrs
Elegy by Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari praising the endurance and courage of the Mu'tah martyrs. Transmitted by Ibn Ishaq within the Mu'tah narrative.Abbas ibn Mirdas's ode on the Battle of Hunayn
The ode composed by Abbas ibn Mirdas al-Sulami celebrating the steadfastness of Banu Sulaym and the Muslims' counter-rally at the Battle of Hunayn, answering Hawazin's poets.Ka'b ibn Malik's ode on Hunayn and the march to Ta'if
The ode by Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari commemorating the victory at Hunayn and the army's advance to besiege the fortress of Ta'if.Abbas ibn Mirdas's verses of reproach on the Ji'rana division
The verses of gentle reproach composed by Abbas ibn Mirdas when granted fewer camels than Uyayna and al-Aqra', upon which the Prophet ordered his share completed to a full hundred until he was satisfied.Malik ibn Awf's eulogy of the Prophet at al-Ji'rana
The verses recited by Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri upon coming to the Prophet in submission at al-Ji'rana, after having his family and wealth restored and receiving one hundred camels.Hassan ibn Thabit's poem enumerating the Ansar's campaigns with the Prophet
A lam-rhymed poem listing the Ansar's battles beside the Prophet from Badr to Tabuk; Ibn Ishaq places it at the close of the Bara'a chapter, and Ibn Hisham notes it is also attributed to Hassan's son Abd al-Rahman and that its last verse comes from a source other than Ibn Ishaq.Hassan ibn Thabit's reply to al-Zibriqan, 'The chiefs of Fihr and their brothers'
Hassan ibn Thabit's answer to al-Zibriqan ibn Badr in the Banu Tamim contest; Hassan relates that he was summoned while absent and composed lines on the way, then answered in the same vein. It praises Quraysh and the Ansar for the sunna they established, their generosity, the chastity Revelation mentions, and their valour. Ibn Hisham gives one verse in Abu Zayd's reading; the editors note the opening lines belong to a fourteen-verse qasida.Labid ibn Rabi'a's elegies for his brother Arbad
Six pieces Ibn Ishaq gives as Labid's laments for his maternal brother Arbad ibn Qays after his death by lightning: a dal-rhymed poem, a mim-rhymed poem bidding him farewell by his kunya Abu Hurayz, a rajaz, a short piece on his virtues, a ra'-rhymed poem, and two verses on the kinsmen he had lost. Ibn Hisham marks certain verses as from Abu Ubayda or from other than Ibn Ishaq.Al-Zibriqan ibn Badr's boasting poem before the Prophet
The boast al-Zibriqan ibn Badr declaimed in the Banu Tamim delegation's contest at the Prophet's mosque in 9 AH: we are the noble, ours are the kings, we feed in drought and win every boast. Hassan ibn Thabit answered it. Ibn Hisham records two variant readings he heard from men of Tamim.Theologus Autodidactus
Ibn al-Nafis's philosophical tale of a child who deduces religion and science alone on an island — the earliest complete philosophical novel, a root of science fiction.Ghadat Karbala
Jurji Zaydan's historical romance on Karbala — one of the most famous of the 23 novels that taught generations of Arabs their history through fiction.The Cairo Trilogy
Mahfouz's trilogy — Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street — three generations of a Muslim Cairene family between the wars.Children of Gebelawi
Naguib Mahfouz's allegorical 1959 novel restaging prophetic history in a Cairo alley — controversial enough to be banned in Egypt for years.Men in the Sun
Ghassan Kanafani's novella of three Palestinians smuggled to Kuwait inside a water tank — an icon of Palestinian fiction.Season of Migration to the North
Tayeb Salih's novel of Mustafa Sa'eed, returned from London to a Nile village — the most translated Arabic novel and a classic on East-West tension.Cities of Salt
Abdul Rahman Munif's five-volume epic on oil and the transformation of Arabia — among the greatest Arabic novels, banned in several countries.The Satanic Verses
Rushdie's 1988 novel that triggered the Khomeini fatwa and the global free-expression crisis — indexed here as a historical object, neutrally.Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree
Tariq Ali's first Islam Quintet novel — an Andalusi family after Granada's fall, as the books are burned.Granada (trilogy)
Radwa Ashour's trilogy on a family in post-conquest Granada — the Moriscos and a forbidden culture; the finest Arabic fiction on al-Andalus's end.The Black Album
Hanif Kureishi's novel of a British-Pakistani youth torn between 90s music culture and Islamists in London.Gate of the Sun
Elias Khoury's epic of Palestinian refugees retelling the Nakba in Shatila camp; filmed by Yousry Nasrallah.My Name Is Red
Pamuk's historical novel of Ottoman miniaturists and a murder in the sultan's workshop — figural art at the centre of the mystery.The Book of Saladin
Tariq Ali's Saladin novel narrated by an imagined Jewish-Muslim scribe — second of his 'Islam Quintet'.The Translator
Leila Aboulela's novel of a devout Sudanese widow in Aberdeen — a landmark of English-language Muslim fiction.Snow
Orhan Pamuk's novel of a poet exiled to Kars, caught between Islamists, secularists and the 'headscarf girls'.The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini's novel of friendship and guilt in Kabul across the Soviet invasion and Taliban rule — the widest-read Afghan novel.Minaret
Aboulela's novel of a Sudanese diplomat's daughter turned London servant who finds Islam seriously in exile.A Thousand Splendid Suns
Hosseini's novel of Mariam and Laila — thirty years of Afghan women's lives through civil war and Taliban rule.Azazeel
Youssef Ziedan's IPAF-winning novel about a fifth-century Egyptian monk accompanying Nestorius — theological fiction that stirred church controversy.The Jewel of Medina
Sherry Jones's novel about Aisha — Random House dropped it amid controversy before Beaufort published it; a case study in depicting the Prophet's household.The Forty Rules of Love
Elif Shafak's global bestseller on Shams of Tabriz and Rumi, with a modern parallel story — the most popular Sufi novel of the century.Alif the Unseen
G. Willow Wilson's techno-fantasy of an Arab hacker and an ancient jinn manuscript — code, Sufism and the Arab Spring.The Bamboo Stalk
Saud Alsanousi's IPAF winner about a half-Kuwaiti, half-Filipino youth negotiating faith, class and belonging.Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi's IPAF-winning novel — a creature stitched from bombing victims walks post-2003 Baghdad.Submission
Houellebecq's 2015 novel imagining France under a moderate Islamist party — a cultural flashpoint, indexed neutrally.Abdullah ibn Unays's verses on killing Ibn Nubayh al-Hudhali
Seven dal-rhymed verses Ibn Hisham reports as Abdullah ibn Unays's: he left Ibn Thawr like a camel calf with wailing women rending their collars around him, struck him with an Indian sword while the litters were behind, and told him as the sword bit his head: I am Ibn Unays, a horseman of no base stock; take that from a noble hanif upon the religion of the Prophet Muhammad; whenever the Prophet set his mind on an unbeliever he was first to him with tongue and hand.Abu Afak's verses on the rider who split the sons of Qayla
Five verses Ibn Ishaq gives to Abu Afak: he had lived an age and never seen a house or gathering truer to its pledges than the sons of Qayla, whose assembly could level mountains and never bowed; then a rider split them, bringing lawful and forbidden together; had they believed in might or followed a king, they would have followed Tubba'.Abu Ji'al al-Judhami's verses after the Prophet restored what was taken from Judham
A ra'-rhymed poem Abu Ji'al composed when the restitution to Judham was done: a reproaching woman pleading for the captives, the thought that had the matter been left to Us and Aws no release would be hoped for, their journey to Yathrib on tried camels and their stand before the Prophet; Ibn Hisham marks two phrases as from other than Ibn Ishaq.Amr ibn al-Ahtam's satire of Qays ibn Asim
Two verses in which Amr ibn al-Ahtam lampooned Qays ibn Asim after learning that Qays had belittled him before the Prophet: Qays insulted him before the Messenger and was neither truthful nor right; Amr's lordship is wide, Qays's is cramped. Ibn Hisham omitted a third verse as obscene.Amr ibn Ma'dikarib's poem to Qays ibn Makshuh, 'I counselled you on the day of Dhu San'a''
A dal-rhymed poem Amr ibn Ma'dikarib composed when Qays ibn Makshuh threatened him for defying him and going to the Prophet: he reminds Qays that on the day of Dhu San'a' he had counselled him clearly, to fear God and do good, but Qays like a donkey was fooled by its tether; then he threatens that whoever meets him meets a maned lion. Ibn Hisham gives Abu Ubayda's reading of three lines and says Abu Ubayda did not know the rest.Asma' bint Marwan's verses reviling the Ansar for obeying 'the stranger'
Four verses in which Asma' reviles Banu Malik, al-Nabit, Awf and Banu al-Khazraj: you obeyed a stranger of neither Murad nor Madhhij, hoping in him after the killing of your chiefs as one hopes for broth from a cooked pot; and she wishes for a proud man who would catch him unawares and cut off the hope of those who hope.Al-Farazdaq's verses on al-Aqra' ibn Habis and the captives of Banu al-Anbar
Three verses from a longer poem by al-Farazdaq that Ibn Hisham quotes after the account of the Banu al-Anbar captives: that Ibn Habis stood before the Messenger of God with a resolute, glory-seeking plea, and the captives bound in ropes with fettered necks were released for him, sparing the mothers of those left behind the price of ransom and the arrows of the division of spoils.Farwa ibn Amr al-Judhami's verses in prison and at his crucifixion
Verses Farwa ibn Amr al-Judhami composed when the Romans imprisoned him for his Islam: he addresses Sulayma, describes the Romans between the gate and the troughs, asks that no eye be kohl'd after him, and tells Abu Kubaysha that his tongue is not cut among the mighty and that he has gathered generosity, courage and eloquence; two verses when they resolved to crucify him at the water of Afra', and one verse al-Zuhri reports he said as he was brought out to die: tell the chiefs of the Muslims that my bones and my standing are at peace with my Lord.Farwa ibn Musayk's verses on the Day of al-Radm and on his journey to the Prophet
A nun-rhymed poem Farwa ibn Musayk al-Muradi composed on the Day of al-Radm: if they win they have long been winners and if beaten they are not the oft-beaten, cowardice is not their way, fortune turns by turns, and had kings lived forever so would they; and two verses he said when he set out for the Prophet, leaving the kings of Kinda. Ibn Hisham marks the first line and the phrase 'if we win' as from other than Ibn Ishaq and gives Abu Ubayda's reading of the second couplet.Hassan ibn Thabit's elegy for the Prophet
An elegy on the Prophet which Ibn Hisham transmits from Abu Zayd al-Ansari; it opens with Medina as the trace and habitation of the Messenger, describes his chambers, the pulpit and the grave that covered him, and says that weeping for him is not enough, that the earth wept for him, and that no calamity equals the day Muhammad died.Hassan ibn Thabit's poem 'We were the kings of men before Muhammad'
A lam-rhymed poem by Hassan ibn Thabit in praise of the Ansar: kings of men before Muhammad, then honoured by God through the victory of his religion; it praises their generosity and justice and closes with Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and Hanzala washed by the angels. Ibn Hisham marks one phrase as from other than Ibn Ishaq; the editors record the diwan's variant readings.Hassan ibn Thabit's poem 'Those are my people, if you ask, noble'
A mim-rhymed poem by Hassan ibn Thabit telling the Ansar's story: kings in their own land, their settlement at Yathrib and the conquest of the Jewish forts among the palms, then their welcome of the Prophet and their fighting for him; Ibn Hisham gives variant readings from Abu Zayd al-Ansari, and the 1936 editors mark here the end of the sira's eighteenth traditional part.Hassan ibn Thabit's reply to Asma' bint Marwan
Four verses in which Hassan answers Asma': Banu Wa'il, Banu Waqif and Khatma are beneath Banu al-Khazraj; whenever she called out in folly, woe to her, with her wailing while the fates came on, she stirred a noble young man of honourable comings and goings, who stained her with dark blood after nightfall and incurred no sin.Hassan ibn Thabit's second reply to al-Zibriqan, 'Is glory anything but ancient lordship and bounty?'
A mim-rhymed poem Ibn Hisham reports as Hassan's answer to al-Zibriqan's second verses: the Ansar's sheltering and defence of the Prophet, their sons and daughters placed before him, their fighting until people followed his religion, their kinship to Quraysh's greatest, then a rebuke to Banu Darim not to boast since they are the Ansar's dependants, and a call to embrace Islam.Malik ibn al-Namat's poem 'I remembered the Messenger of God in the blackness of night'
A dal-rhymed poem Malik ibn al-Namat al-Hamdani composed after the Prophet's letter to Hamdan: he remembered the Messenger of God in the blackness of night at the heights of Rahrahan and Saldad as the camels carried their riders along a clear road, and swore by the Lord of the camels pacing to Mina that the Messenger of God among them was believed, a messenger come guided from the Lord of the Throne; no camel ever bore on its saddle one harder on his enemies than Muhammad nor more generous when a seeker of favour came. Two rajaz chants said on arrival go with it.Banat Su'ad (the Burda of Ka'b ibn Zuhayr)
Ka'b ibn Zuhayr's celebrated apology-ode beginning 'Su'ad has departed, and today my heart is love-sick', recited before the Prophet in Medina; it pleads for pardon and praises the Prophet as a light and an unsheathed sword of God.Salma bint Attab's two verses on the day of Banu al-Anbar
Two verses by Salma bint Attab on the day Uyayna ibn Hisn raided Banu al-Anbar: that Adi ibn Jundab met a steep and evil chasm, with enemies closing in from every side while its might and good fortune were absent.Umama al-Muzayriyya's two verses on the killing of Abu Afak
Two verses in which Umama addresses Abu Afak: you call God's religion and the man Ahmad a lie; by the life of him who fathered you, an evil issue; a true believer granted you a thrust at night's end: Abu Afak, take it in your old age.Verses attributed to al-Zibriqan ibn Badr, 'We came so that people would know our merit'
Four mim-rhymed verses that Ibn Hisham reports from Tamimi men of letters as al-Zibriqan's when he came in the delegation: the foremost of men, none in the Hijaz like Darim, repelling marked warriors, the chief's quarter of every raid. Hassan answered on the same rhyme. The attribution rests on Ibn Hisham, not Ibn Ishaq.
Concept
al-Tanahmir: the Himyaritic speech remnant
Al-Hamdani's register of the peninsula's tongues records that the highland Himyar and Ja'da keep 'something of tanahmir' — Himyaritic speech — eliding consonants: 'bi-bn Ma'am' for 'bi-bn al-'amm', 'simmi'' for 'isma''. He counts Kinda and Hamdan the most eloquent of the south, says Mahra's speech resembles the 'ajam's, and names Nahj, Abyan and Dathina the purest — the earliest detailed witness to Old Himyaritic surviving on fourth-century tongues.Aljamia (aljamiado: Spanish written in Arabic script, and its literature)
Aljamia is the Spanish form of the Arabic al-'ajamiyya ('non-Arabic'), a term the Muslims of al-Andalus used for the Romance dialects of their northern neighbours, dialects coloured with Arabisms introduced from the 9th century by Mozarab emigrants. In the later Middle Ages the word came to mean Spanish written in Arabic script, and the literature in that script is called aljamiado.Arab naming of children after plants
Al-Hamdani observes that the Arabs inclined to name their men after thorny grazing shrubs — for the hardness, sharpness and drought-endurance in them: Talha, Samura, Awsaja, 'Urfuta, Qanada, 'Isiya, Sabra — and their women after the soft plants and fruits: Ghilqa, Bashama, Busra, Sahamma.The wise sayings attributed to Ali
A set of maxims attributed to Ali, collected by al-Sallabi in numbered sayings such as 'the night prayer is a splendour in the day', 'kindness is a treasure', 'the best of people is the one who benefits people', and 'death is the polish of hearts'; the book treats them as one of Ali's tools for teaching, with sermons and poems.Poetry attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib
Al-Sallabi reports that Ali's critical remarks on poetry and several verses are attributed to him. Ibn Hisham doubted the attribution of the rajaz on building the Prophet's mosque, and Nayif Ma'ruf held that the diwan is a mixed collection by admirers; the book answers that narrators gave him verses whose attribution they held to be sound.
Place
Screening Room
Aladdin
1992 CE · 1412 AH†Aladdin.Aladdin
2019 CE · 1440 AH†Aladdin.The Nightingale's Prayer
1959 CE · 1378 AH†The Nightingale's Prayer.The Thief of Bagdad
1940 CE · 1359 AH†The Thief of Bagdad.Manto
2018 CE · 1439 AH†Manto.Muluk al-Tawa'if
Hatem Ali's Syrian series on the taifa kings of al-Andalus after Cordoba's fall — al-Mu'tamid, Ibn Zaydun and Wallada — and the cities' struggle against the Almoravids.Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
2003 CE · 1424 AH†Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.The Wedding of Zein
1976 CE · 1396 AH†The Wedding of Zein.
What is missing? Tell us · A theme is open when it has a reviewed guide, 10 questions, 25 entries across 5 classes, and voices from several traditions and regions.