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al-isrāʾīlī al-is̲h̲bīlī , Abū Isḥāḳ Ibrāhīm , one of the few genuine poets of Muslim Spain in the 7th/13th century. When compared with the great names of poetry during this period, such as Abū Baḥr Ṣafwān b. Idrīs (d. 619/1222), Abu ’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Ḥarīḳ (d. 622/1225), Muḥammad b. Idrīs alias Mard̲j̲ al-Kuḥl (d. 634/1236), Ibn Lubbāl (d. 683/1284), Ṣāliḥ b. S̲h̲arīf al-Rundī (d. 684/1285) and Ḥāzim al-Ḳarṭād̲j̲annī (d. 684/1285), Ibn Sahl impresses us by his truly poetic temperament and his artistic sensibility. Born in Seville in about 609/1212-3 of a Jewish family, he spen…

, Name given by the Arabs to the small peninsula thrusting from the eastern coast of Tunisia between the two gulfs of La Goulette (Ḥalḳ al-wādī) and al-Ḥammāmāt. As a physical continuation of the Tunisian Dorsal range, its surface is rather hilly and cut by ravines, but in its east and west and particularly its northern part are wide plains famous since Roman times for their wheat and olives. Its area is about 600 square kilometres. Its farthest point in the north (Cap Bon, or Raʾs Maddār, curre…

, name of one of the most decisive battles in the long struggle between Islam and Christendom for possession of the Iberian Peninsula. It took place on Monday 15 Ṣafar 609/16 July 1212, and ended with a complete victory for a large all-Iberian Christian army, supported by considerable crusading forces from Western Europe and led by Alfonso VIII of Castile, over an equally numerous Muslim army led by Muḥammad al-Nāṣir, the fourth Almohade Caliph. It is known in Spanish annals as the “battle of La…

, name of the members of an Andalusian family (the Banū Burd), of which two representatives in particular enjoy some fame. I. Ibn Burd al-Akbar , Abū Ḥafṣ Aḥmad, was head of the Chancellery ( dīwān al-ins̲h̲āʾ ) under al-Muẓaffar after the arrest and execution of Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik b. Idrīs al-D̲j̲azīrī in 394/1004: with the chief ḳāḍī Ibn D̲h̲akwān [ q.v.], he paved the way for the recognition of Sanchuelo [see ʿabd al-raḥmān ibn abī ʿamīr ] as heir presumptive to the caliphate, and it was he who drew up the act of investiture dated Rabīʿ I 399/November 1008; along…

, Muḥammad b. Ayyūb al-G̲h̲arnāṭī , historian and geographer, living in Granada in the 6th/12th century. His fame rests on an excellent work entitled Farḥat (or Fard̲j̲at ) al-anfus fī taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Andalus ; the text has been lost, but lengthy extracts have been reproduced by al-Maḳḳarī, Ibn Saʿīd, Ibn al-K̲h̲aṭīb and others, and an abridged version of the geographical part, Taʿlīḳ muntaḳā min Farḥat al-anfus fī taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Andalus , has been preserved (ed. Luṭfī ʿAbd al-Badīʿ in RIMA, i/2 (1955), 272-310). The passages quoted by al-Maḳḳarī are numerous, but the most extensive ( Analec…

, ( Ḳabṭūrna , Ḳubṭūrna or Ḳubṭurna ), the name of three brothers, all Andalusī men of letters. They were natives of Badajoz, where their family was said to be one of the oldest and most illustrious in the whole western part of al-Andalus. To judge by the name, this family is of Iberian origin; Dozy ( Suppl., ii, 302) and Simonet ( Glosario , 97) suggest that Ḳabṭūrnu represents the classical Latin caput followed by the mediaeval Latin torno (‘I turn’); hence the tentative interpretation of E. García Gómez, vuelvo la cabeza, a family name which need not astonish us since we know the equally curious I…

, the Arabic form of the Berber name of the tribe to which Ibn Tūmart [ q.v.] belonged, the Arg̲h̲en (the prosthetic hāʾ is general in Arabic transcriptions of the names of Berber tribes, and the suffix a [< at] in the plural has been substituted for the -ən of the Berber plural). The original home of this tribe is not known with any certainty. H. Basset and H. Terrasse ( Sanctuaires et forteresses almohades, in Hespéris , 1924/1, 19) identify the Harg̲h̲a with the G̲h̲eg̲h̲āya (Ig̲h̲ig̲h̲ayən), who are also referred to by historians as belonging to…

, Abu ’l-Muṭarrif Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Mak̲h̲zūmī , writer, poet and judge, who was born in Valencia (Spain) in Ramaḍān 580/December 1184, and died in Tunis in D̲h̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 656 or 658/December 1258 or November 1260 (his grandfather’s name is given as ʿUmayra in the Ḏj̲ad̲h̲wat al-iḳtibās of Ibn al-Ḳāḍī, 72). His family originated in Alcira (D̲j̲azīrat S̲h̲uḳr), near Valencia. He studied with the best Andalusian scholars and then travelled probably to the East where he acquired an immense knowledge of fiḳh , ḥadīt̲h̲ and literature, and also gaine…

, name of the members of a family (Banu ’l-D̲j̲add) famous and influential in Muslim Spain during the 5th-6th/11th-12th centuries, the origin of which, according to Ibn Tag̲h̲rībirdī (vi, 112), goes back to a certain al-Faraḥ b. al-Ḏj̲add al-Fihrī. They were established at Seville and Niebla, where they possessed vast territories. Four important members of this family are mentioned: I.—Abu ’l-Ḥasan (or al-Ḥusayn) Yūsuf b. Muḥammad Ibn al-Ḏj̲add (Ibn Bassām, D̲h̲ak̲h̲ira . i/2,109 ff.; Ibn Saʿīd, Mug̲h̲rib , i, 340; Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-ʿUmarī, Masālik al-abṣār …

, eminent Andalusian grammarian. His complete name is Ḏj̲ūdī b. ʿUt̲h̲mān al-ʿAbsī al-Mawrūrī (of Morón). Born in Toledo, he later went to Granada where he specialized in grammatical studies. He made a long voyage to the East where he studied with leading representatives of the school of Kūfa, such as al-Ruʾāsī, al-Farrāʾ and al-Kisāʾī. Returning to Spain he brought with him the book of al-Kisāʾī and set up to teach it. This is considered a marked event in the history of grammatical studies in S…

, Muḥammad b. Sawwār b. Isrāʾīl b. al-K̲h̲iḍr b. Isrāʾīl al-S̲h̲aybānī , Ṣūfī and poet (603-77/1206-78). Amidst the mediocre poetic talents prevailing in Egypt and Syria during the 7th/13th century, Nad̲j̲m al-Dīn Abu ’l-Maʿālī Ibn Isrāʾīl occupies a place of distinction, while providing a typical example of the numerous writers of insipid poetry who flourished during that century. His life is perhaps of greater interest than his work; born in Damascus, where he studied, he embarked u…

, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿUt̲h̲mān al-Ḳaysī , Andalusian poet from Cadix (Wādī Ās̲h̲), whence his nisba , al-Wādī Ās̲h̲ī; Ibn al-Abbār, Takmila , 133, says that he was also called Māzin. He spent the greater part of his life at Almeria, as court poet to al-Muʿtasīm (Muḥammad b. Maʿn b. Ṣumādiḥ, 443-90/1051-97). Towards 461/1068-9 he had to flee from Almeria and take refuge for some time in Saragossa in order to escape the wrath of Ibn Ṣumādiḥ, against whom he had written some satirical verses. Later he returned to Almeria where he remained till his death in 480/1088. …

, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm (202-60/817-73), faḳīh of Ifrīḳiya (Tunis). His life, study and thought can be considered typical for those of the generation that followed Saḥnūn b. Saʿīd (160-240/776-854) and tried to follow his example. This Ibn ʿAbdūs was the contemporary and sometimes the rival of Saḥnūn’s son Muḥammad; as a learned man ( ʿālim ) he may be considered his superior. Between the two raged a controversy concerning al-īmān (the faith) which did much harm to Ibn ʿAbdūs: Ibn ʿAbdūs and his followers ( al-ʿAbdūsiyya ) said that man can be sure…

, Abu Muḥammad al-Rabīʿ b. Sulaymān b. Dawūd al-Azdī al-Aʿrad̲j̲ (died in D̲j̲īza, Egypt, in D̲h̲u’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 256 or 257/870 or 871), an eminent follower of al-S̲h̲āfiʿī and most probably a direct disciple of his. Like a good number of early S̲h̲āfiʿīs he was originally a Mālikī and disciple of ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Ḥakam. After his adherence to S̲h̲āfiʿism he devoted himself to making an accurate compilation of Kitāb al-Umm . Together with that of al-Buwayṭī, his version of this master work of S̲h̲āfiʿism is the most trustworthy. It may b…

, Abū ʿAmīr Aḥmad , notable and wazīr in Cordova during the regency of the Banū D̲j̲ahwar (422-62/1030-70). Little is known about his life: he owes his fame to the part he took in the affairs of Wallāda bint al-Mustakfī [ q.v.]. Jealous of Ibn Zaydūn [ q.v.], Ibn ʿAbdūs sent her a woman go-between and he seems to have received encouragement. Ibn Zaydūn, enraged, wrote a long letter of insult known as “ al-risāla al-hazliyya” (the satirical letter), using the signature of Wallāda, and sent it to Ibn ʿAbdūs by the same go-between. The risāla became immediately famous b…

, general and adminisstrator, one of the founders of the Fāṭimid Empire in North Africa and Egypt. His name was D̲j̲awhar b. ʿAbd Allāh, also D̲j̲ōhar together with the epithets of al-Ṣaḳlabī (the Slav), al-Ṣiḳillī (the Sicilian) or al-Rūmī (the Greek) and al-Kātib (the State Chancellor) or al-Ḳāʾid (the General). The first two epithets cast some light on his obscure origin, the other two denote the two highest posts he occupied. His birth date is unknown, but judging by the date of his death (20 D̲h̲u ’l-Ḳaʿda …

b. wāfid al-g̲h̲āfiḳī , one of the three major founders of Islamic jurisprudence and theology in Spain, the other two being Yaḥyā b. Yaḥyā (d. 234/848) and ʿAbd al-Malik b. Ḥabīb (d. 238/852). ʿĪsā is considered the most learned and important of the three, and is described as ʿālim al-Andalus . He was born in Toledo, most probably around 155/771, because when he arrived at Medina to study with Mālik b. An as he found he had “recently” died (in 179/795). He went back to Fusṭāṭ and made all his studies under ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b…

A term current in the Muslim World in the later Middle-Ages equivalent to salary. Its origin is the Persian d̲j̲āma = “garment”, whence d̲j̲āmakī , with the meaning of a man who receives a special uniform as a sign of investiture with an official post. From this came the form d̲j̲āmakiyya with the meaning of that part of the regular salary given in dress ( malbūs , libās ) or cloth ( ḳumās̲h̲ ). Ultimately it took the meaning of “salary”, exactly as the word d̲j̲irāya , which meant originally a number of loaves of bread sent daily by the Sultan to someone, t…

, Abu ʿAmr ʿUt̲h̲mān b. ʿAlī b. ʿUt̲h̲mān , an Andalusī man of letters, biographer and historian of the 6th/12th century; born in Silves, he studied in Cordova and Seville, where he became a disciple of Abū Bakr Ibn al-ʿArabi. As an admirer of his contemporaries Ibn Bassām [ q.v.] and Ibn K̲h̲āḳān [see al-fatḥ ibn k̲h̲āḳān ], he decided to write a sequel to their works, and to include the biographies that they had omitted and those of his contemporaries, as far as 550/1155-6 (he died shortly after that date). His work is now lost, but later compilers …

, Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad b. Muḥammad , poet, anthologist and historian of Muslim Spain. The only information we have on his life is provided by the few lines inserted by al-Ḥumaydī in his Ḏj̲ad̲h̲wat al-muḳtabis and reproduced by the other sources; all that is known is that he was among the poets attached to the court of al-Ḥakam II al-Mustanṣir (350-66/961-76). Either his misfortune or his irascible nature led him to compose so wounding a satire on al-Ḥakam that the latter consigned him to prison for the rest of …