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, Abu ’l-Ḥasan b. al-Mug̲h̲allis, important Ṣūfī of the second generation of Ṣūfīs in Bag̲h̲dād, 155-253/772-867. ¶ Biography Born as the son of a pedlar ( saḳaṭī ) who had settled at an early date in the Kark̲h̲ [ q.v.] quarter of Bag̲h̲dād, Sarī rose to be a distinguished wholesale trader, known for his honesty ( Taʾrīk̲h̲ Bag̲h̲dād (= TB) ix, 189). Like other merchants, he devoted himself to ḥadīt̲h̲ studies which, as the names of his teachers indicate, must have brought him from Bag̲h̲dād via Kūfa to Mecca ( Ḥilya , x, 127). At the age of ca. 35-40 he encountered the saint Maʿrūf al-Kark…

(A.), a term in rhetoric, means "trope" and, more generally, the use of a word ¶ deviating from its original meaning and use, its opposite being ḥaḳīḳa ("veritative expression"). In Arabic literature. The different modes of expression labelled as mad̲j̲āz by the Arabic theorists were divided into twelve categories by Fak̲h̲r al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) without, however, following a consistent system of criteria (cf. al-Suyūṭī, Muzhir , ed. Cairo 1282, i, 171). A more refined and detailed version of this classifying system was put forward by al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) ( Itḳān …

, Abū Naṣr, Persian poet and biographer of poets, with the poetical name Sāmī (923-74/1517-66), known for his tad̲h̲kira of contemporary poets, the Tuḥfa-yi Sāmī . He was the third son of S̲h̲āh Ismāʿīl I [ q.v.]. 1. Biography. S̲h̲āh Ismāʿīl (906-31/1501-24) and his eldest son and successor Ṭahmāsp I (931-84/1524-76) followed the practice of preparing the princes of the ruling family, already at an early age, for the direction of state affairs by appointing them to the post of governor under the guidance of an experienced amīr of the Ḳi̊zi̊l Bas̲h̲ ( lala ) (see Röhrborn, Provinzen …

(a.) “hair, pelt”. 1. General. The Arab poets, pre-Islamic as well as post-Islamic, often describe the hair of the women with whom they have fallen in love (al-ʿAskarī, Dīwān al-maʿānī , ii, 229; al-Raffāʾ, al-Muḥibb wa ’l-maḥbūb , i, 16-58; al-Nuwayrī, Nihāya , fann 2, ḳism 1, bāb 2; J. Sadan, Maiden’s hair and starry skies, in IOS, xi [1991], 57-88). The context in which these descriptions are found shows a fairly clear situation: the hair of the heads of beautiful women is observed by lovers away from the house, in the open air, on the public road,…

, two of the three categories into which, since the time of al-Sakkākī (d. 626/1229), the study of rhetoric has often been divided. 1. In Arabic. The Miftāḥ al-ʿulūm by al-Sakkākī [ q.v.], where the two terms appear for the first time, was too confusing in its arrangement, and too obscure and at times self-contradictory to be of practical use to most students of rhetoric. It consisted of a section on grammar, a section on syntax, a section on the ʿilm al-maʿānī and the ʿilm al-bayān , and two supplements to its maʿānī section, one on demonstration ( istidlāl ), and one o…

, afḍal al-dīn ibrāhīm (Badīl) b. ʿalī b. ʿut̲h̲mān , outstanding Persian poet, born about 520/1126, d. 595/1199, who left a dīwān , the mat̲h̲nawī called Tuḥfat al-ʿIrāḳayn and sixty letters. Reliable material for K̲h̲āḳānī’s biography is only to be found in his works. His poems and letters mirror both his external and internal life, and so they enable us not only to follow his poetical development, but provide us also with historical information. K̲h̲āḳānī’s life can be divided in two main periods. The first period K̲h̲āḳānī spent mainly in his home country of S̲h̲a…

(or Samnūn ) b. Ḥamza (or ʿAbd Allāh ), Abū Bakr (or Abu ’l-Ḥasan or Abu ’l-Ḳāsim, nicknamed al-Muḥibb “the Lover,” well-known Ṣūfī of the Bag̲h̲dādī school, died 298/910-11 (Ibn al-D̲j̲awzī, Muntaẓam vi, 108); he was a disciple of Sarī al-Saḳaṭī [ q.v.], Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Ḳaṣṣāb (d. 275/888-9), Abū Aḥmad al-Ḳalānisī (d. 270/884) and Abū Yaʿḳūb al-Sūsī (second half of the 3rd/9th century). Sumnūn became famous for his love of God. In that, it is said, he followed his own peculiar approach and even placed the love of God above the knowledge of God ( maʿrifa ) (thus al-Ḳus̲h̲ayrī, 161, 9, = Sends…