Search

, Abū Saʿīd Ḥasan b. Bahrām , was the founder of Ḳarmaṭian power in East Arabia. Born at D̲j̲annāba on the Fārs coast, he is said to have become a flour merchant at Baṣra. He was crippled on the left side. His first mission as a Ḳarmaṭian is said to have been as a dāʿī in southern Īrān, where he had to go into hiding from the authorities. He was then sent to (mainland) Baḥrayn, where he married into a prominent family and won followers rapidly, perhaps among a group formerly attached to the line of Ibn-al-Ḥanafiyya. We find that in 286/899 he had subjected a large part of Baḥrayn and taken…

(a.), plural ḥudūd , hindrance, impediment, ¶ limit, boundary, frontier [see ʿawāṣim , g̲h̲āzī , t̲h̲ug̲h̲ūr ], hence numerous technical meanings, first and foremost the restrictive ordinances or statutes of Allāh (always in the plural), often referred to in the Ḳurʾān (sūra ii, 187, 229, 230; iv, 13, 14; ix, 97, 112; lviii, 4; lxv, 1). In a narrower meaning, ḥadd has become the technical term for the punishments of certain acts which have been forbidden or sanctioned by punishments in the Ḳurʾān and have thereby become crimes against religion. These are: unlawful intercourse ( zinā [ q.v.]…

(a.) means “discharge”, “liberation”, “enfranchisement”. In Syrian Arabic it means “privilege, passport” or “diploma”; thus the bishops approved by the Ottoman Government receive a berāt of investiture, that is permission to exercise their office. The word appears in an important passage of the Ḳorʾān, at the beginning of Sūra ix. where the Prophet commands his followers to make pilgrimages and proclaims that a truce should be observed during the holy months. This passage is not expressed with absolute clearness and its interpre…

(Timbuctoo; French Tombouctou), a town in western Africa. It is not only of interest as evidence of the great extension of Islām to the south; it has itself been a centre of Muslim life of considerable activity; it possessed a celebrated university and produced learned men and historians who are not without merit. According to the author of the History of the Sudan, it was founded at the end of the vth (xith) century by the Mag̲h̲s̲h̲aren Tuāreg, a nomadic people who came into these lands to pasture their flocks. In summer they camped on the banks of the Niger in th…

, “Garden” is the name most frequently given in the Ḳorʾān and Tradition to Paradise, the abode of the blessed. It is only once referred to in the Ḳorʾān by the Persian name Firdaws alone and a second time by the two words together d̲j̲annat al-Firdaws, It is fairly often called d̲j̲annāt ʿeden, the gardens of Eden; cf. the Biblical name gan ʿēden (Genesis, ii. 15). Muḥammad’s conception of Paradise is well known to be materialistic and voluptuous; it is ¶ expressed in several sūras, which belong to the first period of his preaching: e.g. (xlvii. 16-17): “this is the descri…

, Brahmans. The Arab author who was best acquainted with, indeed one might almost say the only one who was acquainted with Brahmanical India, was al-Bīrūnī. His great work on India ( India, ed. and transi. Sachau 1888; new edition of transi. 1910) testifies to his study of this country, a study for which he was qualified by exceptional gifts in the diverse realms of philosophy, literature and science. He speaks as an authority on the Indian castes, or “colours”, on the Brahmans and their manner of living, their books, their re…

Under the name of Buk̲h̲t-Naṣar, the Arabs have confused Nabonassar and Nebuchadnezzar. Ptolemy, following Hipparchus, makes use in his Almagesta of the era, known as that of Nabonassar, beginning in the year 742 B. C. al-Bīrūnī and Maʿsūdī ( Tanbīh, French transl., p. 265) knew of this era; the latter, comparing it with the Persian era, says: “Between the era of Buk̲h̲t-Naṣar and that of Yazdegird, there is a difference of 1379 Persian years and 3 months”. Al-Bīrūnī estimates that about 143 years intervened between the first Nebucha…

(a.), pl. tābiʿūn, follower, follower of a prince, disciple of a teacher, adherent of a doctrine; the verbal form is tābaʿa, e. g. tābaʿa Ḏj̲ālīnūs, he followed Galen (in medicine). The word is of special significance in Tradition where the name tābiʿ is given to those who came after the Companions of the Prophet, the Aṣḥāb. The aṣḥāb are the people who saw and were directly acquainted with the Prophet; the tābiʿūn are those of the next generation or contemporaries of the Prophet, who did not know him personally but who knew one of his Companions. The “followers” of the second generation ( tābiʿu…

The prophet Daniel is not very often mentioned in Muḥammadan literature. Ṭabarī’s Chronicle (see Index) states that he was among the people taken prisoner in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; this king recognised his wisdom and appointed him his private secretary (cf. the Book of Daniel, i. I—6); he afterwards converted Cyrus (cf. Chap. xiv. 42); the latter is said to have appointed him his minister; the prophet asked him for permission for the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and temple; C…

, one of the great mystic poets of Islām, was born at Balk̲h̲ in 604 (1207). His family claimed descent from Abū Bakr and was connected by marriage with ¶ the royal family of Ḵh̲wārizm. When three years of age (607 = 1210), he was taken by his father to Nīs̲h̲āpūr and presented to the aged ʿAṭṭār. The latter, according to the legend, predicted his future greatness and gave him his Book of Secrets. His father Bahāʾ al-Dīn Walad had to leave Balk̲h̲ at this time, because he had incurred the wrath of the ruler Muḥammad Ḳuṭb al-Dīn Ḵh̲wārizms̲h̲āh. He took the young Ḏj̲alāl al-Dīn with him and a…

, this name, which is connected with barḳ, “lightning” is applied by tradition to the fabulous animal which the Prophet mounted on the night of his ascension ( Miʿrād̲j̲). Allusion is made in the Ḳorʾān (xviii. 1, 62; liii. 1—18) to a vision which the Prophet had in which he seemed to be borne from Mecca to Jerusalem and thence to heaven. The animal which carried him is neither described nor mentioned by name in the Ḳorʾān; but the commentators say that on this night Muḥammad was in the ḥid̲j̲r of the Holy House, that is, in the precincts of the Kaʿba, and that the Archangel Gabriel…

, the game of chess. The game of chess was known in Greek antiquity when Palamedos was said to have invented it. From there it spread through various countries. The Muslims say they got it from India, but the stories on this subject are legendary, and it is more probable that it came to them from ancient Persia. In the middle ages there were several games in the East played with a board, notably nard (tricktrack, backgammon) and chess ( s̲h̲aṭrand̲j̲); the pieces and the rules of the game have varied in course of time. The words s̲h̲aṭrand̲j̲ and tricktrack seem to be Indian (Sanskrit) in ori…

(a.), the earthly, lower world, this world here below. The word is used in the Ḳorʾān and in Muslim theology in a disparaging sense of “this world” in opposition to the next. Muḥammad’s use of this word quite recalls that of Christian preachers: “Those that buy this earthly life at the price of the future life, shall not receive any relief from punishment nor shall they be helped” ( Ḳorʾān, ii. 80); — “Ye prefer the life of this world; and yet the hereafter is better and more lasting. This is found in the ancient books, in the books of Abraham and Moses” ( Ḳorʾān, lxxxvii. 16—19). We see from the …

, a technical term used by the neo-Platonic philosophers and more particularly by those mystics who are devoted to the illuminative philosophy ( al-is̲h̲rāḳ). The form of the word is not Arabic; it is analogous to that of the word malakūt which is similarly employed and is Hebrew. Ḏj̲abarūt has the same meaning as the Hebrew g’būrah, power. The world of d̲j̲abarūt (ʿālam al-d̲j̲abarūt) is that of divine omnipotence; it is like the world of malakūt (ʿālam al-malakūt) or divine authority, a region above that of earthly things and also above that of real individual things, …

, or Ḏjibrīl, Gabriel, is the best known figure among the angels of Islām. He is one of the four archangels, one of angels favoured by or “brought near” ( muḳarrabīn) God, and one of the divine messengers. His duty is to bear the orders of God to mortal prophets and to reveal his mysteries to them. Gabriel plays an important part in the Ḳorʾān; Muḥammad applied the legend of this celestial messenger holding converse with the prophets to himself and believed that he had received his mission and the subject of his preaching from him. Gabriel’s name only…

, casting lots by arrows, a method by which a head of cattle was divided. This was the custom of the Arabs before Islām. The word seems almost to mean lucky chance, easy success, from yasira, to be easy, yassara, to succeed; cf. maisara, comfort, riches. A group of ten Arabs used to buy a young camel, which was cut into ten portions and the yāsir presiding distributed the portions among his companions by means of arrows on which he had written their names and which he drew at random out of a bag. In another system 28 portions were made of the animal; there wa…

(Hegira), the migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Medīna, the starting point of the Muhammadan era. The Prophet, not having succeeded in overcoming the resistance of the Ḳurais̲h̲ and on the other hand having already won friends among the people around Medīna (then called Yat̲h̲rib), resolved to remove to the latter town. The Arabic word hid̲j̲ra should not be translated “flight”, for the idea of fleeing is not properly expressed by the verb had̲j̲ara. This verb means “to break off relations, to abandon one’s tribe, to emigrate”. At the present day in Muslim countries the name Muhād̲j̲ir…

(a.), pl. tafāsīr, ex pl a n a t i o n, commentary, verbal form: fassara to explain. The name is applied to commentaries on scientific and philosophical works and is an alternative to s̲h̲arḥ; it is regularly applied to the Greek and Arabic commentaries on Aristotle: the following are examples taken from Ibn al-Ḳifṭī’s History of Scholars: Banas al-Rūmī wrote a Tafsīr on the Al-magesta and another on the tenth book of Euclid; Abu ’l-Wafāʾ al-Buzd̲j̲ānī, the famous astronomer, wrote a tafsīr on the works of Diophantes and of al-Ḵh̲wārizmī on Algebra; Muḥammad b. Zakarīyā al-Rāzī, the …

This title means “missionary”, literally, “he who calls”, he who summons to the true faith. It is frequently found in the history of the Ismāʿīlīs, the Ḳarmaṭians and the Druzes. The Dāʿī are fifth in the scale of dignitaries in the Ismāʿīlī sect; beside them are the Ḥud̲j̲d̲j̲a (proof) or Naḳīb whose duty it is to spread their doctrines. The five ranks in the sect correspond to five metaphysical principles: that of the dāʿī corresponds to time and that of the Ḥud̲j̲d̲j̲a to space. Among the Druzes, according to the system of Ḥamza, the dāʿī are not included among the five superior minis…

, Abū Saʿīd, an important Ḳarmaṭian chief, began life as a corn-merchant. Hamdān Ḳarmaṭ appointed him dāʿī (q.v., p. 895, missionary) for Southern Persia; he was at first very successful there by flattering the Persians at the expense of the Arabs; he established a socialistic system among his adherents, whose property was shared in common under his administration; but the Caliph’s policy ruined this mission. Hamdān Ḳarmaṭ then sent Abū Saʿīd to Baḥrain; shortly before there had been an insurrection of the slaves in this province. The missionary found a favou…

, St. George. Islām honours this Christian martyr as a symbol of resurrection and ¶ renovation; his festival marks the return of spring. The legend of St. George had become syncretic long before the days of Islām, for we can recognise in St. George overthrowing the dragon, a continuation of Bellerophon slaying the Chimaera. Bellerophon himself was symbolic of the Sun scattering the darkness or of spring driving away the mists and fogs of winter. The St. George of Islām is closely connected with the prophets Ḵh̲iḍr and Elias; this festival falls on the 23rd April. Islām holds this day sac…

, a celebrated philosopher of the Mag̲h̲rib, whose full name was Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ṭufail al-Ḳaisī. He belonged to the prominent Arab tribe of Ḳais; he was also called al-Andalūsī (the Spanian), al-Ḳurṭubī (the Cordovan or al-Is̲h̲bīlī (the Sevillan). The Christian scholastics call him Abubacer, a corruption of Abu Bakr. Ibn Ṭufail was probably born in the first decade of xiith century a. d. in Wādī Ās̲h̲, the modern Guadix, 40 miles n. w. of Granada. We know nothing of his family or his education. That he was a pupil of …

; the formula bismi ’llāhi ’l-raḥmāni ’l-raḥīmi, usually translated “in the name of God, the merciful and compassionate”, is called the basmala or tasmiya. The readers and jurists of Medīna, Baṣra and Syria, Zamak̲h̲s̲h̲arī tells us, do not consider it a verse at the beginning of the fātiḥa or other Suras. They hold that it is only placed there to separate the Suras and as a benediction. This is also the opinion of Abū Ḥanīfa and this is why those who follow him do not pronounce these words in a loud voice in prayer. On the other hand the readers and jurists of Mecca and Kūfa consider the basmala a ve…

, the first and most popular Sūra in the Ḳorʾān). Its name means the “opener” (i. e. of the Ḳorʾān). This short Sūra which only contains seven verses has a certain number of peculiar features; it is at the beginning of the book, while all the other short Sūras are at the end; it is in the form of a prayer while the others are in the form of a sermon or lecture; in reciting it the word amīn (amen) is added to it, which is not done in any of the others. In Sūra xv. 87 there is an allusion to the Fātiḥa under the name of the seven (i. e. verses) which ought to be constantly repeated (= Sabʿan min al-Mat̲h̲ānī); and th…

(a.), an important technical term of Ṣūfism, meaning, “annihilation, dissolution”. The Ṣūfī who attains perfection must be in a kind of state of annihilation. The authors of treatises on Muslim mysticism have often compared the “annihilation” of Ṣūfism with the Buddhist nirvāna; but this comparison is not a particularly fitting one. We now know that the Muslim writers had only a very slight knowledge of Indian philosophy and could not comprehend the notion of nirvāna which presumes a fairly intimate acquaintance with t…

, transmigration, metempsychosis; a belief widespread in India and among several sects of the Muslim world. Muḥammadan authors who deal with it attribute it to the Indians rather than to the Pythagoreans. S̲h̲ahrastānī in his article on the “people of metempsychosis” takes the word in a wide sense: to him it means the doctrine of the successive lives and rebirths of the world. The Indians, he says, are of all nations that which believes most in metempsychosis. They tell the story of the phoenix and then say it is the same with…

(a., plural ḥudūd), boundary, limit, stipulation, also barrier, obstacle. As a scientific term the word is used in several senses. In the Ḳorʾān, where it is always found in the plural, it means the “limits” laid down by God, i. e. the provisions of the Law, whether commands or prohibitions. It appears in this sense at the end of several verses, which contain legal provisions, e. g. Sūra ii. 183, where it is said after the exposition of the rules regarding fasts: “These are God’s ḥudūd (the bounds prescribed by God), come not too near them” (lest ye be in danger of crossing them…

The word Budd or budda is used with various meanings. It is applied either to a pagoda, to Buddha himself, or to idols, not necessarily figures of Buddha. The word means pagodas, for example in a passage in the ʿAd̲j̲āʾib al-Hind (Les Merveilles de l’Inde, ed. and translated by Marcel Devic p. 5), where it is said that a town in the island of Ceylon posesses six hundred large budd. This meaning is the rarest. Budd or Budda sometimes means Buddha in authors like Masʿūdī, al-Bīrūnī and S̲h̲ahrastānī. For example, Masʿūdī, speaking of the temple in Multān known as the “Hous…

, Muḥyi ’l-Dīn Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Būnī (i.e. of Bōna), is one of the most important Arab writers on occult sciences. He died in 622 (1125). He is the author of books like the Sirr al-Ḥikam, or “ Secret of Sciences”, on the Cabbala and divination, of minor works on the virtues of the basmala, on those of the divine names and of the letters of the alphabet. In these treatises, the construction of magic squares, cabalistic letters, and other talismanic signs. The works of al-Būnī are those which are the most used even to the present day by Muḥammadans, who deal in magi…

As the name, derived from bāṭin, inner, indicates, the Bāṭinites are those who seek the inner or hidden meaning of the Scriptures. Instead of taking the literal meaning of the revealed word, they interpret it; this interpretation is called taʾwīl. The name Bāṭinites has been applied by Arab authors to several quite distinct sects, almost all of which have played a prominent part in history. The most important of these sects are the Ḵh̲urramites, the Ḳarmaṭians and the Ismaʿīlites [see those articles]. The application of the name has b…

, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Tark̲h̲ān Abū Naṣr, the greatest philosopher of Islām before Avicenna, was born in a Turkish family towards the end of the ixth century a. d. at Wasīd̲j̲, a small fortified town in the district of Fārāb (ʿOtrār) in Transoxiana. His father is said to have been a general. He studied in Bag̲h̲dād under the Christian physician Yoḥannā b. Ḥailān and also worked with Abū Bis̲h̲r Mattā, a Nestorian Christian, celebrated as a translator of Greek works. He then went to Ḥalab to the court of the Ḥamdānid Sai…

, the Druzes are a people or a nation living in the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, around Damascus and in the mountains of Ḥawrān. They have their own religion and hold a special position in the administrative arrangements of the Ottoman empire. Their name is derived from that of Darazī [q.v., p. 921]. Their ethnographical origin is obscure. It is probable that they already had distinct racial features before the founding of their religion and that they were never quite converted to Islām. They may be the remnants of some ancient peoples, w…

, the Muslim name of Hell. The word is derived from the Hebrew gēḥinnōm or valley of ḥinnōm (Joshua, xv. 8); it was a valley near Jerusalem in which sacrifices were offered to Moloch, in the days of impiety. The form with the long vowel ( Ḏj̲ahannām) means a deep well. The word Ḏj̲ahannam and the idea of hell frequently appear in the Ḳorʾān, whether because Muḥammad himself had been much struck with the idea or because he thought it useful to insist on it to work upon the feelings of his hearers. He does not however seem to have had a very definit…

(a.), 1. history in general, annals, chronicles. It is the title of a great many historical works, like the Takmilat Taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Ṭabarī, supplement to the Annals of Ṭabarī; Taʾrīk̲h̲ Bag̲h̲dād, Mekka etc., history of Bag̲h̲dād, of Mecca etc.; Taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Andalus, history of Andalusia. The word has also been applied to works of a very different kind, like that of al-Birūnī on India, Taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Hind, which is rather a study of the state of learning in India, or to special dictionaries like the Taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Hukamāʾ of Ibn al-Ḳiftī, a biographical and bibliographical dictionar…

(a.), explanation, definition, description, from ʿarafa, to know; e.g. taʿrīf Ayā Ṣūfiyā, description of St. Sophia; Kitāb al-Taʿrīfāt, book of definitions, a well-known treatise of Saiyid S̲h̲arīf Ḏj̲urd̲j̲ānī on the explanation of Ṣūfī terms. In administrative language, in the feminine form, taʿrīfa or taʿrifa with a short i, the word has the meaning of tariff, tax, price of food, of transport, etc.; e. g. in Turkish: gumruk taʿrīfèsi, customs duties; démir yol tarifèlèri, railway charges. In grammar this word means the Arabic definite article al, which is called the particle…

is the name among Muḥammadans for the Queen of Sheba. The story, given in I Kings x., —10, 13, of how the Queen of Sheba (Saba) came to Solomon to prove him with hard questions, early gave rise to the formation of further legends. Muḥammad in the Ḳorʾān xxvii. 20-45, relates how the heathen Queen of Sheba, who worshipped the sun, received a letter, borne by a hoopoe, from Solomon demanding that she should worship the true God. The Queen in terror sent presents to Solomon which were not well received. When she herself came to Solomon, the latte…

, the Goliath of the Bible. Muslim tradition has somewhat increased his importance, for in addition to the well known story of David’s fight with him, several other episodes from various chapters of the Bible, relating to the wars of the Israelites with the Midianites and Philistines, are connected with his name. The Ḳorʾān briefly narrates how Ḏj̲ālut attacked Ṭālūt (Saul) and how he was killed by David (ii. 250—252). It places in this campaign the story of the soldiers who were tested by their manner of drinking at the crossing of a river, an e…

, a word meaning something very small such as an ant or a speck of dust, which is used by Muḥammad in the Ḳorʾān to indicate the perfection of various qualities of God. For example the perfection of his justice: “God will not wrong any one even by the weight of a d̲h̲arra” (iv. 44, and cf. xcix, 7-8); the perfection of his knowledge: “The weight of a d̲h̲arra, on the earth or in the heavens, would not escape your Lord” (x. 62, and cf. xxxiv. 3 and vi. 59); the greatness of his power: “call upon those whom you believe to exist besides God; they have no power in h…

1. S̲h̲iḳḳ is the name of two diviners who lived shortly before the rise of Islām. According to the Synopsis of Marvels, S̲h̲iḳḳ the elder was the first diviner among the Arabs of ʿAriba. He is quite a fabulous personage. Like the Cyclops, he had only one eye in the middle of his forehead or a fire which split his forehead into two ( s̲h̲aḳḳa to split). He is also mixed up with Dad̲j̲d̲j̲āl, Antichrist, or at least Dad̲j̲d̲j̲al is of his family. He is said to have lived chained to a rock on an island where volcanic phenomena occurred. The second S̲h̲iḳḳ call…

(a.), memorial, memorandum, from d̲h̲akara “to record”. The word appears in the titles of many famous works: the Memorandum of Astronomy of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, the Tad̲h̲kirat al-Awliyāʾ, “Memorial of the Saints” of Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, the Tad̲h̲kirat al-S̲h̲uʿarāʾ. “memorial of the poets”, a biography of the poets, popular in Persia. In administrative language it means: ticket, memorandum, permit. It is the name given to travellers’ passports, yol tad̲h̲kirèsi, to the custom house office’s exeat: murūr tad̲h̲kirèsi. It is also more especially applied to the diplomas of…

This word is used by the philosophers to mean “eternity” in opposition to time. Time is regarded as something transitory and fleeting and eternity on the other hand as abiding. Time is the abode of that which changes or alters; it is measured by the movements of the heavenly bodies. Things, which do not move and are eternal, have their place not in time but in eternity, like the “Ideas” of Plato. The latter, philosophers tell us, is in a sense the basis of time; it is the “inner principle of time”, bāṭin al-zamān (cf. my Avicenne, p. 189). The book of the taʿrīfāt gives the following definition o…

(a.), general sense: opening, exposition. It has two special meanings: I. exposition of a science, commentary on a book, like s̲h̲arḥ [q. v.]; 2. the science of anatomy which is the “opening” and exposition of the structure of the body. The two meanings are found in one sentence in Ibn al-Ḳifṭī: “Galen was the key of medicine, its bāsiṭ and its s̲h̲āriḥ, that is to say, it was he who expounded it and commented upon it… No one ever surpassed him in the science of tas̲h̲rīḥ and he wrote 17 books upon it.” The reference here is to anatomy. Anatomy was not a very popular science in Islām; the rep…

(the Biblical David). The Ḳorʾān has several passages in which reference is made to the legend of the kingly prophet David, the Ḵh̲alīfa of Allāh ( Sūra, 38, 25). Like the legends of the other prophets, it has been somewhat corrupted and shows signs of Rabbinical influence or ¶ of an effort to explain certain imperfectly known verses of the Bible. Muḥammad knew that David slew Goliath (Ḏj̲ālūt) ( Ḳorʾān, Sūra 2, 250 et seq.) and that he received the Psalms from God: The Book of Psalms is one of the four volumes of the Bible with which Muḥammad was acquainted. David sh…

(a.) 1. From the Arabie root wala, to be near, and waliya, to govern, to rule, to protect someone. In ordinary use this word means protector, benefactor, companion, friend and is applied also to near relatives, especially in Turkish [cf. the art. ʿaṣaban wilāya]. When used in a religious connection walī corresponds very much to our title “saint”; but the idea behind it has given rise to a regular theory and in practice has attained sufficient importance for it to be necessary to explain the use of the term. In the Ḳurʾān this theory does not yet exist; the term walī is found there with several…

, Abu ’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Ḥamdān, the most important ruler of the Ḥamdānid dynasty, lord of Aleppo, famous for his military activities, his struggle with the Greeks and the protection which he gave to scholars. He was born in 303 (915/916) or perhaps in 301. He was the grandson of Ibn Ḥamdān, who owned the fortress of Mārdīn and rebelled against the Caliph al-Muʿtaḍid in 281. His father Abu ’l-Haid̲j̲āʾ in 302 received the governorship of Mawṣil and of Mesopotamia from the Caliph al-Muktadir; he fought against the Ḳarmaṭians in 315…

, John the Baptist. This prophet plays a fairly prominent part in the Ḳurʾān, which mentions him with Jesus, Elijah and other prophets among the just persons who serve as arguments for the oneness of God (Sūra vi. 83). The history in the Gospels of his miraculous birth is twice given (iii. 33—36 and xix. 1 sq.): God gives him to his parents Zacharias and Elisabeth in spite of their years. There is a kind of annunciation to Zacharias: “O Zacharias, we announce a son to thee; his name shall be Yaḥyā; no one has borne this name before him” (xix. 7). Yaḥ…

(a.) “substance”. The notion of substance is not so prominent in Oriental scholasticism as it was among the schoolmen of the west. The Muslim thinkers, following the Greek conception, regarded substance as that which exists by itself, which logically at least requires nothing else for its existence; it is opposed to the accident which is always in some thing other than itself; thus for example the body logically exists before the colour; it is considered a substance with regard to it and the col…

(Syntipas), a widely known collection of stories, which since the time of Pétis de la Croix has been much studied by folklorists. The general theme is as follows: A king entrusts the education of his son to the sage Sindibād. The prince is ordered by his tutor to keep silence for seven days; during this time he is calumniated by the favourite queen and the king is on the point of putting him to death. Seven viziers, by each telling one or two stories succeed in postponing his execution and on t…

, the Sabaeans. This name has been given to two quite distinct sects. 1. the Mandaeans or Subbas, a Judaeo-Christian sect practising the rite of baptism in Mesopotamia (Christians of John the Baptist); 2. the Sabaeans of Ḥarrān, a pagan sect which survived for a considerable period under Islām, of interest for its doctrines and of importance for the scholars whom it has produced. The Sabaeans mentioned in the Ḳorʾān, who are on three occasions placed along with the Jews and Christians among the “people of the book”, i. e. possessors of a revealed book, are a…

b. Ḥaiyān, whose full name was Abū Mūsā Ḏj̲ābir b. Ḥaiyān al-Azdī, a famous Arab alchemist, known in the Christian middle ages as Geber, his nisba is sometimes given as Ṭūsī and sometimes as Ṭarṭūsī. He is said to have been Ṣābī whence his name al-Ḥarrānī, which is found once, to have early become a convert to Islām and to have shown great enthusiasm for this new religion; the name al-Ṣūfī dates from a later period. His teachers were Ḵh̲ālid b. Yazīd b. Muʿāwiya (d. 85 = 704), on which account he is also called ¶ al-Umawī the “Umaiyad”, and Ḏj̲aʿfar al-Ṣādiḳ; [q. v.]. This is the story gi…

, Abu ’l-Fāʾiḍ b. Ibrāhīm al-Miṣrī, one of the most celebrated ascetics of early Ṣūfīsm Was a native of Ak̲h̲mīm, born of Nubian parents; his real name was T̲h̲awbān but he is usually called Ḏh̲u ’l-Nūn the Egyptian. He lived in Egypt and died at Ḏj̲īza (Ghīzeh) in 245 = 860. He is numbered among the “Polestars” ( Ḳuṭb) and the ʿAyārān, i. e. “hidden saints” (cf. Bāyazīd al-Bisṭāmi); his name is followed by the invocation: “may God sanctify his hidden state”. Cf. this formula in the title of one of the articles of Book II. of the Mat̲h̲nawī of Rūmī. He is said to have lived unknown and his g…

, the body. The study of bodies is the subject of physics. Avicenna devotes the second part of his Nad̲j̲āt to the notion of a physical body, in which the Peripatetic doctrine may be recognised. All bodies in nature consist of matter as place or support and a form which dwells in the matter, as for example the form of a statue has its abode in iron. Forms have three dimensions, i. e. they stretch in three directions cutting themselves at right angles. Matter does not have these dimensions by its nature; but it is …

, a fabulous personage in Muḥammadan eschatology, a kind of Antichrist. According to Arab legend, he dwells in one of the islands of the empire of the Mahārād̲j̲ or the Zābad̲j̲ (Java). The sailors of Sīrāf and of ʿOmān say that, in passing near this island, beautiful music is heard, produced on the lute, the oboe, the tambourine and other instruments, accompanied by dancing and the clapping of hands. This story is widely diffused; it is found in Ibn Ḵh̲ordād̲h̲bih, al-Bīrūnī, Ḳazwīnī, Dimis̲h̲ḳī, Ḏj̲urd̲j̲ānī, Ibn Iyās, Masʿūdī’s Prairies d’Or (Meynard et de Courteille, i. 343) and Kitāb …

, the sacred well of Mecca, also called the well of Ismāʿīl. It is in al-ḥaram al-s̲h̲arīf S. E. of the Kaʿba opposite the coiner of the sanctuary in which the Black Stone is inserted. It is 140 feet deep and is surmounted by an elegant dome. The pilgrims drink its water as health-giving and take it home with them to give it to the sick. Zamzam in Arabic means “abundant water” and zamzama “to drink by little gulps” and “to mutter through the teeth”. Muslim tradition connects the origin of this well with the story of Abraham. It was opened by the angel Gabriel to save Hagar and h…

is the Arabie form of the name Hippocrates. — Hippocrates enjoyed a great reputation among Eastern scholars and many of his works were known to them. Sergius of Rasʿain translated him into Syriac; Ḥunain b. Isḥālḳ, Ḳusṭā b. Lūḳā, ʿĪsā b. Yaḥyā and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī were his principal translators into Arabic. Hunain translated the Book of Epidemics; under this title the Arabs knew seven books of which only the first and third are authentically by Hippocrates. The same translator produced versions of the treatises, entitled Prognostica and De Natura Hominis. ʿĪsā b. Yaḥyā translate…

, Arabic form of the name Dārayawahus̲h̲ = Darius; the form Dārayus̲h̲ is also found as well as the Persian forms Dārāb and Dārāw. Muḥammadan authors distinguish two Dārās: Dārā the elder, son of Bahman, son of Isfandiyār, and Dārā the younger, son of Dārā the elder. Bahman had, as the Magean religion allowed, married his own daughter Humāi or Humāya but died soon afterwards leaving her enceinte; she began to reign but when the child was born, fearing that he would be placed on the throne in her stead she placed him in a box on the river of …

(a.), medicine. This is one of the branches of science in which the Arabs have attained most fame. The Muslims received their knowledge of the subject mainly from the Greeks, first through the intermediary of the Syrians and Persians, then directly by the translation of classical works. Muslim rulers and princes were at all times very eclectic in the choice of their physicians; there were at the court of the caliphs, Jewish, Christian, Mazdaean, Sabaean and even a few Hindu physicians. Medical s…

, talismans. The use of amulets is very widespread in the lands of Islām. In North Africa they are called ḥurz, among the Arabs in the East ḥamāya or ḥāfiẓ, ʿūd̲h̲a or maʿād̲h̲a, and in Turkey, yafta, nusk̲h̲a or ḥamāʾil. They are often carried in little bags, lockets or purses, which are worn round the neck or fastened to the arm or turban. Among rich people they are of gold or silver. Children are given these amulets as soon as they are forty days old; the crudest articles may be used as amulets, such as a shell, a piece of bone, sewn into leather and fastened under the left arm (see Emily Ruete, Memoirs…

, games of chance. The Ḳurʾān prohibited games of chance, under the name of maisir, at the same time as it forbade wine (ii. 216; v. 92); they are, it says, a great sin. The pagan Arabs gambled a great deal, say the commentators and staked in play their families and their property. Zamak̲h̲s̲h̲arī interprets maisir by ḳimār, and applies this name especially to the lottery with arrows. There were ten inscribed arrows; a victim was divided into ten parts; the arrows were drawn by lot and to each of them corresponded a part; or sometimes twenty-eight par…

, a Persian and Arabic word meaning “obstacle” “hindrance” “separation”. It is found three times in the Ḳorʾān (xxiii. 102; lv. 20 and xxv. 55) and is interpreted some times in a moral and some times in a concrete sense. In verse 102 of Sura xxiii the godless beg to be allowed to return to earth to accomplish the good they have left undone during their lives; ¶ but there is a barzak̲h̲ in front of them barring the way. Zamak̲h̲s̲h̲arī here explains the word by ḥāʾil, an obstacle and interprets it in a moral sense: a prohibition by God; other commentators take the word more in a physical sense; the barzak…

In the scientific literature of the Arabs we meet with a name, which is written Balīnūs, Balīnās and Balīs and sometimes denotes Apollonius of Tyana and sometimes Apollonius of Pergamon. It appears most rarely under the correct form Abuluniyūs. To Apollonius of Tyana is to be ascribed a book on the “Secret of Creation” by the sage Balīnūs (MS. in Paris) which has previously been given ¶ to Pliny; for it is therein stated that the author belonged to Ṭuwāya, which is clearly to be emended to Ṭuwāna = Tyana. A sort of natural history called Liber de Causis (MS. in Leiden) and a treatise on astr…

, was one of the rounders of the religion of the Druzes, not the most important who seems to have been Ḥamza, but the one who has given his name to the sect. Several historians, both Muḥammadan and Christian, have written about him and he is also referred to in the books of the Druzes; unfortunately these different sources do not at all agree with one another. It seems certain that Darazī began as a Bāṭinī missionary or dāʿī [q. v., p. 895]. According to the Christian historians John of Antioch and al-Makīn, the first of whom was contemporary with him, he was c…

, Persian forms (adopted by Arab writers) of the name of the Achaemenian king familiarly known under the hellenized form Dareios (Darius). Dārāb, and its abbreviation Dārā, are directly derived from the ancient Persian Darayahvahav-(Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wörterbuch , 738; the different grammatical cases attested by Persian inscriptions, in Tolman, Ancient Persian Lexicon and Texts , 1908, s.v. darayavau ; for the ancient historians of these kings, Gr. I. Ph., ii, index, s.v. Dareios). The sources of information about these princes collected by Arab and Persian w…

(pl. bidada ; Pers. but ) is used in Arabic in three different senses; it denotes either a temple, a pagoda, or Buddha, or an idol (not necessarily the Buddha). The principal instance of the use of the word in the sense of pagoda occurs in a passage in the Merveilles de l’Inde (ed. trans. M. Devic, 5; Mémorial J. Sauvaget , i, 192); this sense appears ¶ to be the rarest, although given as the primary sense in the LA. Budd denotes the Buddha in authors such as al-D̲j̲āḥiẓ ( Tarbīʿ , ed. Pellat, 76), al-Masʿūdī, al-Bīrūnī, al-S̲h̲ahrastānī; al-Masʿūdī, speaking of t…

, St. George. Islam honours this Christian martyr as a symbol of resurrection and renovation; his festival marks the return of spring. The legend of St. George had become syncretic long before the days of Islam, for we can recognize in St. George overthrowing the dragon a continuation of Bellerophon slaying the Chimaera. Bellerophon himself was symbolic of the Sun scattering the darkness, or of spring driving away the mists and fogs of winter. ¶ According to Muslim legend, D̲j̲ird̲j̲īs lived in Palestine in the time of the disciples, and was martyred at Mosul under the…

1. S̲h̲iḳḳ is the name of two diviners or kāhins who allegedly lived shortly before the rise of Islam. According to the Abrégé des merveilles , S̲h̲iḳḳ the Elder was the first diviner among the ʿArab al-ʿĀriba. He is a completely fabulous personage. Like the Cyclops, he had only one eye in the middle of his forehead or a fire which split his forehead into two ( s̲h̲aḳḳa “to split”). He is also confused with al-Dad̲j̲d̲j̲āl [ q.v.], Antichrist, or at least Dad̲j̲d̲j̲āl is of his family. He is said to have lived chained to a rock on an island where volcanic phenomena occur…

a Persian and Arabic word meaning “obstacle” “hindrance” “separation” (perhaps identical with Persian farsak̲h̲ [ q.v.], a measure of distance). It is found three times in the Ḳurʾān (xxiii, 102; xxv, 55 and lv, 20) and is interpreted sometimes in a moral and sometimes in a concrete sense. In verse 100 of Sūra xxiii the godless beg to be allowed to return to earth to accomplish the good they have left undone during their lives; but there is a barzak̲h̲ in front of them barring the way. Zamak̲h̲s̲h̲arī here explains the word by ḥāʾil , an obstacle, and interprets it …

, Arabic transcription of the word εὐ-αϒϒέλιον, gospel, through the Ethiopian wāngel (Nöldeke, Neue Beiträge , 47; Grimme, in Festsch . Goldziher , 164; Jeffery, Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān , 71-2). The variant and̲j̲īl may arise from a Mesopotamian Persian influence. The word ind̲j̲īl occurs twelve times in the Ḳurʾān (III, 2, 43, 58; V, 50, 51, 70, 72, 110; VII, 156; IX, 112; XLVIII, 29; LVII, 27) and refers to the Revelation transmitted by Jesus. The word also means the scripture possessed and read by the Christian contemporaries of Muḥammad (V, 51; VII, 156), i.e., the four Gospel…

, a prominent theologian belonging to the Murd̲j̲iʾa [ q.v.]. His father, a fuller and dyer in Kūfa, is said to have been a Jew, and Bis̲h̲r, on his conversion to Islam, to have become a mawlā of Zayd b. al-Ḵh̲aṭṭāb. He lived ¶ in the western quarter of Bagdad, in the Darb al-Marīs (or al-Marīsī ), from which he took his nisba . He died in Bag̲h̲dād in 218/833. Bis̲h̲r was an assiduous disciple of Abū Yūsuf in fiḳh , and although he held some opinions of his own, he is counted among the followers of the Ḥanafī school; he also heard traditions from Ḥamm…

, also tilsim , tilism , tilasm , etc. from the Greek τέλεσμα, a talisman, i.e. an inscription with ¶ astrological and other magic signs or an object covered with such inscriptions, especially also with figures from the zodiacal circle or the constellations and animals which were used as magic charms to protect and avert the evil eye. The Greek name is evidence of its origin in the late Hellenistic period and gnostic ideas are obviously reflected in the widespread use of such charms. The sage Balīnās or Balīnūs [ q.v.], i.e. Apollonius of Tyana ( fl. 1st century A.D.), is said to have been…

is the formula biʾsmi llāhi l-raḥmāni l-raḥīmi , also called tasmiya (to pronounce the [divine] Name). Common translation: “In the name of God, the Clement, the Merciful”; R. Blachère’s translation: “In the name of God, the Merciful Benefactor”, etc. The formula occurs twice in the text of the Ḳurʾān: in its complete form in Sūra xxvii, 30, where it opens Solomon’s letter to the queen of Sheba: “It is from Solomon and reads: In the name of God, the Merciful Benefactor”; on a second o…

, celebrated philosopher, whose full name was Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ṭufayl al-Ḳaysī . He belonged to the prominent Arab tribe of Ḳays; he was also called al-Andalusī, al-Ḳurṭubī or al-Is̲h̲bīlī. Christian scholastics call him Abubacer, a corruption of Abū Bakr. Ibn Ṭufayl was probably born in the first decade of the 6th/12th century in Wādī Ās̲h̲, the modern Guadix, 40 miles N.E. of Granada. Nothing is known of his family or his education. That he was a pupil of Ibn Bād̲j̲d̲j̲a [ q.v.], as is frequently stated, is incorrect, for in the introduc…

, célèbre philosophe dont le nom complet est Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ṭufayl al-Ḳaysī. Il appartenait à l’importante tribu arabe de Ḳays; on lui donne aussi les ethniques d’al-Andalusī, d’al-Ḳurṭubī ou d’al-Is̲h̲bīlī. Les scolastiques chrétiens l’appellent Abubacer, corruption d’Abū Bakr. Ibn Ṭufayl naquit à Wādī Ās̲h̲, aujourd’hui Guadix, ville située à 60 km. au Nord-est de Grenade, probablement dans les dix premières années du VIe/ XIIe siècle. On ne sait rien de sa famille ni de son éducation. Il n’est pas exact de dire, comm…

, saint Georges, martyr chrétien honoré dans l’Islam, où il est un symbole de résurrection et de renouvellement; sa fête marque le retour du printemps. La légende de St Georges est devenue très syncrétique longtemps avant l’Islam, car on a pu reconnaître dans St Georges terrassant le dragon, un continuateur de Bellérophon vainqueur de la Chimère. Bellérophon lui-même était le symbole du Soleil dominant les ténèbres, ou du Printemps chassant les brouillards et l’obscurité de l’Hiver. D’après la légende musulmane, Ḏj̲ird̲j̲īs vivait en Palestine au temps des disciples et …

Abū Saʿīd Ḥasan b. Bahrām, fut le fondateur de la puissance ḳarmaṭe en Arabie orientale. Né à Ḏj̲annāba sur la côte du Fārs, il serait devenu marchand de farine à Baṣra. Il était paralysé du côté gauche. Sa première mission comme Ḳarmaṭe aurait été celle de dāʿī en Iran méridional, où il dut aller se dérober aux autorités. Il fut ensuite envoyé au Baḥrayn continental, où il se maria dans une famille très en vue et fit rapidement de nombreux prosélytes, peut-être parmi un groupe autrefois partisan des descendants d’Ibn al-Ḥanafiyya. En 286/899, il avait soumis une grande partie du ¶ Baḥrayn et …

, mot persan et arabe signifiant «obstacle», «empêchement», «séparation» (peut-être identique au persan farsak̲h̲ [q.v.], mesure de distance). Ce terme apparaît trois fois dans le Ḳurʾān (XXIII, 100, XXV, 53 et LV, 20), et il est interprété ¶ tantôt dans un sens moral, tantôt dans un sens concret. Dans le verset 100/102 de la sourate XXIII, les impies demandent à retourner sur la terre pour y accomplir le bien qu’ils n’ont pas fait pendant leur vie; mais il y a un barzak̲h̲ devant eux qui s’y oppose. Al-Zamak̲h̲s̲h̲arī explique ici le mot par ḥāʾil, obstacle, et l’interprète dans un sen…

(pl. bidada ; pers. but) est pris en arabe dans trois acceptions différentes; il désigne en effet, soit un temple (une pagode), soit le Bouddha, soit une idole (qui n’est pas nécessairement de Bouddha). Le mot s’applique à des pagodes, notamment dans un passage des Merveilles de l’ Inde (éd.-trad. M. Devic, 5; Mémorial J. Sauvaget, I, 192); cette acception paraît être la plus rare, bien qu’elle soit donnée la première dans LA. Budd désigne le Bouddha chez des auteurs tels qu’al-Ḏj̲āḥiẓ ( Tarbīʿ, éd. Pellat, 76), al-Masʿūdī, al-Bīrūnī, al-S̲h̲ahrastānī; al-Masʿūdī, parlant du t…

, c’est la formule bi-smi llāhi l-raḥmāni l-raḥīmi, encore appelée tasmiya (prononcer le Nom [divin]). Traduction fréquente: «Au nom de Dieu, le Clément, le Miséricordieux»; de R. Blachère: «Au nom de Dieu, le Bienfaiteur Miséricordieux», etc. La formule se trouve à deux reprises dans le texte même du Ḳurʾān: en sa teneur complète, dans la sourate XXVII, 30, où elle ouvre la lettre de Salomon à la reine de Sabaʾ: «Elle est de Salomon et dit: Au nom de Dieu, le Bienfaiteur Miséricordieux»; une deuxième foi…

, transcription arabe du mot εὐαγγέλιον Évangile, par l’intermédiaire de l’éthiopien wāngel (Nöldeke, Neue Beiträge, 47; Grimme, dans Festsch. Goldziher, 164; Jeffery, Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān, 71-2); la variante anjīl provient peut-être d’une influence persane mésopotamienne. Le mot Ind̲j̲il est mentionné douze fois dans le Ḳurʾān (III, 2, 43, 58, V, 50, 51, 70, 72, 110, VII, 156, IX, 112, XLVIII, 29, LVII, 27) et désigne la Révélation transmise par Jésus. Le mot désigne également l’Écriture possédée et lue par les Chrétiens…

1. S̲h̲iḳḳ est le nom de deux devins ayant vécu un peu avant les origines de l’Islām. D’après l’Abrégé des Merveilles S̲h̲iḳḳ l’ancien est le premier devin chez les Arabes ʿĀriba. C’est un personnage très fabuleux. Comme le Cyclope, il n’avait qu’un œil au milieu du front, ou un feu qui lui fendait le front en deux ( s̲h̲aḳḳa, fendre). Il est confondu aussi avec le Dad̲j̲d̲j̲āl, l’Antéchrist, ou tout au moins le Dad̲j̲d̲j̲āl est de sa famille. Il aurait vécu enchaîné sur un roc, dans une île où se produisaient des phénomènes volcaniques. — Le second S̲…

, formes persanes (adoptées par les auteurs arabes) du nom de roi achéménide bien connu sous la forme hellénisée Dareios (Darius). Dārāb (et son abrégé Dārā) dérivent directement de l’ancien perse’ Darayahvahav (Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wörterbuch, 738; les divers cas grammaticaux attestés par les inscriptions perses, dans Tolman, Ancient Persian Lexicon and Texts, 1908, s.v. darayavau; sur les historiens antiques de ces rois, Gr. I. Ph., II, index, s.v. Dareios). Plus légendaires qu’historiques (surtout le roman composé par le Pseudo-Callisthène) sont les sour…

(a.; pl. ḥudūd), obstacle, empêchement, limite, frontière, d’où de nombreuses acceptions techniques, en tout premier lieu les décrets ou statuts restrictifs d’Allāh (toujours au pluriel) auxquels le Ḳurʾān fait souvent allusion (II, 187, 2.29, 230, IV, 13, 14, IX, 97, 112, LVIII, 4, LXV, 1). ¶ Dans un sens plus étroit, ḥadd est devenu le terme technique servant à désigner la sanction de certains actes interdits ou sanctionnés par des punitions dans le Ḳurʾān, donc regardés comme par là des crimes contre la religion. Ce sont: le commerce charnel illicite ( zinā [ q.v.]); sa contrepartie,…