7.2. al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī

Arab and Other Physicians of the Earliest Islamic Period - A Literary History of Medicine - NCBI Bookshelf An official website of the United States government Here's how you know The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Log in Show account info Close Account Logged in as: username Dashboard Publications Account settings Log out Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation Bookshelf Search database Books All Databases Assembly Biocollections BioProject BioSample Books ClinVar Conserved Domains dbVar Gene Genome GEO DataSets GEO Profiles GTR Identical Protein Groups MedGen MeSH NLM Catalog Nucleotide OMIM PMC Protein Protein Clusters Protein Family Models PubChem BioAssay PubChem Compound PubChem Substance PubMed SNP SRA Structure Taxonomy ToolKit ToolKitAll ToolKitBookgh Search term Search Browse Titles Advanced Help Disclaimer NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Sánchez I, Joosse NP, Watson Aet al., authors; Savage-Smith E, Swain S, van Gelder GJ, editors. A Literary History of Medicine: The ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ of Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah [Internet]. Leiden (NL): Brill; 2019. doi: 10.1163/9789004410312_046 A Literary History of Medicine: The ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ of Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah [Internet]. Show details Sánchez I, Joosse NP, Watson Aet al., authors; Savage-Smith E, Swain S, van Gelder GJ, editors. Leiden (NL): Brill ; 2019. Contents Search term < Prev Next > CHAPTER 7 Arab and Other Physicians of the Earliest Islamic Period 1 Translation and annotation: Bruce Inksetter and Ignacio Sánchez . 7.1. al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī 2 [7.1.1] His full name was al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿIlāj al-Thaqafī. The tribe Thaqīf was among the remnants of ʿĀd. Al-Ḥārith came originally from al-Ṭāʾif, but he travelled to various countries, and he learned 3 the art of medicine in Persia and from the people of Gondēshāpūr, where he practised for a time; he was familiar with diseases and remedies. Partly there in Persia, and partly in Yemen, he learned the art of playing the lute as well. He lived through the times of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muʿāwiyah. While he was in Persia he practised as a physician. The people there relied on him, and he became known far and wide among them as a man of great skill and learning. Once, when he had successfully treated a prominent dignitary, the grateful patient gave him money and a slave-girl whom al-Ḥārith named Sumayyah. Some time thereafter, al-Ḥārith became homesick for his native land and returned to al-Ṭāʾif, where he became renowned among the Arabs for his medical skill, with patients flocking in large numbers to consult him. Sumayyah, his slave-girl, was the mother of Ziyād ibn Abīhi, 4 whom Muʿāwiyah recognized as being the son of his own father, Abū Sufyān. 5 Abū Sufyān was said to have committed fornication with Sumayyah in al-Ṭāʾif, as a result of which she became pregnant with Ziyād. She had borne two sons previously, Abū Bakrah and his brother Nāfiʿ, both of whom were known by the patronymic ‘ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah’; they themselves always maintained that al-Ḥārith had begotten them on his mawlāh , 6 Sumayyah. 7 Al-Ḥārith was born in the Jāhilīyyah , the ‘time of ignorance’ before the advent of Islam, and became a Muslim. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, used to advise anyone who was ill to seek treatment from him. He lived through the times of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muʿāwiyah. According to Ibn Juljul, 8 Muʿāwiyah once asked him, ‘What do we mean by “medicine”, O Ḥārith?’ to which al-Ḥārith answered, ‘ Al-azm ,’ an old word meaning ‘hunger’. Al-Jawharī, in his work entitled al-Ṣiḥāḥ , 9 defines azm as ‘to refrain or abstain from’, while according to Abū Zayd, 10 āzim means ‘one who keeps his mouth tightly closed’. There is a Tradition that the caliph ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, asked al-Ḥārith what ‘remedy’ meant, and that he again replied, ‘ Al-azm ’, meaning ‘diet’. He calls al-Ḥārith ‘the physician of the Arabs’. It is recorded from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, 11 may God be pleased with him, how, when he once fell ill in Mecca, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, came to visit him and said to the attendants, ‘Send for al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah, for he is a man who knows medicine.’ Al-Ḥārith came to see the sick man, and after examining him, he said, ‘There is nothing much wrong with him. I recommend some boiled soup with a little date paste and fenugreek in it.’ Saʿd drank the soup and soon recovered. [7.1.2] Al-Ḥārith knew of many types of treatment and was familiar with the customary practices and requirements of the Arabs in treating diseases. He could discourse eloquently on the art of medicine and other matters, as may be seen from an account of a visit that he undertook to the court of Kisrā Anūshirwān. 12 The monarch bade him enter, and al-Ḥārith went in and stood erect before him. ‘Who are you?’ asked Kisrā. ‘I am al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī,’ he replied. ‘What is your trade?’ the king asked. ‘Medicine,’ he said. ‘Are you an Arab?’ said Kisrā. ‘I am,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘Arab to the marrow, from the very depths of Arabia.’ ‘What have the Arabs to do with doctors?’ said the king, ‘ignorant and feeble-minded as they are, and with the filthy food they eat.’ ‘Majesty,’ replied al-Ḥārith, ‘if they are as you say, all the more reason why they need someone to enlighten their ignorance, straighten whatever is awry with them, tend their bodies and balance their constitutions. A rational man knows these things for himself and can identify the site of his ailment, but for the most part he avoids illness altogether by leading a well-regulated life.’ ‘How do they know what it is that you are explaining to them?’ Kisrā asked, ‘for if they knew what reason is, they would not have become such a byword for ignorance.’ ‘Soothe a child, and you can treat him,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘charm a snake, and you can handle it.’ He then added, ‘Your majesty, reason is something that is apportioned by God, exalted is He, among His servants, as he apportions people’s livelihoods. Every individual obtains his particular share, or more if God grants it, and thus it is that one man may be wealthy and another destitute, one foolish and another wise, one feeble and another determined. All is in the hand of Him who is mighty and omniscient.’ Kisrā marvelled at what al-Ḥārith had said. ‘Do you consider, then,’ he enquired, ‘that the character, mores and behaviour of the Arabsare admirable in certain respects?’ ‘Majesty,’ answered al-Ḥārith, ‘they are generous, with daring hearts; they are eloquent in their matchless tongue; they have true lineages and noble reputations. Words fly from their mouths like arrows shot from a bow, softer than the air in springtime, sweeter than the beneficent water of the spring Salsabīl in Paradise. 13 They are sharers of food in the parching drought, smiters of heads in battle. Their might is unassailable: anyone under their protection is safe from harm, their women cannot be ravished, and the noblest among them cannot be humbled. They do not acknowledge any man as superior to them, except perhaps a mighty king, one unrivalled and incomparable, having no peer, whether subject or monarch.’ [7.1.3] After listening to al-Ḥārith’s eloquence, Kisrā sat up straight, looking benevolent, and said to his courtiers, ‘There is one who sounds worthy of being taken seriously. He praises his people and describes their virtues, and his words have the ring of truth. He speaks like a man of reason, one who has been taught wisdom by experience of life.’ Kisrā then invited al-Ḥārith to take a seat, and when he was seated the king asked him, ‘How much do you really know about the art of medicine?’ ‘Enough, in all conscience,’ replied al-Ḥārith. ‘What is the root of medicine?’ Kisrā asked. ‘ Al-azm ,’ said al-Ḥārith. ‘And what is al-azm ?’ said the king. ‘Keeping the lips closed,’ answered al-Ḥārith, ‘and being gentle with the hands.’ ‘Well said!’ Kisrā exclaimed. ‘Now, what is the most serious of illnesses?’ ‘Shovelling in more food on top of food already taken will be the ruin of any creature; it is enough to kill wild beasts in the heart of the steppe,’ said al-Ḥārith. ‘Well said!’ cried the king, ‘and from what glowing coal 14 is it that diseases flare up?’ 15 ‘Food that has not been properly digested,’ replied al-Ḥārith, ‘for if it remains in the stomach, the patient will die, and if it is absorbed, he will become ill.’ ‘Very true,’ said Kisrā. ‘What do you think of the practice of cupping?’ ‘When the moon is waning,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘on a bright, cloudless day; you should be in a good mood and your blood-vessels in repose as a result of some unexpected happiness or avoidance of care.’ ‘What do you have to say about entering the bath?’ asked the king. ‘Never enter the bath when you have just eaten,’ answered al-Ḥārith, ‘and moreover, never sleep with your women while intoxicated, or rise from your bed at night while naked, or sit down to eat while angry. Avoid stress, for you will be more relaxed; eat sparingly, and you will sleep better.’ ‘What is your view of remedies?’ said Kisrā. ‘Avoid taking remedies while in good health,’ replied al-Ḥārith, ‘but if some disease strikes, take something to repel it before it has taken root and grown strong. The body may be likened to the earth: care for it, and it will thrive, but if you neglect it, it will go to rack and ruin.’ ‘What of wine?’ asked the king. ‘The finer the flavour, the more enjoyable,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘the purer, the more wholesome, and the sweeter, the more stimulating to desire. Do not drink it neat, for it will leave you with a headache and bring on an array of illnesses.’ ‘What kind of meat is best?’ Kisrā then enquired. ‘The flesh of a young, tender suckling lamb,’ answered al-Ḥārith. ‘Dried salt meat will kill you, and withal you should abstain from the meat of the camel and the cow.’ ‘What is your opinion of fruit?’ asked Kisrā. ‘All fruits are good when they are properly ripe,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘but do not eat them once they are past their peak of perfection and have begun to spoil. The pomegranate and the lemon are the best fruits. The rose and the violet are the best aromatic plants, and endive and lettuce are the best vegetables.’ ‘What do you have to say about drinking water?’ said the king. ‘Water,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘is life itself. It sustains the body. A reasonable amount of water is beneficial, and to drink it when thirsty is good; on the other hand, to drink water upon rising from sleep is harmful. The more wholesome it is, the better. The clearest and purest water is that which comes from great rivers, cold and limpid, unmixed with water from marshes or hills, flowing along over pebbles large and small in the downs.’ ‘What of its taste?’ asked Kisrā. ‘It has no definable taste,’ was the answer, ‘only it is redolent of life.’ ‘What of its colour?’ said the king. ‘Its colour is not identifiable to the eye,’ replied al-Ḥārith, ‘for it imitates the colour of whatever is holding it.’ ‘Tell me,’ the king went on, ‘what is the most vital element of the human frame?’ ‘The most vital element of the human frame is that part where water is drunk,’ answered al-Ḥārith, by which he meant the head. [7.1.4] ‘What is this light that is in the eyes?’ Kisrā asked, ‘It is compounded of three things,’ al-Ḥārith replied. ‘The white consists of fat, the black [the iris] of water, and the pupil, of air.’ The king then asked him, ‘How many natural elements make up the body?’ ‘The body comprises four humours,’ said al-Ḥārith: ‘black bile, which is cold and dry, yellow bile, which is hot and dry, blood, which is warm and moist, and phlegm, which is cold and moist.’ ‘Why not only one?’ asked the king. Al-Ḥārith replied, ‘If the body were created from only one natural element, it would not eat, it would not drink, it would not become ill and it would not die.’ ‘What about two, then?’ inquired Kisrā, ‘what if it consisted of no more than two natural elements?’ ‘Not possible,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘as they would be opposed to each other and would perpetually struggle.’ ‘Three?’ suggested Kisrā. ‘That would not be a viable arrangement,’ al-Ḥārith said, ‘with two elements concordant and one discordant. No, four humours are just right for equilibrium and support.’ The king said, ‘Now summarize “hot” and “cold” for me in a few words.’ ‘Sweetness is hot,’ returned al-Ḥārith, ‘and acidity is cold; whatever is pungent is hot, and whatever is bitter is in balance, for the essence of bitterness is that it is a blend of hot and cold.’ ‘What is the best treatment for the yellow bile?’ inquired the king. ‘With something cold that is also soft,’ said al-Ḥārith. ‘And the black bile?’ continued Kisrā. ‘With something hot and soft,’ al-Ḥārith said. ‘The phlegm?’ Kisrā went on. ‘With something hot and dry,’ replied al-Ḥārith. ‘What about the blood?’ asked the king. ‘Some of it should be removed when it is in excess,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘and when it is overheated it should be chilled with remedies that are cold and dry.’ ‘And wind?’ said the king. ‘Gentle enemas,’ returned the physician, ‘and warm, mild oils.’ ‘You prescribe enemas, then?’ said Kisrā. ‘Yes,’ said al-Ḥārith, ‘for I have read in a book by a physician that an enema will cleanse the belly and empty it of diseases. Even so, those who take enemas may become senile and decrepit or fail to produce children if they eat foods that are known to be injurious. To prefer self-indulgence to good health is sheer folly.’ ‘What is your idea of a diet?’ 16 Kisrā enquired. ‘Moderation in all things,’ responded the physician, ‘for overeating constricts the vital spirit and blocks up the passages through which it moves.’ ‘What are your views on women and intercourse with them?’ said the king. ‘Frequent intimacy is harmful,’ al-Ḥārith replied, ‘and beware of it with an elderly woman like a worn-out waterskin, for she will drain your strength and make you ill. Her ejaculate is mortal poison, her breath sudden death; she will take everything from you but give you nothing. A young woman, on the other hand, ah! her ejaculate is sweet and fresh, her embrace coquetry and flirtatiousness, her mouth cool, her saliva sweet, her breath fragrant, her passage tight; she will enhance your strength and make you more active.’ The king then said, ‘To what women does the heart most incline, and who amongst them most gladdens the eye?’ ‘With luck,’ al-Ḥārith returned, ‘you will meet one who is tall, with a stately head, a wide brow, a high nose, black eyes, red lips, flawless cheeks, a broad bosom, a comely throat, a delicate complexion, lips like coral, eyebrows joined, firm breasts, delicate waist and feet, pale-skinned, slender, with curly hair, young and tender. In the dark, you might imagine her to be the brightness of the full moon; her smile reveals teeth like chamomile 17 and lips of carmine. She will be like a cherished egg, softer than butter, sweeter than honey, more delightful than Paradise and the abode of eternity. She will be more fragrant than the jasmine or the rose. Being near her will be a pleasure, and for the two of you to be alone together will be happiness.’ Kisrā’s shoulders shook with laughter. ‘What are the best times for copulating with women?’ he asked. ‘Toward the end of the night, for the belly is empty, the breathing is regular, the heart is inclined to desire and the womb is warm then,’ replied al-Ḥārith, ‘but you may prefer to take her in daylight, when your eyes will admire the beauty of her face, your mouth gather the fruits of her loveliness, your ear take pleasure in the sweetness of her voice, and all your limbs be at ease because of her.’ ‘Well spoken, O Arab!’ exclaimed Kisrā, ‘It is clear that you have been given knowledge and granted an abundant share of understanding and intellect,’ and he ordered that al-Ḥārith should be generously rewarded and all that he had said written down. [7.1.5] Al-Wāthiq bi-Allāh 18 tells us, in his book entitled The Garden ( al-Bustān ), that al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah once saw some people out in the sun and advised them to go into the shade. ‘The sun,’ he said, ‘will wear out your clothing, take away its fragrance, cause the colour to fade, and may cause some disease that is now dormant to flare up.’ Various aphorisms are attributed to al-Ḥārith. He is reported to have said, ‘Overeating is a hotbed of disease, dieting is the beginning of the cure, and every body does best with its accustomed fare.’ This saying has also been attributed to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar. 19 Some, however, have attributed it to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, with the wording ‘The stomach is a hotbed of disease,’ in which ‘stomach’ is a better choice of word than ‘overeating’. The Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may God be pleased with him, is reported to have said, ‘He who would live forever (but no one lives forever) would do well to take an excellent wife, 20 to eat sparingly, to drink when thirsty, to drink little water, to rest after his meal, to go out walking after his evening meal, and not to go to bed until he has paid a visit to the latrine. Entering the bath soon after eating will infallibly make a man fall ill. Going to the bath once in summer is better than going there ten times in winter. To eat dried salt meat at night will speed you to the grave. Sexual relations with an old woman will destroy the life of any man living.’ Some of these statements have been attributed to al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah. Another one runs, ‘He who desires a long life 21 (but there is no truly long life) would do well to take his evening meal late, to take his midday meal early, to avoid indebtedness, and to frequent women but seldom.’ The verb used here in ‘take his evening meal late’ is an old word meaning ‘to put off until later’, and the word used for ‘indebtedness’ means literally ‘burden’, from the saying ‘my neck is bent beneath the weight of my debt’, the neck being where one places a heavy burden that one has to carry, and from this the term ‘burden’ came to mean ‘debt’. A variant of this saying gives ‘… to take his evening meal early ’, and this version is preferable. Abū ʿAwānah 22 tells us that according to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, 23 al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah used to say, ‘He who would fain live forever (but no one lives forever) would do well to take his midday meal early and his evening meal early, to keep out of debt, and to associate little with women.’ According to Ḥarb ibn Muḥammad, 24 ‘My father told us that al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah used to say, “There are four things that will destroy the body: sexual relations on a full stomach, entering the bath after a heavy meal, eating dried salt meat, and congress with an elderly woman.”’ Dāwūd ibn Rushayd 25 tells us that according to ʿAmr ibn Maʿrūf, 26 when al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah lay dying, people 27 came to his bedside and begged him to give them some words for their guidance when he would no longer be with them. ‘Choose none but a young woman as a wife,’ he said, ‘eat only the meat of young animals; eat none but ripe fruit; when you are ill, avoid treatment until the illness has become too much for you to bear; use the depilatory paste called nūrah 28 every month, as it gets rid of phlegm, eliminates bile and causes flesh to grow; whenever one of you has had his midday meal, he should have a nap immediately afterward, and after his evening meal, he should go for a stroll forty paces in length.’ Another saying that has been attributed to al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah runs as follows: ‘Avoid taking medicine if you possibly can. Drink it if you must, but it is likely to do you as much harm as good.’ [7.1.6] Sulaymān ibn Juljul 29 relates an anecdote that he heard from al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Azdī, who had had it from Saʿīd ibn al-Umawī, who in turn had had it from his uncle, Muḥammad ibn Saʿd, who had heard it from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr: Once there were two brothers, of the tribe of Thaqīf, of the Banū Kunnah, who had the greatest affection for one another; all history can show no comparable example of such fraternal devotion. The elder brother, being about to set out on a journey, asked the younger to look after his wife in his absence, and the younger brother promised to do so. One day, however, by the merest chance, his glance happened to light upon her, and forthwith he was hopelessly smitten with love for her, and pined away with desire. The elder brother, when in due course he returned, sought the advice of various physicians, but none of them could say what ailed the younger brother. Finally he consulted al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah. ‘I see a pair of clouded eyes,’ said the physician, ‘but it is not clear what is causing the trouble. I should like to try something: let us see what will happen if he has a drink of date-wine.’ The young man drank the date-wine, and when he had been affected by it, he recited the following lines: 30 O, have pity, O have pity, just a little, for what I shall be! Bring me, you two, 31 to the tents in al-Khayf 32 so that I can visit them: A certain gazelle I saw today in the abodes of the Banū Kunnah, 33 With a smooth cheek, raised in the tribe, and with a sweet voice. The tribesmen were impressed. ‘You must be the cleverest doctor in all Arabia,’ they exclaimed. ‘Now we shall try giving him a little more date-wine,’ said al-Ḥārith, so they gave him some more, and when it had done its work on him, the patient recited, 34 Neighbour friends, greetings! and halt here so that you can speak And perform a need for me and convey greetings and blessings. A rain-cloud came from the sea, water-loaded, 35 with a wailing sound. She is not my brother’s wife but she asserts that I am a brother-in-law to her. At this, the elder brother divorced his wife on the spot and said, ‘She is yours, my brother.’ But the younger brother answered, ‘By God, I shall not marry her,’ and he went to the end of his days without marrying her. Al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī is the author of an account of a discussion between himself and Kisrā Anūshirwān on the subject of medicine. 36 Footnotes 1 This chapter occurs in all three versions of the ʿUyūn . 2 I.e., of the tribe Thaqīf. For them, see ei 2 art. ‘T̲h̲aḳīf’ (M. Lecker). We are told that in pre-Islamic times they controlled the town of al-Ṭāʾif, some 65km east of Mecca in modern Saudi Arabia, and many of their descendants live there to this day. For the shadowy ancient nation of ʿĀd, mentioned numerous times in the Qur’an, see ei 2 art. ‘ʿĀd’ (F. Buhl). For bibliographic references to al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah, see Ullmann, Medizin , 19–20; Sezgin, gas iii , 203–204; Hawting, ‘Biography of al-Ḥārith ibn Kalada’; ei 2 art. ‘al-Ḥārit̲h̲ b. Kalada’ (Ch. Pellat); ei Three art. ‘al-Ḥārit̲h̲ b. Kalada’ (B. Inksetter). The accounts of al-Harīth ibn Kaladah were elaborated over time to the point where they include conflicting elements that make it difficult to assess the historical figure. He is said to have studied medicine at Gondēshāpūr in Persia, to have held learned discussions with the Persian ruler Khusraw Anūshirwān (d. 579) and to have been consulted during the final illnesses of the last two of the Orthodox caliphs nearly a hundred years later. 3 Here iau begins his quotation from Ibn Juljul, Ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ , 54, supplemented by some other information. 4 Ziyād ibn Abīhi or Ziyād ibn Abī Sufyān became the governor of Iraq and the eastern provinces under the Umayyad caliph Muʿāwiyah. See ei 2 art. ‘Ziyād ibn Abīhi’ (I. Hasson). The point of ‘son of his own father’ is that he was not born in Abū Sufyān’s house, not that he was the result of illicit sex, and thus might not have been Abū Sufyān’s son. 5 Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah (d. 32–34/653–655), the father of the caliph Muʿāwiyah. See ei Three art. ‘Abū Sufyān’ (K.M.G. Keshk). 6 Former slave who has been manumitted. 7 Several variants of this account will be found in ei 2 art. ‘al-Ḥārit̲h̲ b. Kalada’ (Ch. Pellat). But cf. Hawting, Biography of al-Ḥārith ibn Kalada , 131–132: two different women named Sumayyah were related to al-Ḥārith. 8 Ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ , 54. This is the end of the passage beginning above. 9 Al-Jawharī (d. 393/1002 or 398/1007) was a celebrated lexicographer of Turkish origin. His Tāj al-lughah wa-ṣiḥāḥ al-ʿarabiyyah ( The Correct [ Forms ] in Language) is one of the great dictionaries of classical Arabic. See ei 2 art. ‘al-D̲ j̲awharī’ (L. Kopf). The paragraph is drawn from the lemma a-z-m , cf. al-Jawharī, Al-Ṣiḥāḥ 6:1861. 10 Abū Zayd al-Anṣārī, a 3rd/9th cent. grammarian and lexicographer, author of al-Nawādir fi l-lughah . See ei 2 art. ‘Abū Zayd al-Anṣārī’ (C. Brockelmann). 11 A prominent companion of Muhammad and Muslim general; see ei 2 art. ‘Saʿd ibn Abī Waḳḳāṣ’ (G.R. Hawting). Ibn Juljul has the first part of the story. 12 Kisrā is the Arabic form of Ḵhosrow, a Persian title for a ruler. Khosrow I Anuširwān was a Sassanid ruler from 531 to 579 ad . See ei 2 art. ‘Kisrā’ (M. Morony); Encycl. Iranica art. ‘Ḵosrow I’ (multiple authors). The Sassanid capital was Ctesiphon, near the modern Tehran. The following story is also found with similar wording in Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, ʿIqd , vi:372–376; another, somewhat different version, in al-Tawḥīdī, Baṣāʾir , v:49–51. 13 See Q 76 ( al-Insān ), 18; ei 2 art. ‘Salsabīl’ (A. Rippin). 14 Marginal note in A: ‘Variant reading: cause.’ 15 Marginal note in A: ‘Variant reading: to be cut off.’ 16 The word used here ( ḥimyah ) commonly refers specifically to a diet given to a sick person. 17 The petals of the chamomile flower ( Matricaria chamomilla ) are very white. 18 The ninth Abbasid caliph (r. 227–232/842–847), the son of al-Muʿtaṣim. See ei 2 art. ‘al-Wāt̲h̲iḳ Bi ʾllāh’ (K.V. Zetterstéen, C.E. Bosworth & E. van Donzel). The work, al-Bustān , is apparently unknown. Ibn al-Nadīm mentions a Kitāb al-bustān wrongly attributed to al-Fatḥ ibn Khāqān (close friend of al-Wāthiq’s brother al-Mutawakkil), in fact by a certain Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Rabbih Mule-head ( Raʾs al-baghl ), Ibn al-Nadīm Fihrist (Flügel) 117, (Sayyid) i:362. 19 ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar al-Kinānī, a convert to Islam who is reported to have studied at the medical school in Alexandria and to have been physician to the Umayyad caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (r. 99–101/717–720). See Ch. 7.4 . The saying is common. 20 Cf. Abū ʿUbayd al-Bakrī, Simṭ al-laʾālī , 1:935. 21 Reading nasāʾ , meaning ‘length of life ( ṭūl al-ʿumr )’, and not nisāʾ , ‘women’. The saying is in the dictionaries ( Lisān al-ʿArab, Tāj al-ʿarūs ; Lane, Lexicon , under ns ʾ ): ‘He who would like to live forever ( ay taʾakkhur al-ʿumr wa-l-baqāʾ ) – but nobody lives forever! – let him …’. The word nasāʾ is rare and may have been misunderstood by the copyists, even by iau himself. And above and below this passage we find the versions of this saying given by ʿAlī and Abū ʿAwānah, both of which have baqāʾ . 22 Abū ʿAwānah al-Ḥāfiẓ Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm (d. 316/928–929), a muḥaddith , see e.g. al-Ṣafadī, Wāfī , xxviii:478–479. 23 ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr ibn Suwayd al-Lakhmī, qāḍī l-Kūfah (d. Dhū l-ḥijjah 136/754); see e.g. al-Ṣafadī, Wāfī , xix:184–185. 24 Unidentified. 25 Dāwūd ibn Rushayd al-Khwārazmī, mawlā Banī Hāshim (d. 239/853–854), a muḥaddith , a source of Muslim and Ibn Mājah. See e.g. al-Ṣafadī, Wāfī , xiii:470. 26 A transmitter mentioned in certain isnād s. 27 Marginal note in A: ‘Variant reading: “young men of Quraysh”’. 28 Nūrah or nawrah is, strictly speaking, quicklime. Combined with other ingredients it was used as a depilatory paste, also called nūrah , and it is as a depilatory applied regularly in the hammam or bath house that it is named here. It was also an ingredient in compounds used for various skin complaints, including itching, ulcers of the gums, burns, boils and abscesses; for the medical uses, see Levey, Medical Formulary , 340–341 no. 309; Chipman, Pharmacists in Mamluk Cairo , index under ‘lime’. 29 Not in his biography of al-Ḥarith ibn Kaladah. 30 Metre: hazaj . Ibn Faḍl Allāh, Masālik , ix:172–173. For the story and this and the following poem, see also Ibn Qutaybah, ʿUyūn , iv:131–133; al-ʿAskarī, Jamharah , i:229–230; al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ , i: 199–200; al-Jarīrī, Jalīs , iii:260–261; al-Sarrāj, Maṣāriʿ , ii:208–210. Line 4 is found in a poem, otherwise unrelated to this story, by ʿAmmār Dhī Kubār ( recte Kināz) in al-Iṣfahānī, Aghānī , xxiv:233. 31 An example, one of many, of the ancient convention of addressing, without naming them, two companions at the beginning of a poem. 32 Al-Khayf: name of several places in the Hijaz, one of them at Minā near Mecca. 33 The Banū Kunnah are descended from Salamah ibn Muʿattib and Aws ibn Rabīʿah ibn Muʿattib of Thaqīf, called after their mother Kunnah bint Kusayrah of Thumālah (Azd); see al-Kalbī/Caskel, Ǧamharat an-nasab , ii:373. ‘With a sweet voice’: literally, ‘with a nasal twang in its speech’. 34 Metre: majzūʾal-khafīf . Ibn Faḍl Allāh, Masālik , ix:173. The last verse is found in several dictionaries, e.g. Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab ( ḥmw ), Ibn Durayd, Jamharah , 167, 985 ( knn ), 573 ( ḥmw ). 35 Rayyā ; the brother’s wife’s name was Rayyā, according to al-Jarīrī (but not in Ibn Qutaybah’s older version). 36 This circulated as an independent work. See, Daiber, Collection , ms 113, fols. 143a–146b [item 2219, with further bibliography]. 7.2. al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī 1 [7.2.1] His mother was a maternal aunt of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him. Like his father, he travelled widely, meeting with prominent men and scholars in Mecca and elsewhere and associating with learned Christians and Jews. He was a keen student of learning himself, and acquired an extensive knowledge of the sciences of antiquity, philosophy and other lore. In addition, he learned all that his father had to teach him about medicine and other subjects. Al-Naḍr followed the lead of Abū Sufyān in being an enemy of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, for he was of Thaqīf, and as the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, once said, ‘Quraysh are the allies of the Anṣār, 2 and the Banū Umayyah are the allies of Thaqīf.’ Al-Naḍr was a bitter adversary of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, speaking against him frequently, seeking to denigrate him in the eyes of the Meccans and attempting to hinder his mission. Little did he know, unhappy man, that prophethood is the greatest calling, that true blessedness is the most potent state, that divine providence is most sublime, and that what God has decreed must inevitably come to pass. Al-Naḍr imagined that with his knowledge, his accomplishments and his philosophy he could resist prophet-hood, but how far below the Pleiades is the planet earth! 3 How far below the peak are the foothills! And how far below the state of one who is truly blessed is a wretched man! [7.2.2] I have read something in Plato’s Laws that is highly apropos in this connection: ‘The wise man with his wisdom and the learned man with his learning are as nothing compared to a prophet and his mission’. 4 Plato tells us the story of Marinus, a king of the Greeks whose power and might were celebrated by the poet Homer, along with the prosperity enjoyed by his subjects during his reign. But he was beset by misfortunes and harried by rebellions to such an extent that he finally decided to seek the advice of the philosophers of that age, who scrutinized the sources and origins of the matter, and finally said to him, ‘We have considered your situation, and we cannot see anything about you that would account for the misadventures that have befallen you. Philosophers know about the excesses and unregulated conduct that can occur, but that is only part of the story; the rest lies beyond the bounds of philosophical enquiry, in the domain of prophecy.’ King Marinus, they suggested, might find it useful to consult the prophet of the time and consider whatever he might say in juxtaposition with their own learning. ‘He does not live amid crowds and gardens,’ they added, ‘but in a remote part of a bare and waterless desert, among the poor people who live in that dusty place.’ The king asked them what sort of messengers he should send to seek out the philosopher and how they would recognize him. ‘It will be best to send mild-mannered men,’ they replied, ‘men such as are visibly temperate in their habits, speak the truth, and consider it more honourable to acknowledge that an opponent is in the right than to win an argument. Such men have a natural affinity with the prophet, and that will lead them to him.’ ‘Instruct your messengers to enquire about him at his birthplace and town of origin and about his mode of life there. You will find that he takes little interest in the comforts of life. He is a seeker after truth who prefers to live in seclusion. He is honest and straightforward, of little regard in the eyes of kings. He is taken to be one who goes his own way, heedless of the usual concerns of people of his class. At first sight he might strike you as simple, but what you would be seeing in him would actually be shyness. If he discusses a matter, you have the impression that he knows everything there is to know about it, but is unclear about the source of the information. If asked about something he says, however, he will reply that he thought and uttered it while awake, yet without having reflected upon it, as though he had been between sleep and waking. If asked about an opinion of yours, he answers as though under the compulsion of some external force, not as one able to express his own view of the matter after having arrived at a conclusion about it. If your messengers locate him, not only will they find that this description of him is accurate, they will also be treated to marvels of word and deed.’ Marinus, thus advised, assembled seven messengers, augmented by the most learned philosophers he could find, and the party set off in search of the elusive prophet. Eventually they ran him to earth in a village that lay some five days’ journey distant from Marinus’ capital. The village was largely deserted, many of its people having left it in favour of life in the capital, which was altogether more convenient and pleasant, thanks to Marinus. The only remaining residents were a handful of ascetics who had renounced the struggle for gain and some elderly and chronically ill people who were no longer equal to the effort. There among them was the prophet, living in a tumbledown house, with the other village people clustered around it, for his presence was comforting to them, so that they had ceased to fret about the good fortune that their former fellow-citizens were enjoying. The villagers bade the king’s party welcome, but asked them, ‘What can have brought you to such a ruinous place as this, which surely has nothing to hold the attention of such distinguished persons as yourselves?’ ‘We have come,’ the spokesman for the messengers replied, ‘in search of this man, for we hope to join you in enjoying the benefits that he bestows. Can you tell us when he might be free to speak with us?’ The village people answered that the prophet was not busy and could see them at once, so they entered his house. They found him hidden between a number of people who were keeping their eyes averted, such was their awe of him. When the seven messengers saw him, they were so impressed by the example of the others that they too were overcome by feelings of awe. Only the philosopher retained his composure, questioning his impressions and seeking to understand what he was seeing. The spokesman for the messengers greeted the prophet, and he returned the greeting, but in a weak voice, sounding like a man half asleep and confused. Subsequently, his drowsiness increased and his robe almost came undone. Seeing him thus overcome, the people around him averted their eyes and stood up as though praying. But then he spoke: ‘Greetings, O messengers of the sinful man who took possession of a part of my world and attempted to promote its welfare by endowing it with a plethora of material benefits and thereby flooded and ruined it. He may be compared to a man who has been entrusted with the care of part of a garden producing flowers and fruits in abundance. Thinking to make it even more productive, he deluges it with more than its proper share of the garden’s water, but the result is to make the fruits less delicious and the perfume of the flowers less delightful, and by degrees to desiccate the trees and dry up the vegetation.’ When the seven-man party heard these words, they instinctively stood up as though praying, along with the others. The philosopher later reported, ‘While all the others stood, I remained seated, seeking to understand the man and probe the wonders confronting us. Then he addressed me directly in a loud voice: “You there, with such a high opinion of yourself! Your greatest accomplishment has been to travel in thought between particular sensibles and general intelligibles and to extract therefrom knowledge that has given you insight into the nature of things that are perceptible to the senses and the like. You imagined that this would enable you to plumb the depths of cause and effect. In fact, you will attain nothing by that road, but only through the one whom I have placed between myself and my creation, to serve as a guide to my will. You should therefore seek him out more assiduously, and when you meet him, you may ask him about matters that exceed the scope of your knowledge, for I have graciously distinguished him from others and made him a sign of my generosity and a lodestar for sincere seekers after truth.”’ ‘He finished, and sat calmly, his gaze piercing. The people about him settled down and sat as before. I myself left, but returned that evening, and heard him addressing his friends and the seven messengers. Ascetic stuff, it was, about not yielding to the urges of the body. When he had finished speaking, I said to him, “I heard what you said earlier today, and I should like to ask you to expand on it for me.” “Everything you heard then,” he replied, “was merely something that took form in my mind and was uttered by my tongue without any volition on my part, even if you find that there is some food for thought in it.” I remained there for three days, urging the seven messengers to return home, but they would not go. On the fourth day, I went to visit the prophet, but hardly had I entered when he was taken with the same sort of narcoleptic fit as had befallen him on the earlier occasion when we had gone in all together to see him. But then he spoke: “O messenger of the sinful man, I perceive you are taking your time about returning to your master. Go back to your country, for he is no longer there; I am removing him in favour of a ruler who will see to it that the people for whom he is responsible are guided aright.”’ ‘At this, I left him and returned home, where I found that Marinus had died and had been succeeded by a middle-aged man of the same family who had righted injustices and taught the people to abandon their former love of luxury and idleness.’ [7.2.3] I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: At Badr, 5 where the Muslims encountered the polytheists of Quraysh under the leadership of Abū Sufyān, 6 the Quraysh numbered between 900 and 1,000 men, whereas there were a mere 313 of the Muslims. But God aided Islam and granted victory to His Messenger, peace be upon him, while the ranks of the unbelievers were shattered. The flower of Quraysh were killed, and a number of them were captured. Of the latter, some arranged for their release through the payment of ransom, while others were put to death at the orders of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, and these included ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ and al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah, both of whom were executed after the battle was over and the Muslims had left Badr. I have heard the following account from Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Kātib al-Baghdādī ibn al-Karīm, who had had it from Abū Ghālib Muḥammad ibn al-Mubārak ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Maymūn, who in turn had had it from Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Maḥmawayh 7 al-Shāfiʿī al-Yazdī, who had had it from Abū Saʿd Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī l-Qāsim al-Ṣayrafī al-Baghdādī, who had heard it from Abū Ghālib Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sahl ibn Bushrān al-Naḥwī al-Wāsiṭī, who had had it from Abu l-Ḥusayn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Dīnār al-Kātib, who had had it from Abū l-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kātib al-Iṣbahānī, who in turn had heard it from Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, who had had it from Ibn Ḥumayd, who in turn had had it Maslamah, who had had it from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who had heard it from ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah and Yazīd ibn Rūmān, that on the day of Badr, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, ordered ʿĀṣim ibn Thābit ibn Abī l-Aflaḥ al-Anṣārī to kill ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ after he had been taken prisoner. The Muslims then left Badr, and when they reached a place known as al-Ṣafrāʾ, the same fate befell al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī, of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār: he was executed by the hand of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be upon him. He was mourned in the following lines by Qutaylah bint al-Ḥārith: 8 Rider! One supposes 9 you will reach al-Uthayl 10 on the morning of the fifth night, if you are lucky. 11 Convey there, to a dead man, a greeting unceasingly brought by swift camels, 12 From me to him, with tears that are shed profusely and other tears that choke. Let al-Naḍr hear if I call him, if a dead man can hear or speak. 5 The swords of the Umayyads came down on him – Ah, the bonds of kinship that were torn up there! As a captive he was led to his death, exhausted, walking like a hobbled beast, a prisoner in bonds. O Muḥammad, offspring of a noble dam among her people, and whose sire was a sire of highbred stock, It would not have harmed you if you had pardoned him: a man sometimes pardons even when enraged. Al-Naḍr was the nearest relative you took on account of his error and the one most deserving to be freed, if there was to be any freeing. 10 If you had accepted a ransom I would have ransomed him with the most precious ransom that anyone could spend. [7.2.4] Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī says, ‘I have heard that the Prophet, may God bless him and keep him, said, “If I had heard those lines before killing him, I would not have killed him.”’ This elegy by Qutaylah is reputed to be the noblest, purest, most restrained and most dignified poetry ever uttered by a woman lamenting a murdered kinsman. I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: Evidently the reason why the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, waited until the Muslims had reached al-Ṣafrāʾ before having al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith put to death was so that he could reflect on the proper course of action; having determined that he had made the right decision, he ordered his execution. A variant reading of the first hemistich in the ninth line of the above elegy runs, ‘Of all those whom you killed, al-Naḍr was nearest kin to you,’ 13 and this shows that al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith was related to the Prophet, peace be upon him. The battle of Badr was fought in the second year after the Hijrah. Badr is a place-name meaning ‘water’. According to al-Shaʿbī, 14 there was a well there that belonged to a man named Badr, and that is how the Day of Badr got its name. The place known as al-Ṣafrāʾ is 17 miles 15 from Badr, and three nights’ easy travelling from Medina. Footnotes 1 For bibliographic information about al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah, see Sezgin, gas iii , 204. The sources tell us only of one al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAlqamah ibn Kaladah, a wealthy Qurashi merchant of Mecca who was strongly hostile to Muḥammad’s mission. Evidently iau misidentified him as the son of al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah; see ei 2 art. ‘al-Naḍr b. al-Ḥārit̲h̲’ (Ch. Pellat). At this point there is a marginal note in ms S reading: ‘The chronicler has acted unthinkingly in this biography in stating that al-Naḍr was the son of al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī. In fact, al-Naḍr was a man of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār. His full lineage is as follows: al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah ibn ʿAlqamah ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn ʿAbd al-Dār ibn Quṣayy. The chronicler was misled by the similarity of the names. Upon reading the passage, I saw that the reference was to the man of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār.’ 2 ‘The Helpers’, the usual designation of those men of Medina who supported Muḥammad, in distinction from the Muhājirūn or ‘Emigrants’, i.e. his Meccan followers. The saying does not appear in standard collections of Hadith. 3 Wa-ayna l-tharā min al-thurayyā . The attractive assonance between the words al-tharā (‘the earth’) and al-thurayyā (‘the Pleiades’) is lost in the English translation. 4 The Arabic Ps.-Platonic treatise K. al-Nawāmīs , in Badawī, Platon ( Aflāṭūn fī l-Islām ), 197–234, passage cited at 201–204. See Pines, ‘On the Pseudo-Platonic Quotation’, who suggests that King Marinus equals the Greek mythological hero Minos (cf. esp. the pseudonymous dialogue, Minos , in the Greek Platonic corpus). The Arabic Ps.-Platonic treatise K. al-Nawāmīs was also cited in Ch. 2.1 ; see Ch. 2.1.2 n. 22 for a discussion of this treatise and also four other works that bore the Arabic title K. al-Nawāmīs , or versions of it. 5 A place southwest of Medina, a night’s journey from the coast, and at the junction of a road from Medina with the caravan route from Mecca to Syria. Badr was the site of the first battle of the nascent Muslim community against the Meccans, in 2/624. 6 Marginal note in ms Sa: ‘This also is an error. Abū Sufyān was not present at Badr. He was the owner of the spring on the route from Syria. The Messenger of God, God bless him and keep him, sought to take it, and the battle of Badr ensued.’ 7 The vocalization of M-ḥ-m-w-y-h is unclear. See on him e.g. al-Ṣafadī, Wāfī , xx:323–324. 8 Metre: kāmil . The verses are often quoted; see e.g. Abū Tammām, Ḥamāsah (al-Marzūqī, Sharḥ , 963–966); Ibn Hishām, Sīrah , ii:42–43 (tr. Guillaume, 360); al-Iṣfahānī, Aghānī , i:19; al-Jāḥiẓ, Bayān , iv:44 (which has Laylā instead of Qutaylah); Yāqūt, Muʿjām al-buldān , i:94. 9 Marginal note in ms A reads: ‘Note. That is, “I think you will reach al-Uthayl early on the fifth morning.” The word maẓannah , meaning the place where one thinks something is likely to occur, is said to be used either in a good or a bad sense’. 10 A place near Medina. 11 Marginal note in ms A reads: ‘Note. That is, “I think you will reach al-Uthayl early on the fifth morning.” The word maẓannah , meaning the place where one thinks something is likely to occur, is said to be used either in a good or a bad sense’. 12 Marginal note in ms A reads: ‘That is, “I constantly send a greeting with every passing rider, so carry the greeting. This is my situation with respect to these greetings to him”’. 13 This version is found in a few sources; the ‘standard’ text of al-Ḥamāsah has wa-l-Naḍru aqrabu man aṣabta wasīlatan . 14 ʿĀmir ibn Sharāḥīl al-Shaʿbī (d. between 103/721 and 110/728), famous early muḥaddith and legal expert. See ei 2 art. ‘al-S̲h̲aʿbī’ (G.H.A. Juynboll). 15 For mīl (mile), see Glossary of Weights & Measures. mss A, Ga and R insert a marginal note here: ‘Al-Jawharī, quoting Ibn al-Sikkīt, defines the mile of land as “as far as the eye can see” ( muntahā madd al-baṣar ).’ Al-Jawharī (d. 393/1002 or 398/1007) and Ibn al-Sikkīt (4th/9th cent.) were both celebrated philologists and lexicographers. 7.3. Ibn Abī Rimthah 1 al-Tamīmī A physician of the time of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him. Being endowed with particular manual dexterity, he became a surgical practitioner. Nuʿaym 2 relates the following account on the authority of Ibn Abī ʿUyaynah, 3 on the authority of Ibn Abjar, 4 on the authority of Ziyād, 5 on the authority of Laqīṭ, 6 on the authority of Ibn Abī Rimthah, who said, ‘I went to see the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, and saw the Seal 7 between his shoulders. “I am a physician,” I said to him, “and if you will allow me, I will take care of that for you.” He replied, “Skill you may possess, but it is God who is the physician.”’ Sulaymān ibn Ḥassān [Ibn Juljul] tells us, ‘The Messenger of God knew that he was manually skilful, but that he was not outstanding in terms of his learning. This is clear from the words, “it is God who is the physician.”’ Footnotes 1 Or Ramthah. According to Sezgin ( gas iii , 204), the name is properly Abū Ramthah and the reading ‘Ibn Abī Ramthah’ an error introduced by iau ’s source here, Ibn Juljul, and faithfully repeated by later historians. For bibliographic information on Ibn Abī Rimthah, see also Ullmann, Medizin , 20. This biography is included in all three versions of the book. It is present in mss A and S, but is missing from L and P. Of the comparative copies, it is included in B, Ga, Gc and R, but is lacking in H. Compare Ibn Juljul, Ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ , 57–58. 2 Perhaps Abū ʿAbd Allāh Nuʿaym ibn Hammad ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Khuzāʿī al-Marwazī, a 3rd/10th century Hadith scholar. 3 Fuʾād Sayyid (Ibn Juljul, Ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ , 58 n. 3) identifies him with the traditionalist Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah ibn Maymūn al-Hilālī al-Kūfī, in which case iau is in error. 4 ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar al-Kinānī, the subject of the following biography ( Ch. 7.4 ). 5 Possibly Ziyād ibn Labīd, one of Muḥammad’s Companions. 6 Possibly Laqīṭ ibn Ṣabirah, another Companion. 7 The Seal of Prophethood, some sort of growth or mole located between the Prophet Muḥammad’s shoulder-blades, variously described as resembling a pigeon’s egg or an apple. Ms A has a note in the left margin: ‘Note. It was a fleshy excrescence that could have been removed, but the Messenger of God, may God bless him and keep him, would not have that done.’ For talismanic designs popularly associated with the Seal of Prophethood, see Maddison & Savage-Smith, Science, Tools, and Magic , i:106, 116. 7.4. ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar al-Kinānī 1 A medical practitioner of great proficiency and knowledge. Early in his career he lived in Alexandria, for he had a teaching post there, carrying on the tradition of the Alexandrians who have been mentioned earlier in this work. At that time, Egypt was ruled by Christian kings. However, when the Muslims conquered the country and became the rulers of Alexandria, Ibn Abjar converted to Islam at the instance of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, 2 who at that time was only a prince, not having as yet acceded to the caliphate, and with whom Ibn Abjar was on friendly terms. 3 When ʿUmar became Caliph in the month of Ṣafar in the year 99 (= September–October 717), he moved the school of medicine to Antioch and Ḥarrān; since then, medical instruction has become widespread in various regions. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz retained Ibn Abjar as his physician and relied on him for medical advice. Al-Aʿmash 4 informs us that he heard Ibn Abjar say: ‘Refrain from taking medicine as long as your body can bear the illness.’ This is similar to a well-known saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and keep him: ‘Drive your illness as far as it will carry you.’ 5 Sufyān 6 informs us that he heard Ibn Abjar say, ‘The stomach is the body’s catchment basin; the blood-vessels run into it. Whatever carries health into it will carry health out of it, and whatever carries illness into it will carry illness out of it.’ Footnotes 1 For bibliographic references to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar, see Ullmann, Medizin , 21; Sezgin, gas iii , 205–206. This biography is included in all three versions of the book. It is included in mss A and S, but is missing from L and P. Of the comparative copies, it is included in B, Ga, Gc and R, but is lacking in H. 2 The eighth Umayyad caliph (r. 99–101/717–720), who was probably born in Medina but is known to have spent some time in Egypt in his youth. See ei 2 art. ‘ʿUmar ( ii ) b. ʿAbd al-ʿAziz’ (P.M. Cobb). 3 The chronology is fictional. If Ibn Abjar was already teaching before the Muslim conquest of Alexandria in 21/642 he was surely thirty by the time of the conquest. ʿUmar however was born c. 60/680; he was in Egypt only until 86/705. If Ibn Abjar converted at his hand, he must have been at a very advanced age. He cannot have remained the caliph’s physician. Sezgin, gas iii , 205 speaks of possible confusion of ʿAbd al-Malik with his father Abjar. 4 Sulaymān ibn Mihrān al-Asadī, known as al-Aʿmash, a Hadith scholar of the tābiʿūn , i.e., the generation of Muslims born after Muḥammad’s death but who were contemporaries of his Companions. 5 Sir bi-dāʾika mā ḥamalaka , i.e., presumably, endure it as long as possible. The comparison seems to be with a foundered pack-animal. 6 Probably Sufyān ibn Saʿīd al-Thawrī, a 2nd/8th cent. Hadith scholar. 7.5. Ibn Uthāl 1 [7.5.1] A prominent Christian practitioner who was one of the most distinguished of the physicians of Damascus. When Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān ruled in Damascus, 2 he showed Ibn Uthāl particular favour, visiting him frequently and conversing with him in friendly fashion at all hours of the night and day. Muʿāwiyah’s reason for thus cultivating Ibn Uthāl was that the physician possessed extensive knowledge of the properties of simples and compound medicines, including highly toxic ones. Many prominent Muslims and persons of rank died of poisoning in Muʿāwiyah’s time. [7.5.2] We have heard the following account from Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Kātib al-Baghdādī ibn al-Karīm, 3 who had had it from Abū Ghālib Muḥammad ibn al-Mubārak ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Maymūn, who in turn had had it from Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad 4 ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Maḥmawayh 5 al-Shāfiʿī al-Yazdī, who had had it from Abū Saʿd Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī l-Qāsim al-Ṣayrafī al-Baghdādī, who had heard it from Abū Ghālib Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sahl ibn Bashrān al-Naḥwī al-Wāsiṭī, who had had it from Abū l-Ḥasan 6 ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Dīnār al-Kātib, who had had it from Abū l-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Iṣbahānī al-Kātib, 7 who says in his great work known as al-Aghānī , ‘I have heard from my uncle, who had had the story from Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥārith al-Ḥazzāz, who had had it from al-Madāʾinī, 8 who had had it from a shaykh of the people of the Ḥijāz, 9 who had had it from Zayd ibn Rāfiʿ, the mawlā 10 of al-Muhājir ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd, 11 who had heard it from Abū Dhiʾb, who had had it from Abū Suhayl: when Muʿāwiyah was seeking to have his son Yazīd 12 proclaimed as heir to the caliphate, he said to the people of Syria, “The Commander of the Faithful has grown old and wrinkled, his bones have become fragile; he has not much time left. He would like to designate his successor: whom will you have?” The people answered, “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd.” Muʿāwiyah said nothing, keeping his intentions in the matter to himself, but he schemed to have the Christian physician Ibn Uthāl brought into the presence of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. The physician gave him a dose of poison, and he died.’ [7.5.3] Word of the murder was brought to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s nephew, Khālid ibn al-Muhājir ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd, while he was in Mecca. Khālid had no great regard for his late uncle, for he was a Hāshimite 13 by persuasion, like his father, al-Muhājir, who had fought on the side of ʿAlī, peace be upon him, at the battle of Ṣiffīn, 14 whereas ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid had fought on the side of Muʿāwiyah. But when ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was murdered, ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr 15 went to Khālid and said, ‘Will you look on as your uncle’s bones are desecrated in Syria by Ibn Uthāl, while you spend your time strutting about here in Mecca, full of your own importance and letting your cloak trail behind you as you go?’ Khālid was infuriated at this. He summoned a mawlā of his, a sturdy, audacious fellow named Nāfiʿ, and informed him of the situation. ‘This Ibn Uthāl must be killed,’ he said. They travelled to Damascus together, and there they found that their quarry was in the habit of visiting Muʿāwiyah, staying until late in the evening. Accordingly, they lay in wait for him in the Damascus mosque, each with his back against a column, until finally he came out. ‘Mind you don’t let him see you,’ said Khālid to his man, ‘I shall strike him myself; just guard my back. If you see anything suspicious coming toward me, do whatever you have to do.’ When Ibn Uthāl came abreast of him, Khālid sprang upon him and stabbed him to death. The people who had been accompanying Ibn Uthāl came running up, but upon finding themselves confronted with Nāfiʿ, they fled, and Khālid and Nāfiʿ made their escape. The others came after them, but when they caught up with them, Khālid and Nāfiʿ turned upon them, and they dispersed. Finally they dodged into a narrow alleyway and gave their pursuers the slip. When Muʿāwiyah was told what had happened, he said, ‘This is the doing of Khālid ibn al-Muhājir. A narrow alley, you say? Look for him there.’ After a search, Khālid was taken and brought to Muʿāwiyah. ‘May God not reward you, O visitor,’ he said, ‘you have murdered my physician.’ ‘I have killed the one who was obeying an order,’ replied Khālid, ‘but not the one who gave the order.’ ‘God’s curse upon you,’ exclaimed the caliph. ‘I swear by God, had he testified even once that God is one and Muḥammad His Messenger, I would have you put to death. Where is your man Nāfiʿ?’ ‘I do not have him with me,’ said Khālid. ‘I fancy you do,’ said Muʿāwiyah, ‘for you would hardly have undertaken such a venture without him.’ He gave orders that a search should be made for Nāfiʿ, and when he was found and brought in, the caliph sentenced him to a hundred lashes. Khālid, for his part, did not have to endure anything more than a term of imprisonment. 16 However, Muʿāwiyah compelled the Banū Makh zūm 17 to pay twelve thousand dirhams as bloodwit for Ibn Uthāl. Of that sum, six thousand dirhams went into the Treasury, while Muʿāwiyah kept the other six thousand for himself. This continued to be the regular practice in the matter of compensation for the killing of a client, until it was changed by the caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, 18 who decreed that the whole amount was to go into the Treasury, the ruler keeping none of it. [7.5.4] The account continues: After Muʿāwiyah had had Khālid ibn al-Muhājir imprisoned, he composed the following lines in his cell: 19 If my steps are close together, as someone walks who is hobbled, in detention, How can I then walk around in the beds of the wadis, dragging my loin-cloth on my traces? – No more of this. But do you see a fire, lit at Dhū Murār? 20 It is not lit because of the cold for someone warming himself, nor for fumigation. How is it that the length of your night is not diminished by the length of the day? Will Time grow shorter, 21 or does a prisoner grow weary of prison? When Muʿāwiyah heard these verses, he had Khālid released at once. Khālid returned to Mecca, and upon arriving there, he went to see ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr and said to him, ‘I have killed Ibn Uthāl, but what about Ibn Jurmūz, 22 the man who desecrated the body of your father, al-Zubayr, in Basra? If revenge is important to you, you ought to kill him.’ ʿUrwah thereupon went to Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām 23 and told him of his reason for harbouring a grudge against Ibn Jurmūz, but Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān adjured him to let the matter drop, and ʿUrwah did so. [7.5.5] I – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah – say: al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām was with ʿĀʾishah on the Day of the Camel, and was killed by Ibn Jurmūz. That is why Khālid ibn al-Muhājir reminded ʿUrwah of his father’s murder by Ibn Jurmūz, by way of shaming him. Confirmation of this is to be found in the elegy for al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām that was composed by his widow, ʿĀtikah bint Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl, after he had been killed by Ibn Jurmūz: 24 Ibn Jurmūz acted perfidiously 25 to a knight of a brave army on the day of the battle encounter; he was no coward who flees. ʿAmr, if you had awakened him you would have found him not fickle, trembling in neither his spirit nor his hands. Fear God, your Lord! 26 If you have killed a Muslim you will have to 27 suffer the punishment for premeditated murder. Al-Zubayr is truly a man of bravery, with a generous nature, of noble countenance. How many dangerous situations did he plunge into, not held back by your pursuit, you fungus of the high ground! Go; your hands have never seized anyone like him, in the past, among those who go in the evening or the morning. The following passage is taken from the Book of Proverbs ( K. al-amthāl ), by Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām al-Baghdādī: 28 Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān was afraid that popular sentiment was inclining in favour of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd. 29 He therefore dropped a hint to his physician, who gave ʿAbd al-Raḥmān a drink of poisoned honey which scorched him inside. Muʿāwiyah thereupon remarked, ‘There is no stroke of good fortune to compare with one that disposes of someone you dislike’. 30 According to the same author, when Muʿāwiyah heard that al-Ashtar 31 was dead from a drink of poisoned honey, he remarked, ‘Evidently honey is among the soldiers of God.’ 32 [7.5.6] The following account is taken verbatim from the History of Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Wāqidī: 33 In the year 38 (= 658–659), ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be upon him, dispatched al-Ashtar to Egypt as governor after the previous governor, Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, had been murdered. When Muʿāwiyah got wind of this, he sent a message secretly to the dihqān 34 in al-ʿArīsh: ‘If you will kill al-Ashtar, for twenty years you shall keep your land-tax 35 for yourself.’ When al-Ashtar reached al-ʿArīsh, the dihqān received him hospitably and inquired what he most preferred to drink. ‘Honey,’ was the answer. ‘I have some honey from Barqah,’ said the dihqān . He poisoned a cup of it and served it to al-Ashtar, who subsequently died. When ʿAlī learned of his death, he said, ‘[Fallen] on hands and mouth.’ 36 According to al-Ṭabarī’s History , al-Ḥasan 37 ibn ʿAlī, peace be upon him, died of poisoning in Muʿāwiyah’s time. Muʿāwiyah, cunning schemer that he was, surreptitiously brought a potion to Jaʿdah bint al-Ashʿath ibn Qays, the wife of al-Ḥasan, peace be upon him, and said to her, ‘Kill al-Ḥasan, and I will give you my son Yazīd as your husband.’ Once al-Ḥasan was dead, Jaʿdah sent a message to Muʿāwiyah reminding him of his promise, only to receive the reply, ‘I cannot relinquish Yazīd.’ Kuthayyir 38 composed an elegy on al-Ḥasan, containing the following lines: 39 Jaʿd, lament him unwearyingly, with a true weeping, not idle. You will not bury another dead man like him, among people barefoot or shod. According to the account of ʿAwānah ibn al-Ḥakam, 40 before the death of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, peace be upon them both, Muʿāwiyah wrote to Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, 41 his governor in Medina, instructing him to send word to Damascus with the utmost speed as soon as there was any news of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī. ‘Send the horses!’, he wrote. 42 ‘It was only a short time later,’ continues the historian, ‘that Marwān wrote to report that al-Ḥasan was dead.’ As a rule, whenever Ibn ʿAbbās 43 called on Muʿāwiyah, the caliph would invite him to sit with him on his couch; he would then give permission for other visitors to come in and take their seats. When Ibn ʿAbbās came to see Muʿāwiyah after al-Ḥasan’s death, however, the caliph did not give him time to so much as utter a greeting. ‘Ibn ʿAbbās,’ he said, ‘have you heard? Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī is dead.’ ‘No,’ said Ibn ʿAbbās. ‘I have just learned of his death,’ said Muʿāwiyah. ‘We are God’s, and to Him we shall return,’ said Ibn ʿAbbās. ‘O Muʿāwiyah,’ he went on, ‘his death will not serve to extend your own life, and his achievements will not go with him into the grave. We have been afflicted with a greater loss than this with the death of Muḥammad, may God bless him and keep him, yet God consoled our grief and did not destroy us afterward.’ ‘Will you not be seated, Ibn ʿAbbās?’ said Muʿāwiyah, but Ibn ʿAbbās retorted, ‘This is not a day in which to be seated.’ Muʿāwiyah took a malicious pleasure at the death of al-Ḥasan, prompting Qutham ibn ʿAbbās 44 to compose the following verses: 45 Ibn Hind is gloating today, visibly proud, now that Ḥasan is dead. God’s mercy be on him! For so long he caused grief 46 to Ibn Hind and was energetic.(?) 47 All his life he bore upon him with the equivalent of (the weight of) Mounts Raḍwā, Thabīr, and Ḥaḍan, Whenever he advanced, being alive, raising his voice and his breast boiling with grudges. But today you may graze, Ibn Hind, in peace! Being fat makes a wild ass easily frightened. And fear God, show repentance, (wishing) that what happened were as if it had not happened. Footnotes 1 For bibliographic references to Ibn Uthāl, see Sezgin, gas iii , 204–205 (where the name is given as Ibn Aṯāl. Lisān al-ʿArab gives ‘ al-athāl bi-l-fatḥ: al-majd ’ but other lexica (e.g. Qāmūs ) allow both forms.) This biography is included in all three versions of the book. The source is K. al-Aghānī ; it is not in Ibn al-Qifṭī or Ibn Juljul. 2 Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān was elected caliph in 41/661 and established his residence in Damascus, which thus became the capital of the Umayyad caliphs. See ei 2 art . ‘Muʿāwiya’ (M. Hinds). 3 Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kātib al-Baghdādī (d. 638/1240) was a Baghdadi secretary and man of letters mainly known for his K. al-Ṭabīkh , a cookbook containing a collection of 158 recipes. iau seems to have known him personally, since he uses him as authority on four occasions employing the formula ḥaddathanī (i.e., ‘he told me’). On this figure and his book, see Nasrallah, Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens , 22–23. 4 In Ch. 7.2 iau has ‘Aḥmad’ in place of ‘Muḥammad’. 5 The vocalization of M-ḥ-m-w-y-h is unclear. On him, see above Ch. 7.2.3 and, e.g., al-Ṣafadī, Wāfī , xx:323–324. 6 Most manuscripts read ‘Ḥasan’ in place of ‘Ḥusayn’, which is read in Ch. 7.2 . 7 Down to this point, this isnād is almost identical to the one in the biography of al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī (above, Ch. 7.2 ). The author of the celebrated K. al-Aghānī is referred to either as Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī or Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī; for an account of his life and works, see ei 2 art. ‘Abū l-Farad̲j̲ al-Iṣbahānī’ (M. Nallino). Cf. K. al-Aghānī xvi:197–198. 8 An important early historian; see ei 2 art. ‘al-Madāʾinī’ (H.A.R. Gibb). 9 The northwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula, where Mecca and Medina are located. 10 Usually translated ‘client’. Originally a non-Arab who had converted to Islam and attached himself to an Arab patron by a contract of clientship ( muwālāh ). The term also denotes a manumitted slave. 11 Khālid ibn al-Walīd was a celebrated Arab commander at the time of the early Muslim conquests. See ei 2 art. ‘K̲h̲ālid b. al-Walīd’ (P. Crone). 12 See ei 2 art. ‘Yazīd (I) b. Muʿāwiya’ (G.R. Hawting). 13 I.e. a supporter of the Prophet’s family, the Banū Hāshim, and hence of ʿAlī’s faction. 14 Fought at what is now al-Raqqah, in Syria, in 37/657, between the Iraqis under the Caliph ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and the Syrians under the Governor of Syria, Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, in the context of the ‘first fitnah ’, or civil war, the series of events which includes the murder of the Caliph ʿUthmān, the designation of ʿAlī as Imām , the battle of Ṣiffīn, the advent of the schismatic movements known as the Shīʿah and the Khawārij (Khārijites), and the seizure of power by Muʿāwiyah. The battle itself was indecisive and ended with arbitration, resulting ultimately in loss of legitimacy by ʿAlī and the accession of Muʿāwiyah to the caliphate. See ei 2 arts. ‘Fitna’ (L. Gardet), ‘Ṣiffīn’ (M. Lecker), ‘ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’ (R.M. Gleave), and, in more detail, Madelung, Succession to Muḥammad , 141–310. 15 A prominent Medinan jurist (one of the celebrated ‘Seven jurists of Medina’; see ei 2 , Supplement, art. ‘Fuḳahāʾ al-Madīna al-sabʿa’ (Ch. Pellat)) and brother of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, who played a prominent role in the second civil war ( fitnah ), during the decade 60–70/680–690. See ei 2 art. ‘ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zubayr’ (S. Campbell). 16 Muʿāwiyah was renowned for ḥilm (approximately = ‘patience’, with a sense of expediency). He is reported to have said, ‘I do not employ my sword when my whip suffices me, nor my whip when my tongue suffices me; and were there but a single hair binding me to my fellow-men, I do not allow it to break: when they pull, I slacken, and when they slacken, I pull’; Nicholson, A Literary History , 194 quoting al-Yaʿqūbī, Taʾrīkh , ii:283. Cf. ei 2 art. ‘Ḥilm’ (Ch. Pellat), ei Three art. ‘Ḥilm’ (Th. Hefter). 17 An important clan of Quraysh, to which Khālid ibn al-Muhājir ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd belonged. 18 The eighth Umayyad caliph, r. 99–101/717–720. See ei 2 art ‘ʿUmar ( ii ) b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz’ (P.M. Cobb). 19 Metre: kāmil . For the story and the verses, see al-Iṣfahānī, Aghānī , xvi:198–200, al-Baghdādī, Khizānah , ii:234–236. 20 Or: ‘at a place with a bitter-tasting plant called murār ’; but the context suggests a specific place-name. 21 Aghānī and Khizānah have li-taqāṣuri l-azmāni , but a-taqāṣara l-azmānu seems possible. 22 ʿAmr ibn Jurmūz was the man who had treacherously killed ʿUrwah’s father, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, after he had withdrawn from the Battle of the Camel (36/656), in which al-Zubayr, Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh and Muḥammad’s widow, ʿĀʾishah, were pitted against ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib following the murder of the Caliph ʿUthmān. 23 A fellow Traditionist and another of the Seven Jurists of Medina. 24 Metre: kāmil . The verses are often quoted and admired; see e.g. al-Madāʾinī, al-Murdifāt min Quraysh (in Nawādir al-makhṭūṭāt , i:64); Ibn Ḥabīb, Asmāʾ al-mughtālīn (in Nawādir al-makhṭūṭāt , ii:158); al-Iṣfahānī, Aghānī , xviii:58; al-Masʿūdī, Murūj , iii:108–109; Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, ʿIqd , iv:323; al-Baghdādī, Khizānah , x:378. 25 Al-Zubayr was asleep when he was killed. 26 Other versions have ‘May your hand wither!’ ( Murdifāt, Aghānī, Khizānah ) or ‘May your mother be bereaved of you!’ ( ʿIqd, Asmāʾ al-mughtālīn ). The vowelling ( Allāha rabbaka ) suggests that it is a shortening of the common expression ittaqi llāha rabbaka , ‘fear God, your Lord!’. 27 Instead of wajabat all other versions have ḥallat , ‘(the punishment) will come’. 28 An 2nd/8th cent. grammarian, Quranic scholar and lawyer. See ei Three art. ‘Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām’ (R. Weipert). Cf. Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām, K. al-amthāl , 192–193. 29 I.e. as his successor as caliph; Abū ʿUbayd adds ‘in Syria’. 30 Not in Abū ʿUbayd’s Amthāl , but see Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī, Jamharat al-amthāl , ii:301, al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ al-amthāl , ii:255. 31 A prominent political figure and military leader, and an uncompromising supporter of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; he took part in both the Battle of the Camel and the Battle of Ṣiffīn. See ei Three art. ‘Al-Ashtar, Mālik b. al-Ḥārith al-Nakhaʿī’ (H. Munt). 32 See Abū ʿUbayd al-Bakrī, Faṣl al-maqāl fī sharḥ Kitāb al-amthāl , 98. 33 An important early historian (130–270/747–822). See ei 2 art. ‘al-Wāḳidī’ (S. Leder). The report appears to be an extract from the Traditionist Ibn Ḥibbān’s K. al-Thiqāt (Ibn Ḥibbān, K. al-Thiqāt , ii:298). 34 In Sassanid Persia, a village headman and a member of the lesser feudal nobility whose main function was to collect taxes on behalf of the central government. Apparently used here in the sense of a local official. 35 Kharāj . See ei 2 art. ‘K̲h̲arād̲j̲’ (Cl. Cahen). By ‘your land-tax’, Muʿāwiyah presumably meant ‘the land-tax that you collect from local landowners’. 36 Abū ʿUbayd al-Bakrī, Faṣl al-maqāl fī sharḥ Kitāb al-amthāl , 98. Compare our expression ‘to bite the dust’. The Arabic phrase li-l-yadayn wa-l-fam is said to express pleasure at seeing someone fall. ʿAlī had had enough of al-Ashtar by this time; he had sent him to Egypt to have him well out of the way. However, another school of historians attributes this remark, more plausibly, to Muʿāwiyah (Müller’s edition has ‘Muʿāwiyah’ here, instead of ʿAlī). See e.g. Ibn Ḥabīb, Asmāʾal-mughtālīn , 160, where Muʿāwiyah says, on the death of two of ʿAlī’s supporters, ‘ʿAlī once had two hands. One was ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, the other was al-Ashtar. God the exalted has cut off both of them!’; similarly al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh , i , iii:3394. 37 After the murder of his father, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, al-Ḥasan was a claimant to the caliphate until he renounced his claim in favour of Muʿāwiyah. See ei 2 art. ‘(al-) Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’ (Veccia Vaglieri). Ṭabarī does not include the assassination of al-Ḥasan in the History ; see Madelung, Succession , 331. 38 Kuthayyir ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, known as Kuthayyir ʿAzzah, after his lady-love, a Medinan poet of the 1st/7th c. See ei 2 art. ‘Kut̲h̲ayyir b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’ (I. ʿAbbās). 39 Metre: sarīʿ . Kuthayyir, Dīwān , 493. Attributed to al-Najāshī al-Ḥārithī in al-Balādhurī, Ansāb (ed. al-ʿAẓm), ii:401, al-Masʿūdī, Murūj , iii:182, etc. In Ibn Ḥamdūn, Tadhkirah , ix:294 the verses are said to be by Jaʿdah (here shortened to Jaʿd) bint al-Ashʿath herself. 40 A 2nd/8th cent. historian, one of the chief authorities for the early Umayyad period. His works have survived only in the form of quotations in later historians. See ei 2 art. ‘ʿAwāna b. al-Ḥakam’ (Saleh A. el-Ali). 41 A member of the Umayyad clan of Quraysh, a cousin of the Caliph ʿUthmān and subsequently caliph himself, after the death of Muʿāwiyah ii ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah. See ei 2 art. ‘Marwān I b. al-Ḥakam’ (C.E. Bosworth). 42 All the manuscripts read uqtul al-maṭiyy (‘kill the horses’) rather than aqbil al-maṭiyy (‘send the horses’). The emendation to aqbil al-maṭiyy is supported by parallel texts such as Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt . ii:66, which has kataba ilayhi an aqbil al-maṭiyy ilayya bi-khabar al-Ḥasan ; see also, quoting Ibn Khallikān, in al-Damīrī, Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān , i:58; and a parallel in Ibn Ḥamdūn, Tadhkirah , ix:294. 43 ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, 1st/7th cent. Quranic exegete and soldier, a cousin of Muḥammad’s and son of the eponymous ancestor of the Abbasid caliphs. He commanded a wing of ʿAlī’s troops at both the Battle of the Camel (36/656) and the Battle of Ṣiffīn in the following year. However, he and ʿAlī subsequently became estranged, for reasons that are not entirely clear, and after ʿAlī’s murder, Ibn ʿAbbās became friendly with Muʿāwiyah. See ei Three art. ‘ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAbbās’ (Cl. Gilliot). 44 Qutham ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib al-Hāshimī, a cousin and Companion of Muḥammad’s. See ei 2 art. ‘Ḳut̲h̲am b. al-ʿAbbās’ (C.E. Bosworth). 45 Metre: ramal . Lines 1 and 5 are attributed to his famous brother ʿAbd Allāh in al-Zamakhsharī, Rabīʿ al-abrār , iv:197; the other lines have not been found elsewhere. Ibn Hind is the Umayyad caliph Muʿāwiyah, son of Abū Sufyān and Hind. Raḍwā, Thabīr, and Ḥaḍan are mountains in Arabia. 46 Marginal note in ms A: ‘The word shajan means something stuck in the throat; it is a synonym of ghuṣṣah .’ 47 Translation uncertain. 7.6. Abū Ḥakam 1 A Christian physician, very learned in all types of treatment and medicines; he performed some remarkable feats and created some noteworthy formulations. Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān consulted him regularly and relied on the medications that he compounded for various purposes at the caliph’s request. Abū Ḥakam was granted a long life, exceeding a full century. 2 I have the following story from Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm, 3 who had heard the account from his father, who in turn had had it from the physician ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam al-Dimashqī, 4 who had heard it from his father, who had had it from his father. ‘In the caliphate of Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān,’ ʿĪsā’s grandfather 5 said, ‘the caliph’s son Yazīd was responsible for leading the ḥajj -caravan, and on one occasion his father sent me along as Yazīd’s personal physician. Accordingly, I set out for Mecca as physician to Yazīd, along with ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās. 6 ʿAbd al-Ṣamad and Yazīd were of the same generation, 7 yet between their respective dates of death there was an interval of a hundred and twenty-odd years’. 8 Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm states: I have heard from ʿĪsā ibn al-Ḥakam, who had the account from his father, that his grandfather 9 had told him that when ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān 10 was suffering from his final illness, he had ordered the caliph not to drink any water, as to do so before the disease had fully matured would undoubtedly kill him. ʿAbd al-Malik refrained from drinking for two days and part of a third. In the physician’s own words, ‘I was seated at his bedside, and his daughters were present as well. Just then, his son al-Walīd 11 entered the room and asked him how he was, with an expression of eager anticipation at the prospect of his father’s death. The caliph replied with a line of poetry: Many a person asking about us wants us to die, male or female, while their tears are flowing in streams! 12 When he began to recite the first half of the line, he was looking at al-Walīd; when he reached the second half, he turned his head and looked at his daughters. He then called for some water, drank it, and died forthwith.’ Footnotes 1 For bibliographic references to Abū Ḥakam, see Sezgin, gas iii , 205. This biography is included in all three versions of the book. 2 A lunar century, of course, i.e. 97 years. 3 The 3rd/9th cent. courtier and intellectual, Ibn al-Dāyah, author of an Akhbār al-aṭibbāʾ often cited by iau . See ei 2 art . ‘Ibn al-Dāya’ (F. Rosenthal) and notes in Ch. 8.3.6 . 4 His biography is given below at Ch. 7.8 . 5 I.e. Abū Ḥakam, the subject of this biography. 6 A brother of ʿAbd Allāh, who commanded the Abbasid army at the battle of the Great Zab in 132/750, which sealed the fate of the Umayyad caliphate. 7 These distant cousins traced their respective ancestries back through five generations to the brothers ʿAbd Shams and Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣayy: Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams, and ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim. The word quʿdud means literally ‘nearness of relationship to the ancestor of the tribe or family’ (see Lane, Lexicon , s.v. Q-ʿ-D). 8 Yazīd died in 64/683 and ʿAbd al-Ṣamad in 185/801–802 (al-Ṣafadī, Wāfī , xviii:449). 9 I.e., Ibn al-Dāyah; see n. 3 above. 10 The fifth Umayyad caliph, r. 65–86/685–705. 11 Who succeeded ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān as caliph upon the latter’s death. 12 Metre: ṭawīl . See al-Jāḥiẓ, Bayān , ii: 167; al-Balādhurī, Ansāb (ed. al-ʿAzm), vi:189 (rhyme word sawākibū ) and 387; al-Masʿūdī, Murūj , iii:319; Ibn Ḥamdūn, Tadhkirah , ix:293. 7.7. Ḥakam al-Dimashqī 1 [7.7.1] This physician followed in his father’s footsteps: like him, he had an extensive knowledge of the treatment of disease and therapeutic procedures, and was skilled in the art of compounding ingenious medications. He lived in Damascus, and, like his father, he was granted a long life. [7.7.2] Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm tells us: I have heard from ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam 2 that his father died while ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir 3 was in Damascus in the year 210. ʿAbd Allāh asked him how old his father had been, and he replied that Ḥakam had been 105 years old when he died, and that he had still had all his wits about him and had forgotten none of his learning. ʿAbd Allāh remarked, ‘His life spanned half of history’. 4 I have also heard from ʿĪsā that once, while he and his father were out riding in the city of Damascus, they passed by the establishment of a cupper, with a great throng of people crowding around. Someone in the crowd noticed us and called out, ‘Make way there, make way, this is the famous physician Ḥakam and his son ʿĪsā.’ The crowd made way for us, and we saw a man whom the cupper had bled by opening his basilic vein. 5 Now the basilic vein overlies an artery, and between making too wide an incision and not being sufficiently careful about determining the location of the vein, the cupper had nicked the artery, and was now unable to staunch the bleeding. We tried our usual methods, applying rags, cobweb and soft animal hair, to no avail. My father asked me if I could suggest any other recourse, but I replied that I knew of none. At that, he called for a pistachio nut. Cracking it in two, he discarded the kernel, took one of the two half-shells, and placed it on the site of the incision. Taking a strip of coarse linen torn from the hem of someone’s robe, he bound the arm so tightly with it, pressing the half-shell upon the incision, that the patient cried out, ‘Help!’ After having tightened the bandage even further, my father had the man carried to the Baradā River, 6 where he ordered him to immerse his arm in the water. Making a smooth place on the riverbank, he told the patient to lie there, and he gave instructions that he should be fed soft-boiled egg yolks. Finally, he left one of his students to keep watch, telling him to be sure not to allow the patient to take the incised arm out of the water, except at prayer times, unless there appeared to be a serious risk of his dying of cold, in which case he might remove it for a short time, but he must immerse it again afterward. Thus matters remained until the end of the day. My father then sent the man home, instructing him not to cover the site of the incision or loosen the bandage for a full five days. The patient complied, but when my father went to see him on the third day, he found that both the forearm and the upper arm were greatly swollen. Accordingly, he loosened the bandage somewhat, saying to the man, ‘Some swelling is easier to bear than death.’ On the fifth day, he removed the bandage, and we found the pistachio shell stuck to the flesh. My father said to the man, ‘You have escaped death thanks to this shell. Do not remove it, but leave it strictly alone until it falls off of itself; otherwise, you are a dead man’. On the seventh day the shell fell off, revealing a thick scab the shape and size of a pistachio nut. My father told the patient not to fiddle with it, scratch the skin around it, or pick any of it off with his fingers. It gradually flaked away until, more than 40 days later, the site of the incision became visible, and the man had completely recovered. Footnotes 1 For bibliographic references to Ḥakam al-Dimashqī, see Sezgin, gas iii , 205, 227. This biography is included in all three versions of the book. It is not in Ibn al-Qifṭī. 2 The subject of the next biography ( Ch. 7.8 ). 3 Poet, general, statesman, confidant of caliphs and, as governor of Khorasan, almost an independent sovereign (182–230/798–844). His father, Ṭāhir ibn al-Ḥusayn, had founded the powerful Ṭāhirid dynasty, which ruled over a territory extending from al-Rayy to the Indian frontier, with its capital at Naysābūr, ei 2 art. ‘ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir’ (E. Marin). 4 ‘History’ here means ‘Islamic history’, i.e. the 210 lunar years that had elapsed since the Hijrah. The word used is taʾrīkh , literally ‘dating’ (often distinguished from tārīkh , ‘history’, which has a different plural: tawārīkh instead of taʾārīkh ). 5 A large superficial vein of the arm. 6 The Baradā flows through Damascus. 7.8. ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam al-Dimashqī 1 [7.8.1] ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam, who was known as Masīḥ, 2 was the author of the Greater Compendium ( al-Kunnāsh al-kabīr ) which bears his name and has made him famous. [7.8.2] Yūsuf ibn Ibrahīm 3 tells us: I have heard from ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam that when Ghaḍīḍ, the umm walad 4 of Hārūn al-Rashīd, suffered an attack of colic, she sent for him and also for two astrologers, al-Abaḥḥ and al-Ṭabarī. 5 She first asked ʿĪsā what treatment he considered appropriate. ‘This is such a severe colic,’ he replied, ‘that your life is in danger; it must be treated with an enema at once.’ She then turned to the two astrologers and asked them to select a suitable time for the procedure. Al-Abaḥḥ said, ‘Your illness is not of such a kind that you can afford to delay until some astrologer deems the time propitious. My view is that you should undergo treatment immediately, lest your condition become worse. That is what ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam advises, and I concur.’ ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam’s account continues: ‘She asked me to confirm what al-Abaḥḥ had said, and I replied that it was true. Then she asked al-Ṭabarī for his opinion. He replied, “Today, the moon is in conjunction with Saturn; tomorrow, it will be in conjunction with Jupiter. In my opinion, you should put off the treatment until then.” 6 Al-Abaḥḥ broke in to say, “I fear that by the time the moon has closed with Jupiter, this colic will have progressed to such an extent that no treatment will be of any avail.” Both Ghaḍīḍ and her daughter, Umm Muḥammad, thought that that was an unlucky thing to say; they ordered al-Abaḥḥ to be shown out of the house, and Ghaḍīḍ announced that she would follow al-Ṭabarī’s advice. Before the moon had caught up with Jupiter, however, Ghaḍīḍ had died. When the moon was in conjunction with Jupiter, al-Abaḥḥ sent a message to Umm Muḥammad, saying, “This is the time selected by al-Ṭabarī for the treatment: where is our patient?” This message enraged Umm Muḥammad even further, and she remained hostile to al-Abaḥḥ to the day of her death.’ [7.8.3] Yūsuf recounts: 7 In the year 225/840, suffering from a bad head cold, I went to stay with ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam at his home in Damascus. He gave me savoury food to eat and snow-cooled water to drink. When I objected that such dainty fare was harmful in the case of a cold, he countered that it all depended on the climate. ‘I know more than you do about the climate of my country,’ he said, ‘and things that are harmful in Iraq are beneficial here in Damascus.’ Accordingly, I ate the food that was placed before me. When I left the region, he accompanied me as far as a place named al-Rāhib. As we were parting company, he said to me, ‘I have prepared a parcel of food for you to take with you. It does not contain the same kinds of food that you ate while you were staying in my house. From now on, do not touch those kinds of food, and do not drink any cold water.’ When I asked him indignantly why he had feasted me as he had, he replied, ‘It is unbecoming for a rational man to require a guest in his house to follow the rules of the art of medicine.’ Yūsuf further says: Once, in Damascus, ʿĪsā and I fell into a discussion about onions. He launched into a diatribe against the things, listing various reasons why they were to be regarded as unwholesome. I should mention here that ʿĪsā and Salmawayh ibn Bunān 8 lived like monks and never had a good word to say about foods that promoted sexual activity, holding that it made bodies die and souls perish. I did not think it appropriate to discuss the onion’s ability to enhance sexual performance; I simply commented that in the course of my present trip from Samarra to Damascus I had personally experienced one beneficial property of onions. ‘What was that?’ he asked, and I told him that I had tasted the water of a certain well along the way and found it to be brackish, but that after having eaten some raw onions, I had tasted the water again and found it noticeably less brackish. ʿĪsā was seldom heard to laugh, but he burst out laughing at that. Then a concerned look came over his face, and he said, ‘I am distressed to see a man of your intelligence go so wrong. You encountered the very least attractive feature of onions, their very worst defect, and mistook it for a virtue. Is it not true that when some disturbance befalls the brain, the senses – smell, taste, hearing and sight – are adversely affected?’ I acknowledged that that was indeed the case. ‘You see,’ he said, ‘one of the properties of onions is that they induce a disturbance in the brain, and that is what happened to you. You perceived the water to be less brackish only because the onions you had eaten had perturbed the functioning of your brain.’ When ʿĪsā accompanied me to al-Rāhib, his final words to me were, ‘My father died at the age of a hundred and five, his face unwrinkled and its brightness undimmed, thanks to some practices of his. I shall now tell you what they were, and recommend that you follow them: never to eat dried salt meat, and to wash the hands and feet with water as cold as you can bear upon emerging from the bath. If you do these things, you will find them beneficial.’ I have followed his advice, except that I have sometimes sucked on a small piece of dried salt meat, perhaps once in the course of a year or longer. [7.8.4] ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam is the author of the following works: A compendium ( Kunnāsh ) The uses of animals ( K. Manāfiʿ al-ḥayawān ) Footnotes 1 For bibliographic references to ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam al-Dimashqī, see Sezgin, gas iii , 227; Ullmann, Medizin , 112; Gigandet, La Risāla al-Hārūniyya ; Langermann, ‘Masīḥ bin Ḥakam’. 2 The Arabic term for ‘Messiah’ (ʿĪsā being an Arabic version of Jesus). Ibn al-Qifṭī does not make any reference to this nickname. lbn Faḍl Allāh al–ʿUmarī, who quotes iau , adds this gloss: ‘he received this name because of the Christian traditions ( al-āthār al-masīḥiyyah ) that became known to the [Jewish sect called] ʿĪsawiyyah thanks to him ( ʿalā yadayhi ) [ or : that the ʿĪsawiyyah made known thanks to him], and the wonders that were transmitted, which are not related to prophecy’, see Ibn Faḍl Allāh, Masālik , ix:180. 3 A commonly used source. See ei 2 art . ‘Ibn al-Dāya’ (F. Rosenthal). 4 A slave concubine who had borne a child to her master. 5 Marginal note in ms A: ‘Note. These were two leading astrologers. Both of them are the authors of works on the subject.’ 6 According to ʿĪsā ibn al-Ḥakam’s astrological section in al-Risālah al-Hārūniyyah , certain medical treatments such as cupping were to be avoided when the moon was approaching Saturn; see Gigandet, La Risālah al-Hārūniyyah , 199 and Langermann, ‘Masīḥ bin Ḥakam’, 292. In this anecdote, it is al-Ṭabarī who follows this rule. 7 Cf. Ibn al-Qifṭī, Taʾrīkh al-ḥukamāʾ , 249. 8 A Nestorian Christian physician who was personal physician to the caliph al-Muʿtaṣim (r. 218–227/833–842). Salmawayh translated a number of Galen’s works from Greek into Arabic and was a friend and associate of Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq. His biography is at Ch. 8.20 . 7.9. Tayādhūq 1 [7.9.1] An eminent physician, and the author of a number of pointed aphorisms and pithy sayings about the art of medicine. God granted him a long life: he saw the advent of the dynasty of the Umayyads, who held his medical skill in high esteem. In addition, he became closely associated with al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī, 2 whom the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān 3 had appointed governor, and served him faithfully with his knowledge of the art of medicine. Al-Ḥajjāj relied on Tayādhūq and had confidence in his treatment, and consequently paid him lavishly and provided abundantly for all his needs. Tayādhūq provided al-Ḥajjāj with much medical advice, including, ‘Marry none but a young woman; eat only meat from a young animal, and make sure it is well cooked; drink medicine only if you are ill; eat none but ripe fruit; chew your food thoroughly; when you eat a meal during the day, there is no harm in having a nap, but when you eat a meal at night, do not go to bed without having gone for a walk, even if it is no more than fifty paces.’ On one occasion, this advice drew the following comment from a bystander: ‘If the matter is as you say, how is it that Hippocrates is dead, Galen is dead, and all the others are dead? Not one of them is left; how can that be?’ Tayādhūq replied, ‘A fair question, young man. Now, pay attention: they managed their lives well in so far as it was in their power to do so, but they were overcome by things over which they had no control.’ By that he meant death and external accidents such as heat, cold, falling, drowning, injury, grief and the like. Tayādhūq also gave al-Ḥajjāj the following admonitions: ‘Do not eat until you are hungry; do not engage in sexual relations if you feel reluctant; never hold in your urine; and always remember that the bath is a good servant but a bad master’. 4 He told him, ‘Four things that are injurious to life and have been the death of many a man are: entering the bath too soon after eating, sexual relations on a full stomach, eating dried salt meat, and drinking cold water while the stomach is empty. A fifth, sexual congress with an old woman, is not far behind.’ [7.9.2] According to the reports of him and al-Ḥajjāj, 5 the governor asked the physician when he came to see him one day whether there was any remedy for the habit of eating clay. 6 ‘Yes, indeed,’ Tayādhūq replied, ‘for a man such as yourself, O emir, it is called will-power!’ Al-Ḥajjāj immediately dropped the lump of clay that he was holding and never ate clay again. One day, al-Ḥajjāj was suffering from a bad headache. He summoned Tayādhūq, who advised him to bathe his feet in hot water and then to rub them with oil. One of al-Ḥajjāj’s eunuchs who was present at the time remarked, ‘By God, I have never seen a physician so clearly lacking in knowledge of the art of medicine. Here is the emir with a headache, and the remedy you prescribe is all about his feet!’ ‘And why not?’ Tayādhūq retorted, ‘consider your own case.’ ‘How do you mean?’ the eunuch asked. ‘Why,’ said Tayādhūq, ‘here your testicles have been removed, and see! the hairs of your beard have all fallen out.’ Al-Ḥajjāj and all the company laughed heartily at this. Another time, al-Ḥajjāj sent for Tayādhūq and informed him that he was troubled with weakness of the stomach and dyspepsia. ‘I advise the emir,’ said the physician, ‘to have pistachio nuts with red outer shells 7 brought to him, crack them open, and eat the kernels; that will strengthen his stomach.’ That evening, al-Ḥajjāj sent word to all his concubines that his physician had prescribed pistachio nuts, whereupon each of them sent him a dish full of shelled pistachio kernels, on which he gorged. This brought on a bout of diarrhoea and vomiting ( hayḍah ) from which he nearly died. He complained to Tayādhūq that the pistachio treatment had made his condition worse, and told him what had occurred. ‘I told you to send for some pistachio nuts in their shells,’ Tayādhūq replied, ‘and to crack them open one by one, for in biting the shells you would have absorbed something of the aromatic and binding substances in them, which fortify the stomach. You did not follow my advice,’ and he proceeded to treat al-Ḥajjāj for his attack of diarrhoea. [7.9.3] A certain king is said to have asked Tayādhūq for advice when he saw that the physician had reached a great age, for he was more skilful and learned than any other practitioner of that age, and the king feared that there would be no one of equal stature to succeed him when he died. Accordingly, he went to Tayādhūq and said to him, ‘Give me some precepts upon which I can rely and which I can use to guide my life and apply as long as I live, for there can be no certainty that you will not die, and if you do, I may be unable to find anyone as skilled as you.’ Tayādhūq replied, ‘Majesty, it is my pleasure to state ten precepts for you, which you should mark well. Avoid these things, and you will never fall ill as long as you live. Eat nothing if you already have food in your stomach. Do not swallow anything that your teeth are unable to chew, as it will cause cramps in your stomach. After eating, drink no water until two hours have elapsed, for dyspepsia is the origin of disease, and food followed by water is the origin of dyspepsia. Go to the bath once every other day; hygiene will eliminate what medicine cannot. Augmenting the blood in your body will preserve your life. Take an emetic and a laxative in every season of the year. Never try to hold in your urine, not even while riding. Always visit the latrine before going to bed. Do not engage too frequently in sexual activity, for whether frequent or infrequent, it draws upon the fire of life. Lastly, sexual congress with an old woman is sudden death.’ When the king heard this, he ordered his secretary to write it all down in letters of red gold and to deposit the manuscript in a chest inlaid with gold. He consulted the precepts every day and applied them scrupulously, with the result that he never had a day’s illness in his entire life, until he was overtaken by ineluctable death, from which there can be no escape. [7.9.4] We read in the work of Ibrāhīm ibn al-Qāsim, the secretary, 8 that al-Ḥajjāj once said to his son Muḥammad, ‘My son, long ago, Tayādhūq, the physician, gave me a number of recommendations for my health. I have followed them scrupulously, and they have invariably done me good. I went to visit him when he lay near death, and he said to me, “Be sure to follow those recommendations of mine, and do not forget them.” So remember always: never drink medicine unless you need it; never eat food while there is already food in your stomach; after every meal, go for a walk forty paces in length; when you are full of food, sleep on your left side; never eat fruit once it has begun to spoil; eat only the meat of young animals; do not have sex with an old woman; clean your teeth with a tooth-stick; and after you have eaten meat, do not eat more meat, for that is enough to kill a lion in the desert.’ Ibrāhīm ibn al-Qāsim’s Reports of al-Ḥajjāj ( K. Akhbār al-Ḥajjāj ) also contains an account of the events attending the execution of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, 9 may God have mercy upon him, at the orders of al-Ḥajjāj. Saʿīd was among the leading tābiʿūn . 10 After his capture, he and al-Ḥajjāj engaged in a lengthy dispute, until finally al-Ḥajjāj ordered him executed in his presence. The quantity of blood was such that al-Ḥajjāj was astonished and appalled. ‘What is the explanation of this?’ he said to his physician, Tayādhūq, The physician replied, ‘It is because of his composure. The prospect of death did not distress him, and he was not cowed at your treatment of him, unlike some others whom you have had executed; they were in an agitated state, and consequently there was less blood.’ [7.9.5] Tayādhūq lived to be very old. He finally died in Wāsiṭ 11 about the year 90/709. His works include: A great compendium ( Kunnāsh kabīr ), which he composed for his son. Substitute medications and methods for pulverising, macerating and dissolving ( K. Abdāl al-adwiyah wa-kayfiyyat daqqihā wa-inqāʿihā wa-idhābatihā ). An explanation of the names of medicinal substances ( Shayʾ min tafsīr asmāʾ al-adwiyah ). Footnotes 1 Possibly a name of Greek origin, perhaps Theodokos. For bibliographic references to Tayādhūq, see Sezgin, gas iii , 207; Ullmann, Medizin , 22–23. He is often quoted by al-Rāzī in his al-Ḥāwī . The biography is included in all three versions of the book. Much of the information appears to derive from the K. Akhbār al-Ḥajjāj mentioned below in Ch. 7.9.2 and 7.9.4 . 2 The most competent, and arguably also the most ruthless, of all Umayyad governors (c. 41–95/661–714). A loyal servant of the caliphs ʿAbd al-Malik and al-Walīd, he suppressed revolts in Iraq and the eastern provinces, and subsequently promoted agriculture and restored prosperity there. See ei 2 art. ‘al-Ḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ād̲j̲ b. Yūsuf’ (A. Dietrich). 3 The fifth Umayyad caliph, r. 65–86/685–705. See ei 2 art. ‘ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān’ (H.A.R. Gibb). 4 Literally, ‘Take from the bath before it takes from you ( khudh min al-ḥammām qabla an yaʾkhudha minka ).’ 5 Cf. Reports below in Ch. 7.9.4 . 6 This is the edible ‘Khurāsānī clay’, a diatomaceous earth found around Nishapur and exported widely. Al-Washshā, Muwashshā , 132 mentions it as fashionable food for refined people ( ẓurafāʾ ). Other references e.g.: al-Azdī, Ḥikāyat Abī l-Qāsim , 230; al-Thaʿālibī, Thimār al-qulūb , 539–540 (a raṭl of it could cost a dinar). There are prophetic Hadiths recommending eating it, but Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ( al-Ṭibb al-nabawī , 337) remarks, ‘Every Hadith about (edible) ṭīn is spurious … It is harmful’. 7 The outer shells of pistachios turn yellow or red when the nuts are fully ripe. 8 Al-Ḥajjāj’s biographer. No references are known to this Akhbār al-Ḥajjāj , which is the title of a lost work by Ibn al-Kalbī. 9 A leading 1st/7th cent. legal scholar from Kufa. He took part in the great revolt against al-Ḥajjāj that was led by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ashʿath; see ei 2 art. ‘Ibn al-As̲h̲ʿat̲h̲’ (L. Veccia Vaglieri) and was crushed at the battle of Dayr al-Jamājim in 82/702. Saʿīd escaped, but was subsequently apprehended, and al-Ḥajjāj had him executed in 95/714. 10 The Followers, or Successors, of the Prophet’s Companions. 11 A city built on the west bank of the Tigris by al-Ḥajjāj about 83/702 as his administrative centre for Iraq. He also died there, shortly after having had Saʿīd ibn Jubayr put to death. 7.10. Zaynab, the Physician of the Banū Awd 1 A woman who was known as ‘the physician of the Banū Awd’. 2 She was a skilled medical practitioner, and was particularly renowned among the Arabs for her expertise in treating sore eyes and wounds. Abu l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī, in his work, The Great Book of Songs ( K. al-Aghānī l-kabīr ), 3 gives an account which he had heard from Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-Marzubān, 4 who related the story on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Isḥāq, 5 who had had it from his father, who had heard it from Ibn Kunāsah, 6 who had had it from his father on the authority of his grandfather. In the words of the last-named of these: I consulted a woman of the Banū Awd and asked her to treat an inflammation of the eyes 7 from which I was suffering. She applied some salve, and then said, ‘Lie down, so that the salve can spread over your eyes.’ I complied, and as I did so I quoted a line of poetry: 8 Will the vagaries of Fate take me away before I have visited the physician of the Banū Awd, Zaynab, in spite of the distance? At this, the woman burst out laughing, and then said, ‘Do you know who that verse refers to?’ ‘No,’ I said. ‘None other than myself, by God,’ she said, ‘I am the Zaynab whom the poet mentions; I am the woman doctor of the Banū Awd. Do you know who wrote the verse?’ ‘No,’ I said again. ‘It was your uncle!’ she said, ‘Abū Simāk al-Asadī’. 9 Footnotes 1 There appears to be no bibliographic information on Zaynab. The biography is included in all three versions of the book. 2 Awd ibn Ṣaʿb, a small tribe of the Madhḥij group. See e.g. al-Kalbī/Caskel, Ǧamharat an-nasab , i: 270, ii: 206. 3 This corresponds verbatim to al-Iṣfahānī, al-Aghānī , xiii:344. 4 An Iraqi religious scholar and translator of the 4th/9th cent. See ei 2 art. ‘Muḥammad b. K̲h̲alaf’ (G. Troupeau). 5 Son of Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī (150–235/767–850), a celebrated musician; see ei 2 art. ‘Isḥāḳ b. Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī’ (J.W. Fück). 6 An Iraqi poet and scholar (123–207 or 208/741–823 or 824). See ei 2 art. ‘Ibn Kunāsa’ (Ch. Pellat). 7 Ophthalmia ( ramad ). 8 Metre: ṭawīl . Ibn Faḍl Allāh, Masālik , ix: 185, al-Iṣfahānī, Aghānī , xiii:344. 9 Unidentified. There was an Abū Simāk al-Asadī at Ṣiffīn (Muzāḥim, Waqʿat Ṣiffīn ); there is some confusion with Abū l-Sammāl al-Asadī (e.g. Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, ʿIqd , ii:267). Copyright 2020 by the Editors. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv , Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect the publication against unauthorized use. This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the cc-by-nc 4.0 License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Monographs, or book chapters, which are outputs of Wellcome Trust funding have been made freely available as part of the Wellcome Trust's open access policy Bookshelf ID: NBK621340 DOI: 10.1163/9789004410312_046 Contents < Prev Next > Share Views PubReader Print View Cite this Page Inksetter B, Sánchez I. Arab and Other Physicians of the Earliest Islamic Period. In: Sánchez I, Joosse NP, Watson Aet al., authors; Savage-Smith E, Swain S, van Gelder GJ, editors. A Literary History of Medicine: The ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ of Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿah [Internet]. Leiden (NL): Brill; 2019. CHAPTER 7. doi: 10.1163/9789004410312_046 PDF version of this title (5.8M) In this Page al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah al-Thaqafī Ibn Abī Rimthah al-Tamīmī ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar al-Kinānī Ibn Uthāl Abū Ḥakam Ḥakam al-Dimashqī ʿĪsā ibn Ḥakam al-Dimashqī Tayādhūq Zaynab, the Physician of the Banū Awd Other titles in this collection Wellcome Trust–Funded Monographs and Book Chapters Recent Activity Clear Turn Off Turn On Arab and Other Physicians of the Earliest Islamic Period - A Literary History of... Arab and Other Physicians of the Earliest Islamic Period - A Literary History of Medicine Your browsing activity is empty. Activity recording is turned off. Turn recording back on See more... Follow NCBI Twitter Facebook LinkedIn GitHub NCBI Insights Blog Connect with NLM Twitter Facebook Youtube National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894 Web Policies FOIA HHS Vulnerability Disclosure Help Accessibility Careers NLM NIH HHS USA.gov