ENCYCLOPEDIA MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC PART 1

‘ABD AL-LATIF IBN YUSUF

AL-BAGHDADI, MUWAFFAQ AL-DIN

ABU MUHAMMAD (557/1162–623/1231)

  ‘Abd al-Latif was a broadly educated scholar from

Baghdad whose studies in grammar, law, tradition,

medicine, alchemy, and philosophy are documented

in his autobiography, which also vividly depicts contemporary methods of study. Having first followed Ibn Sina as his philosophical mentor, ‘Abd al-Latif later devoted himself exclusively to the works of the

ancients, particularly Aristotle, only admitting alFarabi as interpreter. After extensive travels with periods of residence in Mosul (585/1189), Damascus(586/1190), the camp of Saladin outside Acre (587/

1191) (where he met Baha’ al-Din Ibn Shaddad and‘Imad al-Din al-Isfahani and acquired the patronage of al-Qadi al-Fadil), he settled in Cairo. It was here that he met Maimonides and, most importantly,

Abu ’l-Qasim al-Shari‘I, who introduced him to the works of al-Farabi, Alexander of Aphrodisias, and Themistius, which turned him away from Ibn Sina and alchemy. After shorter stays in Jerusalem (588/

1192) (where he met Saladin) and Damascus, ‘Abd alLatif returned to Cairo only to set off a short time later for the East again. He spent some years at the court of ‘Ala’-al-Din Da’ud of Erzindjan, until the city was

conquered by the Seljuqid Kayqubadh. Having returned in 621/1229 to Baghdad, ‘Abd al-Latif died there two years later.

  Abd al-Latif is an encyclopedic author whose work overs almost the whole domain of the knowledge of‘ABBASIDS his time. Most widely known is his Kitab al-ifada wa-lI‘tibar, which is a short description of Egypt that was translated into Latin, German, and French. His intellectual autobiography is preserved by Ibn Abi Usaybi‘a; it was originally embedded in an extensive historiographical narrative (al-Sira) that has partly survived in al-Dhahabi’s Ta’rikh al-Islam. ‘Abd alLatif composed a compendium of Aristotelian metaphysics,Kitab ma ba’d al-tabi’a, which was based on the exegesis of Alexander of Aphrodisias and Themistius. The latter’s otherwise lost paraphrasal of Book Lambda—known to English speakers, however, through a Hebrew translation—has survived in Arabic only through ‘Abd al-Latif.

Primary Sources

Cahen, Claude, ed. and comm. ‘‘ ‘Abdallatif al-Baghdadi,

Portraitiste et Historien de Son Temps’’ (Al-Sira, partial).Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales23 (1970): 101–28.

Neuwirth, Angelika, ed. and trans.‘Abd al-Latif al-Bagdadi’s Bearbeitung von Buch Lambda der Aristotelischen

Metaphysik (Kitab ma ba’d al-Tabi’a, Maqalat Lam).

Wiesbaden, 1976.

———, ed and comm. ‘‘Neue Materialien zur Arabischen

Tradition der Beiden Ersten Metaphysik-Buecher’’

(Kitab ma ba‘d al-tabi‘a, maqalat alif). Welt des Islams

XVIII (1978): 84–100.

Thies, H.J., ed. and trans.Der Diabetestraktat. Bonn, 1971.

Zand, K.H., and J.A. and I.E. Videan, eds. and trans.The

Eastern Key (Kitab al-Ifada wa-l-i’Tibar). London,

1965.

Further Reading

Richter-Bernburg, Lutz.Der Syrische Blitz. Saladins Sekretaer Zwischen Selbstdarstellung und Geschichtsschreibung. Beirut/Stuttgart, 1998.

Toorawa, Shawkat M. ‘‘Language and Male Homosocial

Desire in the Autobiography of ‘Abd al/Latif al-Baghdadi.’’Edebiyat7 (1996): 251–65

ABU ’L-’ALA’ AHMAD IBN ABD

ALLAH, AL-MA’ARRI

  Abuˆ l-’Ala’ Ahmad ibn Abd Alla ˆh al-Ma’arri, born in 973 CE in Ma’arrat al-Nu’maˆn in northern Syria, traveled for his education to Aleppo and Baghdad and returned to Ma’arra, where he died in 1058 CE.

Ma’arri was the blind author (by dictation) of prose and poetry. He composed poems during his younger years, and these are compiled in The Spark of the Tinderbox (Saqt al-zand), a collection of poems that praised the Hamdanid King Sa’d al-Dawla, the notables of Aleppo, and a few librarians in Baghdad.

  Later, in The Self-Imposed Compulsion (Luzuˆmmaˆ la ˆ yalzam), he uses a nonobligatory double rhyme, but these poems are chiefly characterized by their ironic and even cynical descriptions. They are unconventional as compared with the poetic form that is usually found in the odes of this time, because they contain many a thought on religion, death, destiny, the sinful world, the afterlife, resurrection (the question of whether it really shall occur), and the fate of slaughtered animals and their compensation in the afterlife.

  Ma’arri’s prose is not only found in his short, flowery-styled letters but also in at least two very extensive Epistles (Risaˆlas). The first letter, which was written in 1021 CE, was always thought to have been lost. However, its manuscript was discovered in 1975 CE by the Egyptian scholar ‘A’isha ‘Abd alRahmaˆn; she became the editor of this work, which is entitled Epistle of the Neighing and the Braying (Risaˆlat al-sahil wa l-Sha ˆhij). In this text, various animals are described, and they symbolize certain personages from Ma’arri’s time. A mule suffering

from arduous labor that consists of drawing up water from a deep well symbolizes the author himself. The mule wants to send a petition of complaint to someone, who, in reality, would have been the Fatimid

Governor of  Aleppo, Abu Shujaˆ’Faˆtik ‘Azıˆz alDawla. Several animals are asked to convey this petition—a horse, a camel, and others—but all of

them refuse to do so, for different reasons. Finally, a fox comes along and becomes involved in the sudden imminent danger of a Byzantine attack, which had occurred also in reality and which threatened the territory around Aleppo. This attack was organized by the conjoint rulers of the Byzantine Empire: Basil Bulgaroctonus II and his brother Constantine VIII. The mule and other animals, although frightened and panicking, nevertheless discuss the conditions prevailing in the empire.

  In this manner the Risaˆla renders information about the ideas prevailing in Ma’arri’s time in Syria. The Epistle of the Neighing and the Brayingis considered by its editor ‘A’isha ‘Abd al-Rahman to be an preliminary exercise for Ma’arri’s subsequent Letter.

  The second prose work composed by Ma’arri in the year 1033 CE is his Epistle of  Forgiveness (Risalat al-Ghufraˆn).This work consists not only of a description of the gardens of Paradise and the tortures of Hell but also of a discussion about and a criticism of many poetical fragments by Muslims and nonMuslims, ranging from pre-Islamic poets to heretics

from Persia and polytheists from India. Some of these poets and also grammarians and scholars enjoy  comfortable afterlife in Paradise; although not expected by them, their sins have been forgiven by Allah the Merciful One.

  In 2002, the first half of  this work was translated into German by Gregor Schoeler and entitled Paradies und Holle. In this part, an old correspondent of  Ma‘arri called  Ibn al-Qaˆrih ‘Alıˆ ibn Mansur

(‘‘Dawkhala’’) is ironically described as having died and then entered (but not without great difficulties) through the Gates of Paradise. After this, he visits many places of interest, like the regions of Hell, where

Satan (Iblıˆs) dwells and where a few poets are shown being tortured by avenging angels.

  The second half of the piece deals with questions pertaining to aspects of religion. A discussion of  ideas is forwarded by the author with, it would seem, cynical relish; these ideas are ascribed to Arabs who,

by the general public, were considered heretics who should be executed.

  Of the other books by Ma’arri, another is worth mentioning here. Its incomplete manuscript version was found in 1918 CE, and it was considered by some scholars to be an imitation of the Qur’an, because of

its rhymed prose and typical Qur’anic oaths. It was entitled Chapters and Endings, Glorifying Allah and Offering Words of Warning (al-Fusuˆl wa l-Ghayatfıˆ Tamjıd Allah wa l-Mawa’iz).

  As for the author’s social relations with personages of the Ismaılı ˆpersuasion, a short description of him is found in the traveler Nasiri Khosraw’s book, Safar Naˆmah, in which the author himself claims to have kept some correspondence with a high Fatimid dignitary called Abu ˆ Nasr Musa  ibn Abı Imran.

  For more information on al-Mu’ayyad fıal-Dın alShırazı, see Margoliouth, Abu l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri’s correspondence on vegetarianism.

Primary Sources

‘Abd al-Rahman, ‘A’isha. Risaˆlat al-sa ˆhil wa l-Shaˆhij, critical edition. Cairo, 1975.

———.Risaˆlat al-Ghufra ˆn. Cairo, 1954.

———.Risaˆlat al-Ghufra ˆn wa-ma’a-haˆ Risaˆlat Ibn al-Qa ˆrih

Miftaˆh Fahmi-haˆ, 3rd critical edition. Cairo, 1963.

Blache`re, R. ‘‘Ibn al-Qarih et la Gene`se de l‘Epitre du

Pardon d’ Al-Ma’arri.’’ InRevue des E´

tudes Islamiques,

1–15, 1941–1946.

Nicholson, R.A., ed. and trans. ‘‘Risaˆlat al-Ghufra ˆn.’’Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society(1900): 637–720; (1902):

75–101, 337–62, 813–947.

Saleh, Moustapha. ‘‘Abu ‘l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri, Bibliographie

Critique.’’Bulletin des E´

tudes Orientales XII (1969):

141–204; XXIII (1970): 199–309.

Historical Studies

‘Abd al-Rahman, ‘A’ishah. (‘‘Bint al-Sha ˆti’’’) ‘‘Abu l-’Ala’

al-Ma’arri.’’ In‘Abbasid Belles-Lettres, ed. Julia Ashtiany, 328–38. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1990.

Filshtinsky, I.M.Arabic Literature. Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences, Institute of the Peoples of Asia, Nauka

Publishing, 1966, 146–60.

Smoor, Pieter. ‘‘Kings and Bedouins in the Palace of

Aleppo as reflected in Ma’arri’s Works.’’Journal of

Semitic Studies, Monograph 8. Manchester, England:

University of Manchester, 1985.

Further Reading

Monteil, Vincent-Mansour, trans.Abu l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri

L‘E´pitre du Pardon Traduction, Introduction et Notes.

Paris: Connaissance d’Orient Collection UNESCO,Gallimard, 1984.

Schoeler, Gregor, trans.Abu l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri Paradies und

Ho¨lle Die Jenseitsreise aus dem «Send chreiben u ¨ber die

Vergebung.»Munich: C.H. Beck, 2002. [This offers the

translation of the first half.]

Smoor, Pieter. ‘‘The Delirious Sword of Ma’arri: An Annotated Translation of his Luzuˆmiyya Nuˆniyya in the Rhyme-Form ‘Nuˆn Maksuˆra Mushaddada‘.’’ In Festschrift Ewald Wagner zum 65. Geburtstag, eds. Wolfhart

Heinrichs and Gregor Schoeler, Band 2Studien zur Arabischen Dichtung,381–424. Beirut: Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, 1994.

Studies concerning The Spark of the Tinderbox Cachia

P.J.The Dramatic Monologues of al-Ma’arri.’’

Journal of Arabic StudiesI (1970): 129–36.

Smoor, Pieter. ‘‘Armour description as an independent

theme in the work of al-Ma’arri.’’ InActes du 8me Congre`s de l‘Union Europe´enne des Arabisants et Islamisants, 289–303. Aix-en-Provence, 1978.

———. ‘‘The theme of travel in Ma’arri’s early poems.’’ In

The Challenge of the Middle East, Middle Eastern Studies

at the University of Amsterdam, eds. A. El-Sheikh, C.A.

van de Koppel, and R. Peters, 133–39, 209–11. University of Amsterdam, 1982.

Studies concerning The Self-Imposed Compulsion

Nicholson, R.A. ‘‘The Meditations of Ma’arri.’’ InStudies

in Islamic Poetry, ed. R.A. Nicholson, 43–289. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1969.

Smoor, Pieter. ‘‘The Weeping Wax Candle and Ma’arri’s

Wisdom-Tooth: Night Thoughts and Riddles from

the Gami’ al-Awzan.’’ InZeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenla¨ndischen Gesellschaft, Band 138-Heft 2, 283–312.

Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1988.

Studies concerning Chapters and Endings,

GlorifyingAllah and Offering Words of Warning

Fischer, August. ‘‘Der Koran des Abu ‘l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri.’’

Verhandlungen der Sa¨chsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philhist. Klasse XCIV (1942), no. 2.

Hartmann, Richard.Zu dem Kitab al-Fusul wa l-Ghaˆyaˆt des

Abu ‘l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri, Abhandlungen Pr. Ak. W., Phil.-hist. Berlin: Klasse, 1944.

Studies concerning The Neighing and the Braying

Smoor, Pieter. ‘‘Enigmatic Allusion and Double Meaning

in Ma’arri’s Newly-Discovered Letter of a Horse and a

Mule.’’Journal of Arabic LiteratureXII (1981) and XIII

(1982).

Studies on the short letters of Ma’arri

Margoliouth, D.S. ‘‘Abu l-’Ala’ al-Ma’arri’s Correspondence on Vegetarianism.’’Journal of the Royal AsiaticSo ciety(1902): 289–312

ABU ’L-FADL AL-BAYHAQI

Al-Bayhaqi, Abu ’l-Fadl (995–1077) was a secretary and historian and the author of the monumental Persian history of the Ghaznavid dynasty generally referred to as the Tarikh-i Bayhaqi. Of an original thirty-odd volumes, only six have survived, and this surviving portion, which deals with the reign of Mas‘ud I (r. 1030–1041), is known accordingly as

the Tarikh-i Mas‘udi. Bayhaqi, who was born in the district of Bayhaq (modern Sabzavar) in Khurasan, studied in Nishapur. In about 1021, he found employment in the Ghaznavid chancellery, where he first served Mahmud of Ghazna (r. 999–1030) and then several of Mahmud’s successors, including Mas‘ud I. In his many years of service, Bayhaqi assisted the head of the chancellery, Abu Nasr Mishkan (d. 1039), and then (although less happily) Abu Nasr’s successor in office, Abu Sahl Zawzani; under ‘Abd al-Rashid (r. 1049–1052), Bayhaqi himself  briefly

directed the chancellery, but he fell from favor and was imprisoned until the accession of Sultan Farrukhzad (r. 1052–1059), whom Bayhaqi also served, although possibly not at the Ghaznavid court (see Yusofi and

Meisami).

  Bayhaqi History is a highly individual work in which the author articulates and demonstrates a distinctive approach to historiography, providing a wealth of detailed and carefully documented information about the Ghaznavid court and administration, integrating religious and philosophical perspectives in his descriptions and commentary, and displaying both erudition and subtlety in his masterful use of the Persian language. His long term of administrative service permitted Bayhaqi to observe directly and on occasion even to participate in the events he

records. When he did not have personal experience to draw from, Bayhaqi handled his sources with much discernment, clearly identifying them and assessing them with regard to their reliability. Furthermore,

during the course of his secretarial work, Bayhaqi assembled not only his own detailed notes but also a considerable number of documents, some of which he reproduced in full in his narrative. His History thus

furnishes thorough accounts of military campaigns, official correspondence, negotiations, and agreements, and it sheds much light on local conditions and customs, the culture of the elites, the lives of the men and women of the Ghaznavid court, and many other topics. The strikingly vivid quality of  Bayhaqi’s writing derives in part from his proximity to the events and persons he describes, and it is enhanced by his extensive use of direct speech. Although Bayhaqi’s high standards of  accuracy and his wideranging subject matter have rendered his work a particularly valuable source for the study of Ghaznavid history (see especially Bosworth), it is also clear that his personal outlook and literary style

are inseparable from his recounting of events (see Waldman and Meisami). Bayhaqi gives distinctive meaning to the events he describes, both in a moral sense and in terms of the recurrent patterns he discerns

in the unfolding of history. To communicate these meanings, he employs a variety of rhetorical techniques, including suggestion by analogy, copious quotations from Arabic and Persian poetry, digressions, and

flashbacks to episodes drawn from earlier Islamic history (references to Sasanian and other pre-Islami iranian traditions are notably sparse). (For an example of Bayhaqi’s methods, see Meisami’s analysis of his account of the trial and execution under Mas‘ud of Mahmud’s former vizier Hasanak, pp. 88–94.) Bayhaqi’s History is, then, amply documented, replete with specific information, and exemplary.

  Many titles for Bayhaqi’s History or portions of  it are preserved in the sources, and the secretary probably composed other works as well (see Yusofi). Sa‘id Nafisi has collected two volumes’ worth of passages from lost sections of  Bayhaqi’s History that were cited in later works, together with quotations from other lost works of Bayhaqi.

Primary Sources

Bayhaqi, Abu l-Fadl.Tarikh-i Bayhaqi, 3 vols., ed. Kh.

Khatib Rahbar. Tehran: Sa‘di, 1989.

Nafisi, Sa‘id.Dar piramun-i Tarikh-i Bayhaqi, 2 vols. Tehran: Kitabfurushi-yi Furughi, 1973

Secondary Sources

Bosworth, C.E.The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994–1040. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1963.

Meisami, Julie S.Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999.

Waldman, Marilyn R.Toward a Theory of Historical Narrative. A Case Study in Perso-Islamicate Historiography. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1980.

Yusofi, G.-H. ‘‘Bayhaqi, Abu’l-Fazl,’’Encyclopaedia IranicaIII: 889–94

Further Reading

The literature on Bayhaqi is extensive. HisHistoryhas been

printed in many editions and supplemented by glossaries

and lexicographical studies of the Persian text; the work

has also been translated (see Yusofi 1989). The above

bibliography is necessarily limited to the titles referred to

in the article.

ABU ’L-FADL ‘ALLAMI (1551–1602)

  Historian, courtier, ideologue, and intellectual alter

ego of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, Abu ’l-Fadl was born in 1551 in Agra. He was the son of Shaykh Mubarak, a scholar from Nagawr in Rajasthan. A precocious talent who had mastered Arabic, the religious sciences, and philosophy, and who was inclined towards Sufism, Abu ’l-Fadl followed his brother Fayzi, Akbar’s poet laureate, into service, appearing at court in 1571. A forceful disputant and independent thinker, Abu ’l-Fadl was constantly at odds with the Sunni ulema, and he held their bigotry to be responsible for the persecution and exile of his father,a Shi‘is notable and a supporter of the Mahdawiyya. He was thus quite happy to support Akbar in his formation of a new religion, and he provided the intellectual justification for Akbar as the Perfect Man, the philosopher prophet king in the Akbarnama.

  Abu ’l-Fadl formulated the ideology of Akbar’s reign, placing the monarch above the petty political and religious squabbles of the court. Consistent with the Iranian tradition, he considered the king to be an emanation of God’s pure light, possessing the divine power of sovereignty in his person and the wisdom to deploy it as the Perfect Man of Sufism and the perfect sage of the Illuminationist philosophical tradition. The king as the benevolent face of God on earth would treat all of his subjects both Muslims and non-Muslims equally, thereby promulgating an established Sufi ethic of universal peace (sulh-i kull).

This theory proposed that all religions are equal representations of a single divine truth and that all express a pure monotheism that lies at the heart of  each one of them.

  His other major literary achievement was the A’in -i

Akbari, which was a major gazetteer, a comprehensive

history, and a tax register of India.

  As Akbar’s main spokesman, Abu ’l-Fadl was responsible for the development of the Mughal art of  epistolography (insha’); his letters became templates and exemplars for later secretaries. Abu ’l-Fadl headed the chancellery and organized the cultural program of translating major Sanskrit works into Persian. Because of his outspoken advocacy of Akbar’s cause and his closeness to the king, Abu ’l-Fadl aroused the

jealousy of other courtiers and the suspicion of the heir, Salim, who conspired along with others to have him murdered in August 1602. With Abu ’l-Fadl’s death, Akbar lost a close friend and supporter.

Further Reading

Haider, Mansura, trans.Mukatabat-i ‘Allam, (Insha’-i

Abu’l-Fazl), 2 vols. New Delhi: Munshira Manoharlal,

1998–2000.

Jinarajadasa, C.Abul-Fazl and Akbar. Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1934.

Nizami, K.A.The Socio-Religious Outlook of Abu’l-Fazl.

Aligarh: University Press, 1972.

Rizvi, S.A.A.Religious and Intellectual History of the

Muslims in Akbar’s Reign. New Delhi: Munshiram

Manoharlal, 1975

ABU SHAMA, ‘ABD AL-RAHMAN IBN

ISMA‘IL ABU MUHAMMAD SHIHAB

AL-DIN

  Abu Shama was a religious scholar (1203–1268) who spent his entire life in Damascus; he was most enowned for his chronicle Kitab al-Rawdatayn fi Akhbar al-Dawlatayn al-Nuriyya wa-l-Salahiyya (The

Book of the Two Gardens on the Reports of the Two Reigns [of Nur al-Din and Saladin]).This chronicle treats the main events, including the Crusades, that occurred during the rules of the Zankid ruler Nur alDin (d. 1174) and the Ayyubid ruler Saladin (Salah al-Din, d. 1193) during the twelfth century. Although written more than fifty years after the death of Saladin, the chronicle has enjoyed wide popularity, because it integrates a number of previous sources into a coherent narrative. Abu Shama’s principal aim in composing his chronicle was to present the two rulers

as examples of ideal Muslim rulers to be emulated by later rulers.

  Abu Shama came from a modest family that did not belong to the civilian elite of Damascus, and he himself was closely linked to its rather marginal immigrant Maghribian community. Throughout his career he

held a number of minor teaching posts in madrasas (colleges for higher studies), and it was only toward the end of his life that he was able to briefly attain a more prestigious post. This marginal position in the

town’s social texture was paralleled by his controversial stances, which tended to criticize his contemporaries in sharp terms. Here he focused on the issue of innovations (i.e., practices that he considered contrary to the teachings of Islam). He finally died by the hands of attackers who beat him to death.

  Besides history, Abu Shama’s oeuvre was focused on religious sciences such as the variant readings of the Qur’an, law/jurisprudence, hadith, and poems praising the Prophet. It was in the first of these fields that he gained a certain prominence among his contemporaries, especially by commenting on a didactic poem written for students.

  From a modern perspective, it is his continuation (Dhayl) of the main chronicle that represents considerable interest, because he included in his poems (such as the poems about one of his wives and about his moods of distress) as well as in his autobiographical sections an unusual array of events that were linked to his inner life.

Primary Sources

Abu Shama.Kitab al-rawdatayn fi akhbar al-dawlatayn alNuriyya wa-al-Salahiyya, 5 vols, ed. Ibrahim al-Zibaq.

Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risala, 1997.

Further Reading

Hillenbrand, Carole.The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives.

New York: Routledge, 1999

ALHAMBRA/AL-QASR AL-HAMRA’

Alhambra/al-Qasr al-Hamra’ derives its name from the Arabichamra’(red), which is probably a reference to the color of the dirt that makes up the high hill (the Sabika) beside the Darro river from which the Alhambra commands panoramic views of Granada and the surrounding countryside. The complex dates largely to the middle to late fourteenth century and to the reigns of  Nasrid sovereigns Yusuf  III and Muhammad V; only the Tower of the Infantas and Christian alterations and additions are known to have been added later. Somewhat removed from the city, its placement follows traditions that began with the ‘Abbasids and that are also reflected in the ruling and dwelling spaces built by the Ayyubids and Mamluks in Syria and Egypt as well as Madinat al-Zahra’, the earlier Andalusian palace built by the Umayyads outside of  Cordoba during the tenth century. The high walls and towers present a forbidding fac¸ade to the visitor, who today approaches the palace through a gate (known as the Puerta del Vino) some distance

down the hill; he or she is then confronted with the Renaissance style facade of the Palace of Charles V, which was placed by Spanish architect Antonio Machuca directly against the eastern side of the Palace of the Lions and over the walkway that led through the royal cemetery.

  The earliest known architectural activity on the site dates to the eleventh century CE, when Granada was ruled by the Berber Taifa dynasty of the Banu Ziri. This is perhaps connected to the patronage of the Jewish vizier Samuel haLevi ben Nagrila; remains from the Arabic al-Qasba (fortress) were found in the southern tip of the complex, which is known as the Alcazaba. These structures were largely functional, and their relationship to the putative vizier’s palace has never been determined with certainty. It is also believed that the fountain from which the Palace of the Lions derives its modern name is owed to the Jewish vizier’s patronage. It is with the Nasrids, however (the dynasty began in 1238 under Muhammad I Ibn Ahmar, with Granada as its capital), that spaces clearly planned for royal use were designed and built. The earliest of these structures, the Palace of the Generalife, was probably begun under Isma‘il in 1314 and destined for relaxation and pleasure in a tradition that is often deemed a quintessentially ‘‘Islamic’’ one, although it was also adopted by medieval Christian sovereigns in Castile, Aragon, and Sicily. The palace’s salons and miradors (related to the Arabic manzara, or belvedere a place from which to enjoy a view) open onto a long, rectangular–pooland-garden complex that is now considerably restored. Interiors are adorned with panels of vegetal and geometric ornamentation; their similarities to

Nasrid textiles have often been noticed, but the true object of contemplation is the constructed landscape and gardens.

  The Palaces of the Myrtles and the Lions (built between 1333 and 1391) are the best preserved  and the most altered, whether during the adaptations of the palace to Christian use carried out under

Ferdinand and Isabel (as well as their son, Charles V) or during modern restoration; these two spaces have also fostered the most contention among scholars. Earlier schools of  interpretation viewed the complex composed by these two palaces as imbued with a single plan and conception; recent studies have given greater attention to the differences between the two palaces and to the fact that each possessed its own

bath complex, orientation, and possibly even entrance, there by stressing the particular architectural, ornamental, and even poetic coherence of each. The Palace of the Myrtles (in Spanish , arrayanes), which

is also referred to as the Palace of Comares, is the earliest of the two; it was possibly begun by Isma‘il and substantially developed under Yuˆsuf, but it also owes much to the patronage of Muhammad V. It is preceded by a still poorly understood area referred to as the Mexuar (from the Arabic mashwar), which probably served administrative purposes (petitions and other matters of civic import), although disagreements exist regarding the specific function to be attributed to each area. Corridors then lead past a small oratory and into the throne room proper, which

is often referred to as the Sala de Comares. It looks out onto a central patio and pool complex, and it is separated from the latter by a long, narrow space known as the Sala de la Barca (probably from the

Arabic baraka, or blessing); it is mirrored on the opposite side of the pool by a similar complex of rooms. The stunning effects produced by reflections of the architecture in the still rectangular pool have

been commented on by numerous poets and modern scholars; they contribute to a sense of stasis that is echoed in the throne room (and, according to specialists, in the panegyric and battle centered subject matter of the poetic compositions that adorn the walls), for which a cosmological reading based in what most read as a representation or evocation of the seven heavens in the ceiling. The poetic inscriptions—verses throughout the palace were taken from longer compositions by three principal poets: Ibn al-Jayyan, Ibn Zamrak, and Ibn al-Khatib, although those authored by the latter would have been effaced after his fall from grace serve to support this interpretation. Again, the

throne room participates in a particularly Andalusi tradition of royal spaces; however, Christian sovereigns such as Alfonso X and Muhammad V‘s contemporary Pedro I (‘‘el Cruel’’) did not hesitate to adapt

them to their own purposes, perhaps even contributing to the development of the Islamic prototype.

  During the fourteenth century, it is possible that the two doorways that punctuate the impressive facade of the Palace of the Myrtles were originally located on the southern extreme of the Patio of the Myrtles, which constitutes the palaces’ most formal and elaborate entrance, and which led directly into the throne room. Entrance would have been effected through a small space topped by a dome and followed by the Salon of the Suras; this mirrors the Sala de la Barca, which precedes the throne room. This debate has awakened considerable controversy, and much work remains to be done before the hypothesis can be fully substantiated; however, such an arrangement would be in keeping with the tradition of Hispano-Islamic palaces, and it would help to explain Charles V’s decision to place his palace where he did.

  From the Palace of the Myrtles, one passes into the Palace of the Lions. Here, with the exception of the verses in the Mirador of  Lindaraja (probably the privileged position occupied by the sovereign when

this palace was in use), inscriptions concentrate more on the themes of beauty specifically those of architecture and gardens than did those of the Salon of Comares. This fact gives rise to an interpretation that is now believed by many scholars to overemphasize the pleasurable (and even paradisiacal) aspects of the palace and to give short shrift to what was possibly an official or judiciary function. The patio, which is oriented in the opposite direction of that of the Myrtles and punctuated in the center by the famous Fountain of the Lions, is flanked on all four sides by

rooms that are covered with spectacular muqarnas vaults and embellished with small fountains that are channeled from the central one. The east and west rooms are preceded by porch like structures that evoke pavilions, and columns are grouped so as to suggest movement and invit perambulation. Interpretations of  the Court of the Lions vary, as noted earlier, from that of a pleasure palace with no other purpose to a new Mexuar to a Sufi madrasa and tomb complex.

  Although scholars of the nineteenth century viewed the Nasrid palace through a Romantic lens that emphasized its uniqueness and quintessentially Islamic qualities, the Alhambra in fact gives ample

evidence of interactions with contemporary cultures, both  Christian and Muslim. Relationships to Marinid Morocco have been suggested on the basis of  both shared ornamental tastes and the particular plan of

the Palace of the Lions, which the structure in turn shares with the original state of  the cloister of a convent of Poor Claires that was established in the Castilian villa of Tordesillas by Pedro I ‘‘el Cruel’’ of Castile in 1373 (the building was previously a palace built under his and his father’s patronage). Numerous and as yet incompletely studied interchanges are documented in the corpus of  fourteenth and fifteenth century architecture and ornament built or adapted by Christian or Jewish patrons according to Islamic models known asmude´jar. The textiles that ornamented the Alhambra’s salons and walls evidence intriguing similarities to those produced throughout the Mediterranean, including Italy. The painted leather ceilings, moreover, that adorn the so called Sala de Justicia at the eastern end of the Patio of the Lions are clearly related to European models, although their program has yet to be fully deciphered. Finally, it is known that Isabel I spent a considerable amount of time in the palace before her death and was in fact buried (in the habit of the Poor Claires) for a time in one of the miradors of one of the complex’s older palaces that she had donated to the Franciscan order so that a convent might be founded on the palace grounds, which now

belonged to her.

Further Reading

Al-Andalus: The Islamic Art of Spain, ed. Jerrilynn D.

Dodds New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art;

Harry N. Abrams, 1992.

Arie´, Rachel, and Luis A. Garcı ´a Moreno.Espan˜a Musulmana: (Siglos VIII-XV), 1st ed., 16th printing. Barcelona: Labor, 1994.

———.El Reino Nasrı´ de Granada, 1232–1492. Madrid:

Editorial MAPFRE, 1992.

Bargebuhr, Frederick P.The Alhambra Palace of the Eleventh Century. Worcester, England: 1956.

Cabanelas, Darı´o.El Techo del Salo´n de Comares en la

Alhambra: Decoracio´n, Policromı´a, Simbolismo y Etimologı ´a. Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife,

1988.

———.Literatura, Arte y Religio´n en los Palacios de la

Alhambra. (Discurso de apertura del curso Acade ´mico

1984–1985.) Granada: Universo de Granada, 1984.

Cabanelas, Darı´o, and Antonio Ferna´ndez-Puertas,

‘‘Inscripciones Poe ´ticas del Generalife.’’ Cuadernos de

la Alhambra 14 (1978): 3–86.

———. ‘‘Inscripciones Poe´ticas del Partal y del Palacio

de Comares.’’ Cuadernos de la Alhambra 10–11

(1974–1975): 117–99.

———. ‘‘El Poema de la Fuente de los Leones.’’Cuadernos

de la Alhambra15–17 (1979–1981): 4–88.

———. ‘‘Los Poemas de las Tacas del Arco de Aceso a la

Sala de la Barca.’’Cuadernos de la Alhambra19–20

(1983–1984): 61–152.

Dı´ez Jorge, Marı´a Elena.El Palacio Isla´mico de la Alhambra: Propuestas para una Lectura Multicultural. Granada: Universidad de Granada, 1998.

ALHAMBRA/AL-QASR AL-HAMRA’

Dodds, Jerrilynn D. ‘‘The Paintings in the Sala de Justicia

of the Alhambra: Iconography and Iconology.’’Art Bulletin (1978): 186–97.

Fairchild Ruggles, D.Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the

Palaces of Islamic Spain. University Park: Pennsylvania

State University Press, 2000.

———. ‘‘The Eye of Sovereignty: Poetry and Vision in the

Alhambra’s Lindaraja Mirador.’’Gesta36, no. 2 (1997):

180–89.

Ferna´ndez-Puertas, Antonio.The Alhambra, 2 vols. London: Saqi Press, 1997.

———.La Fachada del Palacio de Comares (The Facade

of the Palace of Comares). Granada: Patronato de la

Alhambra, 1980.

Garcı´a Gomez, Emilio. Poemas A´

rabes en los Muros y

Fuentes de La Alhambra, 2nd ed. Madrid: Instituto

Egipcio de Estudios Isla´micos en Madrid, 1996.

———.Ibn Zamrak, el Poeta de la Alhambra. Granada:

Patronato de la Alhambra, 1975.

———.Foco de Antigua Luz Sobre la Alhambra. Madrid:

Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Isla ´micos en Madrid, 1988.

Gonzalez, Vale´rie. Beauty and Islam: Aesthetics in Islamic

Art and Architecture. London: Saqi Press, 2001.

Grabar, Oleg.The Alhambra, 2nd ed., revised. Sebastopol,

Calif: Solipsist Press, 1992.

Jesu´s Bermu ´dez y Pareja.El Palacio de Carlos V y la Alhambra Cristiana. Granada: Albaı ´cin, 1971.

———. ‘‘El Ban˜o del Palacio de Comares, en la Alhambra

de Granada. Disposicio´n Primitiva y Alteraciones.’’

Cuadernos de la Alhambra10–11 (1974–1975): 99–116.

———. ‘‘Identificacio´n del Palacio de Comares y del Palacio de los Leones en la Alhambra de Granada.’’ InActas

del XXIII Congreso Internacional de Historia del Arte,

55–6. Granada, 1976.

———.Palacios de Comares y Leones. Granada: Caja de

Ahorros de Granada, 1972.

Lo´pez, Jesu´s Bermu ´dez, and Pedro A. Galera Andreu.The

Alhambra and Generalife: Official Guide. Granada: Editorial Comares, 1999.

Muhammad ibn Yusuf Ibn Zumruk, Yusuf, King of Granada. Diwan Ibn Zumruk al-Andalusi, ed. Muhammad

Tawfiq Nayfar. Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1997.

Puerta Vı´lchez, Jose ´ Miguel.Los Co´digos de Utopı´adela

Alhambra de Granada. Granada: Diputacio ´n Provincial

de Granada, 1990.

———.Historia del Pensamiento Este´tico A

´

rabe: al-Andalus

y la Este´tica A

´

rabe Cla ´sica. Madrid: Ediciones Akal,

1997.

———. InHistoria del Reino de Granada, ed. Rafael G.

Penado Santaella. Granada: Universidad de Granada:

Legado Andalusı´, 2000.

Rubiera Mata, Marı´a Jesu´s.Ibn al-Jayya ˆb, el Otro Poeta de

la Alhambra. Granada: Junta de Andalucı ´a, Consejerı´a

de Cultura y Medio Ambiente: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 1984.

———. ‘‘Los Poemas Epigra´ficos en Ibn Yayyaˆbenla

Alhambra.’’Al-AndalusXXV (1970): 453–73.

———. ‘‘De Nuevo Sobre los Poemas Epigra´ficos de la

Alhambra.’’Al-AndalusXLI (1976): 207–11.

Ruiz Sousa, Juan Carlos. ‘‘El Palacio de los Leones de la

Alhambra: Madrasa, Zawiya y Tumba de Muhammad

V?’’Al-Qantara22, no. 1 (2001): 77–120.

Santiago Simo´n, Emilio.El Polı´grafo Granadino Ibn al-Jatib

y el Sufismo: Aportaciones para su Estudio. Granada:

Excma. Diputacio´n Provincial, Instituto Provincial de

Estudios y Promocio´n Cultural: Departamento de Historia del Islam de la Universidad, 1983.

Seco de Lucena, Luis.La Alhambra de Granada, 8th ed.

Leo´n: Editorial Everest, 1986.

ALMOHADS

  The Almohads were the Berber dynasty that ruled the Islamic West (Morocco, Algeria, Tunis) and alAndalus (Muslim Spain) from the sixth / twelfth century to the first half of the seventh/thirteenth century.

  The nameAlmohads derives from the Arabical muwahhidun (the Unitarians), which was adopted by the followers of an Islamic reformist movement originating with the teachings of the Masmuda Berber Ibn

Tumart, who led a doctrinal opposition against what he saw as the religious and moral corruption of Almoravid times. The sources of  Ibn Tumart’s thought, which are to be understood within the theological

and legal debates about the acquisition of certainty in the interpretation of God’s revelation, are still open to discussion.

  Ibn Tumart’s life in Almohad sources follows the paradigm of the Prophet Muhammad’s biography, which makes the disentangling of legend from history difficult. Ibn Tumart performed an emigration (517/

1123) with his disciples to the village of Tinmallal (Atlas mountains) to escape Almoravid persecution. There, having gained the allegiance of neighboring Berber tribes, the religious movement transformed itself into a revolutionary army that engaged in military fighting against the Almoravids. Purges of dissidents were carried out, and Ibn Tumart proclaimed himself (or was proclaimed) Mahdi (rightly guided

one), a title with Messianic overtones.

  After Ibn Tumart’s death, his disciple ‘Abd alMu’min (Zanata Berber) proclaimed himself caliph (r. 524/1130–558/1163), eventually adopting an Arab (Qaysi) genealogy. ‘Abd al-Mu’min was the founder of the Almohad empire, managing to conquer Marrakech (the Almoravid capital) in the year 542/ 1147. He introduced changes in the composition

of the Almohad Berber army, incorporating the Arab tribes (Sulaym, Hilal) that had been moving westward in North Africa since the fifth / eleventh century. ‘Abd al-Mu’min was also responsible for the creation of the religious elites known as talaba. Al-Andalus was partly occupied during ‘Abd alMu’min’s times, and so was Tunis, where he defeated

the Normans of Sicily. His successors Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf (r. 558–580/1163–1184) and Abu Yusuf  Ya‘qub al-Mansur (r. 580–595/1184–1199) had to face the Almoravid Banu Ghaniya and internal opponents as

well as continue the struggle in the Iberian Peninsula against both local Andalusi independent rulers and the Christians. These groups were defeated at the battle of Alarcos (591/1195), although some years later the

Almohads would prove unable to stop them; and by the third decade of the seventh/thirteenth century, major towns such as Seville and Cordoba were lost to the King of Castile. The ruling dynasty was weakened

by internal splits, some of which were associated with the maintenance or abandonment of the original Almohad ideology. The empire disintegrated during the first half of the seventh/thirteenth century, and former Almohad territory was divided among the Marinids in Morocco, the Hafsids in Tunis, and the ‘Abd al-Wadids in Algeria.

  The Almohad movement had aimed at a complete religious renewal that was conceived as a return to the situation of the early Muslim community, when the Prophet ensured the correct understanding and

implementation of  God’s design for the believers. By this, they were proclaiming a break with the existing society, because it represented the degradation of the original community. This break showed itself  in

certain Almohad peculiarities that aimed at proving the beginning of a new era: the qibla of the mosques was changed; changes were introduced in the public call to prayer; in the Almohad coins, the square shape

predominated over the round; and the study of the fundamentals of  belief and law was promoted. The Almohad period also witnessed th flourishing of Sufism in the Islamic West and also of philosophy; the main representative of this was Ibn Rushd  al Hafid (d. 595/1198), known in the Latin West as Averroes. The effort for propagating Almohad doctrine

among the population led to the use of the Berber language in ritual and writings, while at the same time the penetration of Arab tribes in Morocco would eventually help the process of linguistic Arabization.

Further Reading

Overviews

EI2, s.v. al-muwahhidun [M. Shatzmiller], Leiden, 1960.

Guichard, P. ‘‘Les Almohades.’’ InEtats, Socie´te ´s et Cultures du Monde Musulman Me ´die´val: Xe`me-XVe`me Sie`-cle,3 vols., vol. 1, 205–31. ed. Jean-Claude Garcin et al.

Paris: 1995.

Huici Miranda, A.Historia Polı´tica del Imperio Almohade,

2 vols. Tetuan: 1956–1957. (Reprinted in Granada:

2000).

Viguera, M.J., ed. ‘‘El Retroceso Territorial de al-Andalus.

Almora´vides y Almohades.’’ InHistoria de Espan˜a,ed.

R. Mene´ndez Pidal, siglos XI al XIII, vol. VIII/2.

Madrid: 1997

Partial Studies (Published in the Last Twenty Years)

Conrad, L.L., ed. The World of Ibn Tufayl. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on ‘‘Hayy ibn Yaqzan.’’ Leiden: 1996.

Cornell, V.Realm of the Saint. Power and Authority in

Moroccan Sufism. Austin: 1998.

Ferhat, H.Le Maghreb aux XIIe`me et XIIIe`me Sie`cles: Les

Sie`cles de la Foi. Casablanca: 1993.

Fierro, M. ‘‘The Legal Policies of the Almohad Caliphs and

Ibn Rushd’s Bidayat al-mujtahid.’’ Journal of Islamic

Studies10/3 (1999): 226–48.

Fricaud, E. ‘‘Les Talaba dans la Socie´te ´ Almohade (le

Temps d’Averroe´s).’’Al-QantaraXVIII (1997): 331–88.

Karmi, M.La Chute de l‘Empire Almohade. Analyse Doctrinale, Politique et E

conomique. Lille: Atelier National de Reproduction des The`ses, 1998.

Nagel, T.Im Offenkundigen das Verborgene. Die Heilszusage des Sunnitischen Islams.Go¨ttingen: 2002.

Sabbane, A. Le Gouvernment et l‘Administration de la

Dynastie Almohade (XIIe-XIIIe Sie`cles). Lille: Atelier

National de Reproduction des The`ses, 1999.

Urvoy, D. Pensers d‘al-Andalus.La Vie Intellectuelle a`

Cordoue et Sevilla au Temps des Empires Berberes (Fin

XIe Sie`cle–De´but XIIIe Sie`cle). Toulouse: 1990.

Vega Martı´n, M., S. Pen˜a Martı´n, and M. C. Feria Garcı´a.

El Mensaje de las Monedas Almohades: Numisma´tica,

Traduccio´n y Pensamiento. Castilla-La Mancha: Servicio de Publicaciones de Castilla-La Mancha, 2002.

ALMORAVIDS

The Almoravids were the dynasty that ruled Morocco

and al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) from the fifth / eleventh century to the first half of the sixth / twelfth century.

  The Almoravids were recruited from among Berber Sanhaja nomads who inhabited southern Morocco and the Sahara and who were involved in the salt, gold, and slave trades. They were known in Arabic as al-murabitun, which means those who engage in ribat (this term refers to a fortified convent on the frontiers of Islam but also metaphorically to a spiritual discipline that could be directed to military aims). The

origins of the Almoravid movement are connected by sources to the desire of a leader of the Gudala tribe to improve the religious life of his tribesmen (and their relatives, the Lamtuna), convincing a Maliki scholar, Ibn Yasin, to settle with them in that is now Mauritania. Ibn Yasin, while keeping for himself the political and religious leadership, appointed Yahya ibn ‘Umar al-Lamtuni leader of the army after the Sanhaja had been organized into a raiding force. They conquered the Sahara and

southern Morocco. Ibn Yasin died in 450 / 1058 while fighting the heretic Barghawata Berbers; although mention is made of some spiritual successors, the movement eventually united under a single religious,

political, and military leadership. Yahya ibn ‘Umar died in 447–448/1055–1057 and was succeeded by his brother Abu Bakr, who left for the Sahara to put order there and who appointed as commander of the

army in Morocco his cousin Yusuf  ibn Tashufin (d. 500/1107). The latter became the supreme authority of the Almoravid movement, which he led to the conquests of Morocco, part of  Ifriqiya (see North Africa), and al-Andalus. The capital of the empire was established in Marrakech. Ibn Tashufin and his successors, who claimed a Himyari (Southern

Arab) genealogy, adopted the title Prince of the Muslims (amir al-muslimin)and are said to have acknowledged the ‘Abbasid caliphate.

  The Andalusi Taifa kings (see Party Kings [Iberian Peninsula]), unable to stop Christian military advance in the Iberian Peninsula, asked for Ibn Tashufin’s help; he crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, obtaining a resounding victory at Zallaqa (479/1086). This and later military interventions eventually led to the dethronement of those same Taifa kings, and al-Andalus became part of the Almoravid empire.

  The Almoravid dynasty was supported by the Sanhaja murabitun, who constituted a military and political elite, and by the employment of Christian mercenaries and black slaves in the army.

  In the religious and legal spheres, the Maliki jurists had great influence, because the Almoravid rulers usually tried to back their political and religious decisions with fatwas (see Law and Jurisprudence). Although the Almoravid movement has usually been portrayed as fanatical and conservative, supporting those Malikis who opposed theology and Sufism

(with the episode of the burning of al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din [Revivification of the Religious Sciences] figuring prominently in this regard), recent scholarship indicates a more complex situation. The

Almoravid program of religious reform, which centered on jihad and the abolition of illegal taxes, went in fact together with an increasing interest in theology, the fundamentals of religion (usul al-din), and the rational sciences, as well as with the flourishing of Sufism, thus prefiguring in many ways the subsequent Almohad intellectual and religious revolution.

  The Almoravids, who were weakened by their fight against the Christians of al-Andalus, lost their power at the hands of the Almohads, who accused them of heterodoxy for their un-Islamic dressing (the men

were veiled and the women were not) and for their anthropomorphism. In al-Andalus, the disintegration of Almoravid power was the result of the formation of independent polities led by charismatic leaders (e.g., the Sufi Ibn Qasi), military men, or urban notables (mostly judges). Almost all of these autonomous political entities disappeared with the Almohad intervention in the Iberian Peninsula. Only the branch of the Massufa Banu Ghaniya managed to survive, ruling first in the Balearic Islands and then in Ifriqiyya.

Further Reading

Overviews

EI2, s.v. al-murabitun [H.T. Norris and P. Chalmeta]. Leiden, 1960.

Bel, A.Les Benou Ghaniya. Paris: 1903.

Bosch Vila, J.Los Almora´vides. Tetuan: 1956. (Reprinted

with an introduction by E. Molina; Granada: 1990.)

Codera, F.Decadencia y Desaparicio´n de los Almora´vides en

Espan˜a. Zaragoza: 1899. (Reprinted with an introduction by M.J. Viguera; Zaragoza: 2004.)

Dandash, I.A.L. Al-Andalus fi Nihayat al-Murabitin waMustahall al-Muwahhidin. _Asr al-Tawa_if al-Thani (510–546 H./1116–1151 M.). Beirut: Ta’rikh Siyasi waHadara, 1988.

Guichard, P. ‘‘Les Almoravides.’’ InEtats, Socie´te ´s et Cultures du Monde Musulman Me ´die´val: Xe`me-XVe`me Sie`-cle,ed. Jean-Claude Garcin et al, 3 vols. Paris: 1995.

Lagarde´re, V.Les Almoravides Jusqu‘au Re`gne de Yusuf b.

Tashfin (1039–1106). Paris: 1989.

———.Le Vendredi de Zallaqa (23 Octobre 1086). Paris:

1989.

———.Les Almoravides. Le Djihad Andalou (1106–1143).

Paris: 1998.

Viguera, M.J., ed. ‘‘El Retroceso Territorial de al-Andalus.

Almora´vides y Almohades.’’ InHistoria de Espan˜a,ed.

R. Mene´ndez Pidal, Siglos XI al XIII, vol. VIII/2.

Madrid: 1997.

Partial Studies

al-Q. Butshish, I.al-Maghrib wa-l-Andalus fi asr al-Murabitin: al-Mujtama’, al-Dhihniyyat, al-Awliya’. Beirut: 1993.

Dandash, I.A.L.Adwa‘ Jadida ‘ala al-Murabitin. Beirut:

1990.

Dreher, J. ‘‘L‘Imamat d’Ibn Qasi a` Me´rtola (Automne

1144–E

´

te ´ 1145): Le´gitimite´ d’Une Domination Soufie?’’

MIDEO18 (1988): 195–210.

Fierro, M. ‘‘The qadi as ruler.’’ InSaber Religioso y Poder

Polı´tico, 71–116. Actas del Simposio Internacional,

Granada, 15–18 October 1991. Madrid: 1994.

Messier, R. ‘‘The Almoravids, West-Africa Gold and the

Gold Currency of the Mediterranean Basin.’’Journal of

the Economic and Social History of the Orient17 (1974):

31–47.

———. ‘‘Re-thinking the Almoravids, Re-thinking Ibn

Khaldun.’’ InNorth Africa, Islam and the Mediterranean

World. From The Almoravids to the Algerian World,ed.

J. Clancy-Smith, 58–80. London: 2001.

Serrano, D. ‘‘Los Almora´vides y la Teologı´a as‘arı´: ¿Contestacio ´n o Legitimacio´n de una Disciplina Marginal?’’

InEstudios Onoma´stico-Biogra ´ficos de al-Andalus,ed. C.

de la Puente, XIII. Identidades Marginales, 461–516.

Madrid: 2003.

Urvoy, D. Pensers d’al-Andalus. La Vie Intellectuelle a`

Cordoue et Sevilla au Temps des Empires Berberes

(Fin XIe Sie `cle–De´but XIIIe Sie`cle). Toulouse: 1990.

Viguera, M.J. ‘‘Las Cartas de al-Gazali y al-Turtusi al

Soberano Almora´vid Yusuf b. Tasufin.’’ Al-Andalus

XLII (1977): 341–74.

ANTARA IBN SHADDAD

‘Antara Ibn Shaddad, the Historical Character

  ‘Antar (‘‘the valiant one’’), also known as ‘Antara (‘‘courage in war’’), was a member of the ‘Abs tribe who lived in Arabia shortly before Islam (c. 525–615 CE). ‘Antar composed one of the seven famous ‘‘suspended odes,’’ which were known individually as mu‘allaqa. ‘Antar’s factual and fictional exploits are recorded in the Sirat ‘Antar, the most important

romance of chivalry in Arabic literature; it is for his exploits as recounted in this epic that he is best known today.

  Verifiable historic facts about ‘Antar are sketchy. Classical Arab scholars such as al-Tibrizi (d. 1109) and Ibn Qutayba (826–889) agree that ‘Antar was the son of  Shaddad, born a slave of a black African mother. He is portrayed as a great knight and preIslamic poet. Both literary and historical sources mention that ‘Antar participated in the battle known as Dahis wa al-Ghabra’between the ‘Abs and Fazara tribes. The most widely accepted account of ‘Antar’s death is that he was killed by al-Asad al-Rahis, a knight from the Tayyi’ tribe, with a poisoned arrow.

‘Antara Ibn Shaddad, the Poet

  Ibn Qutayba recounts how ‘Antar composed his mu‘allaqa in response to an insult about his skin color. Respected scholars attribute various numbers of verses to this poem; al-Tibrizi says it consists of  74 verses. The poem’s tripartite structure is common to the highly stylized form of classical Arabic poetry: the nasib (opening section) describes the poet’s beloved ‘Abla and the ruins of her nomad camp; the second section, known as the journey section, describes ‘Antar on his horse and then describes a camel, the pre-Islamic Arabs’ most important animal; the third section is the poet’s ‘‘warrior’s boast,’’ which praises his own nobility and generosity, his prowess in battle, and his heroic deeds. ‘Antar’s mu‘allaqa is his most famous poem.

  The Sirat ‘Antar

  Many other poems are also attributed to ‘Antar in the Sirat ‘Antar,the epic story of his life. This work was discovered by Europeans in 1801, when the Austrian Joseph Von Hammer-Purgstall came across a manuscript of  it in Cairo. In 1820, Terrick  Hamilton partially translated the work into English. No European-language translation of the 5,300-page work exists.

  The Sirat ‘Antarpaints a striking portrait of the Arabs before Islam and the qualities that the Bedouins admired. Some of  the epic’s highlights are

Shaddad’s capture of the beautiful Abyssinian slave Zabiba; his later recognition of ‘Antar as the legitimate son of this union; ‘Antar’s rise in importance in the ‘Abs tribe; his adventures while seeking a dowry to marry ‘Abla; his voyages to far-flung kingdoms; and the hero’s death. The last volume of the Sirat ‘Antar  touches on Islam and Muhammad’s miracles. Thanks to theSirat ‘Antar,‘Antar remains alive as an eternal hero in the popular mind throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

Primary Sources

Anonymous.Sirat ‘Antar, 8 vols. Beirut: Al-Maktaba Thaqafiyya, 1979.

Ibn Manzur, Muh

: ammad Ibn Mukarram.Lisan al-‘Arab,

Beirut: Dar Sadir.

Ibn Qutayba, Abu Muhammad Abdullah. Al-Shi‘r wa lShu‘ara’. Beirut: Da ¯r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1985.

al-Tibrizi, Yahhya Ibn ‘Ali.Sharh al-Tibrizi ‘ala Hamasat

Abi Tammam. Cairo: Bulaq, 1888.

Further Reading

Cherkaoui, Driss.Le Roman de ‘Antar: Perspective Litte´raire et Historique. Paris: Pre ´sence Africaine, 2001.

———. ‘‘Kings and Heroes as Friends and Foes: the Example of Sı¯rat ‘Antar.’’ Al-Arabiyyah: Journal of the

American Association of Teachers of Arabic34 (2001):

1–21.

‘‘The Pyramidal Structure in the Arabic Siyar, the

Example ofSı¯rat ‘Antar.’’ Al-‘Us

:u¯r al-Wus

:ta ¯, the Bulletin of Middle East Medievalists, Oriental Institute of the

University of Chicago(2001): 6–9.

Heath, Peter.The Thirsty Sword. Salt Lake City: University

of Utah Press, 1996.

Norris, H.T.The Adventures of Antar. Wilts, England: Aris

& Phillips Ltd., 1980.

Richmond, Diana.‘Antar and ‘Abla, A Bedouin Romance.

London: Quartet Books, 1978.

ARWA

  Daughter of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qasim al Sulayhi and  celebrated Queen of Yemen of the Sulayhid dynasty, Arwa was de facto co-ruler with her husband, Sultan Ahmad al-Mukarram, from 467 AH/1074 CE and sole ruler from 477/1084 until her death in 532/1138, which marked the end of the Sulayhid dynasty. She exercised both political and religious

leadership in Yemen on behalf of the Fatimid Isma‘ili Caliphs of Egypt for almost sixty years. She became the founder of the Tayyibi Da‘wa, independent of Egypt, in 526/1132 after the death of the eleventh

Fatimid Caliph al-Amir in 524/1130. She is alternately known as Arwa and Sayyida in many sources and by the popular designation hurra(an independent lady) or, as Leila al-Imad would describe her, a ‘‘liberated

woman.’’

  Arwa was born in 440/1048 and was brought up by her mother-in-law, Asma’ bint Shihab, herself a cultured lady known to people as hurra. She was married to al-Mukarram ibn ‘Ali al-Sulayhi in 458 / 1066. Many sources, Isma‘ili and otherwise, praise Arwa’s knowledge of the Qur’anic exegesis, Prophetic hadith, history, and poetry, and her personality and

prowess are widely admired. No doubt, they would dare not refer to her by her first name Arwa.

  When her husband died, Arwa’s minor son ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Mustansir was named as ruler; however, Arwa exercised complete authority. She was served by several prominent leaders and army commanders. The Qadi ‘Imran ibn al-Fadl, who had been ‘Ali al-Sulayhi’s envoy to the Fatimid Caliph and the Commander of the Sulayhid army but had later fallen

out of grace, nevertheless fought for her against the Najahids and was killed in battle in 479/1086. Two Amirs, Abu Himyar Saba’ ibn Ahmad al-Sulayhi and Abu ’l-Rabi‘ ‘Amir ibn Sulayman al-Zawahi (both

bitter rivals who fought several battles against each other), served Arwa nevertheless and carried out her bidding. Saba’ contrived to get the Fatimid Caliph’s permission to marry her. She obeyed; the marriage was

contracted but never consummated. Saba’ remained loyal to her in any case. Both Amirs died around 492  / 1098. Arwa’s two sons, ‘Ali and al-Muzaffar, also died near this time. In her sorrow, the Queen turned to yet

another, ‘Amir al-Mufaddal ibn Abi ’l-Barakat ibn al-Walid al-Himyari, to whom she entrusted her treasury at Mount Ta‘kar near Dhu Jibla. He was not able to withstand the inroads made in her realm by the Zuray‘ids of Aden, who owed tribute to her but were now falsely claiming to be da is.

  The affairs of the Da‘wa occupied Arwa. Imam alMustansir had appointed her as the Hujja of Yemen, which was the highest rank in the region; in a letter to her in 481/1088, he asked her to supervise the Da‘wa

in India. Lamak b. Malik al-Hammadi was the Da‘i Balagh under her. On his death, also around 492 / 1098, his son Yahya took charge of the Da‘wa. On Yahya’s death in 520/1126, the scholar Dhu’ayb ibn Musa al-Wadi‘i was entrusted with the affairs of the Da‘wa.

  In the meantime, Al-Afdal, son of  Badr al-Jamali and the dictator in Egypt under the Fatimid Caliph al-Must ali (487–495/1094–1101), had sent, in 513 / 1119, Ibn Najib al-Dawla as an administrator and Da‘i of Yemen, sensing the power vacuum that prevailed after ‘Amir a Mufaddal’s death in 504/1110. His conflict with Queen Arwa’s Da‘wa and the local Amirs prompted the Queen to contrive to get him

drowned in the Red Sea. However, she patched up the problem by giving a member of her own Sulayhid family, ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah, the title of Fakhr alKhilafa to please the Fatimid Caliph, who now was al-Amir (495–524/1101–1130). By now Arwa had tired of the Fatimid connection. The opportunity for independence came when, on al-Amir’s death in

Egypt in 524/1130, his minor son al-Tayyib’s right to succeed was usurped by his uncle al-Hafiz li-din Allah.

  The Queen and her Da‘wa under Dhu’ayb declared for Tayyib and severed their relationship with the last Fatimid Caliphs in 526/1132. Dhu’ayb al-Wadi‘i was declared the first Da‘i Mutlaq of the new Tayyibi Da‘wa of Yemen and India, and he was assisted by a valiant Sultan of Jurayb, al-Khattab ibn al-Hasan ibn Abi ’l-Haffaz al-Hamdani, a warrior and a poet. When the enemies pointed out that a woman could

not have religious leadership, al-Khattab defended Arwa’s position with the argument that her womanly form is only an outward cover. He stated that one had to look to her inner essence, and he compared her to Maryam, the mother of Jesus; Khadija, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad; and Fatima, the wife of ‘Ali.

  The power options of the old Queen had now run out. The last Fatimids were supporting the Zuray‘ids of Aden and the Hamdanids of San‘a’. There were other rivals, such as the Najahids and Mahdids of  Zabid, the Sulaymani Sharifs, and the Banu Akk. Arwa realized that the end of her dynasty had come. She died in 532/1138, leaving a long list of her treasures in a will and bequeathing them to the absent Imam Tayyib (i.e., the Da‘wa that now continued to exist in Yemen, not as a state but as a community, and which proliferated in India).

  Arwa’s last supporter, ‘Amir al-Khattab, died the next year, in 533/1139, and Yemen was soon inundated  by the Ayyubid invasion and conquest in 569 / 1173.

Primary Sources

ibn ‘Ali al-Hakami, Umara. Nuzhat al-Afkar, vol. I (Ms.

Hamdani coll.).Ta’rikh al-Yaman, ed. Hasan Sulayman

Mahmud. Cairo: Maktabat Misr, 1957. (See Kay for

English translation).

Imad al-Din, Idris (b. Hasan al-Anf).Uyun al-Akhbar (The

Fatimids and Their Successors in Yemen), vol. VII, ed.

Ayman Fu’ad Sayyid, English summary by Paul Walker.

London: I.B. Tauris, 2001.

Al-Janadi Baha’ al-Din.Al-Suluk.

Al-Khazraji.Al-Kifaya Wa-l-i‘lam. (See Kay for copious

English notes

Further Reading

 FDaftary, Farhad. ‘‘Sayyida Hurra: The Isma‘ili Sulayhid

Queen of Yemen.’’ InWomen in the Medieval Islamic

World: Power, Patronage and Piety, 117–29, ed. Gavin

R.G. Hambly. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.

Al-Hamdani, Husayn F. ‘‘The Life and Times of Queen

Saiyidah Arwa, the Sulaihid of Yemen.’’Journal of the

Royal Central Asian Society18 (1931): 505–17.

Al-Imad, Leila. ‘‘Women and Religion in the Fatimid Caliphate: The Case of al-Sayyidah al-Hurra, Queen of

Yemen.’’ InIntellectual Studies on Islam in Honor of

Martin B. Dickson, 137–44, ed. Michel M. Mazzaoui

and Vera B. Moreen. Salt Lake City: University of

Utah Press, 1990.

Kahhala, ‘Umar R.A‘lam al-nisa’, 3rd ed., 253–4. Beirut:

Mu’assasat al-Risala, 1977.

Mernissi, Fatima.The Forgotten Queens of Islam, 139–58,

transl. M.J. Lakeland. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993.

Traboulsi, Samer. ‘‘The Queen was Actually a Man—Arwa

Bint Ahmad and the Politics of Religion.’’Arabica50

(2003): 96–108.