HISTORY OF TABARI VOLUME 1 part 3

HISTORY OF TABARI

VOLUME 1

General Introduction

Translator's Foreword

 

The Life and Works of al-Tabari

A Remark on the Sources

His Early Life (lanjutan)

  Hims ( Homy, Emesa ) was famous for its special tradition of hadith transmission . Among the Himsis who were Tabari's authorities, mention may be made of 'Imran b . Bakker al- Kali 'i [75. 'Imran b. Bakker died in 270/883-4; see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, VIII, 124. His family had old roots in Hims. Tabari refers to him frequently, for instance, History, I, 21o; Dhayl, III, 2425, ed. Cairo, XI, 591; Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index,1o66, Musnad 'All, index, 435 f.; Tafsir, II, 353,1. 8 (ad Qur. 2:238), V, 163 (ad Qur. 4:11), on salat al -khawf, etc. In Aghani, VIII, 161 ('. Agh.3 „ IX, 273), Tabari is quoted as reporting an Umayyad family tradition through him], Abu al- Jamahir Muhammad b. 'Abd al- Rahman [76. See Ibn Abi Hatim,11I,2, 327, where Ibn Abi Hatim says that he studied with him in Himg, Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn'Abbas, index, 1054; Tafsir, XIV, 15,1.28 (ad Qur. 15:22). His authority in the Tafsir passage, Abu Rawh 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Musa, was also a Himsi. Abu Hitim al-Razi studied with Abu Rawh in Salamyah, see Ibn Abi HAtim, 11, 2, 397], a certain Abu Shurahbil [77. See History, 1, 1140; Tafsir, XIV, 32, 1. 11 (ad Qur. 15:75), XXI, 56, 1. 27 (ad Qur. 31:34); Tahdhib, Musnad'All, index, 432],  Sulayman b. Muhammad b. Ma 'dlkarib al - Ru'ayni [78. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IV, 217; Ibn Abi Hatim, 11,1, 140 f.: "he died before I came to Himg." In Tafsir, XX, S3, 1. 8 (ad Qur. 28:48), his authority is another Himsi, al-Baqiyyah b. al-Walid],Muhammad b. Hafs al – Wassabi [79. See Ibn Abi I;Iatim, III,2, 237. He is cited in Tahdhib, Musnad lbn 'Abbas, index, 1071; Tafsir, XXVII, 1o8, ll. 29 f. (ad Qur. 56:37)], Said b . Uthman al –Tanukhi [8o. See Ibn Abi Hatim, 11,1, 47. He is cited in Tahdhib, Musnad lbn'Abbas, index 1058, Musnad'Ali, index, 431; Tafsir, XVI, 80,1.7 (adQur. 19:65); Dhayl, III, 2501, 2512, ed. Cairo, XI, 646, 65S], and the outstanding representative of the Syrian hadith school at the time , Muhammad b. 'Awf al- Tali [81. Abu Ja far Muhammad b. 'Awf al-Himsi died in 272-3/885-6; see below, translation , n. 56; Ibn AN Hatim , N,1, 52 f.; Laoust , in Melanges Massignon, III, 13. He appears also, for instance, in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, 1074, Musnad 'Ali, index, 440 f.; Tafsir, VI, 184, 1. 4 (ad Qur. 5:54), XXIII, 17,1.17 (ad] Qur.36 : 65), XXVII, 130, 11.7 f. (ad Qur . 57:14 ), Dhayl III, 2397, 2414 , 2422 f., ed. Cairo, XI, 569, 582, 588 f..` Another Himsi, Said b. 'Amr al – Sakuni [82. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IV, 67 f. Cited in Tahdhib , Musnad 'Ali, index, 431; Tafsir, III, 104, 1. 31 (ad Qur. 2:286 ), etc.; Dhayl, III, 2391. ed. Cairo , XI, 565],  is almost always cited by Tabari together with the Himsi Baqiyyah b. al-Walid [83. For Baqiyyah ( 115-97 1 81/733-813), see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, I, 473-8.] as his authority ; it is most likely that Tabari ' s contact with him took place somewhere in Syria or Palestine, if not directly in Hims. The same applies to Abu 'Utbah Ahmad b . al-Faraj , although he is known to have been a frequent visitor to Baghdad [84. Ahmad b. al-Faraj died in Hims in 271/884-5; see TB, IV, 339-41; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, I, 67-9. See, for instance , Tahdhib, Musnadlbn Abbas, index , io5t, Musnad 'Ali, index , 424; Tafsir, IX, 8o, 1. 29 ( ad Qur. 7:172 ), X, 15, 1. 1 (ad Qur . 8:50), XV, 98, 1. z6 (ad Qur. 17 : 79, on magaman malamudan ), XXII, 23, 1. 14 (ad Qur. 35:36 f . 1, XXVII, 4 , 1. 16 (ad Qur. 51:41)].

  Ramlis, from al-Ramlah in Palestine and presumably visited there by Tabari, included Musa b. Sahl [85. See below, translation , n. 232; Ibn Abi Hitim, IV,1, 146. Cited in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas , index , 1076 ) Tafsir, V, 120, 1. 9 (ad Qur . 4:86), XIII, 114,1. 30 ( ad Qur. 13:39 ), XVI, 142J .22 22 (ad Qur. 20:73 ); $arilJ, 195 f],  'Ali b . Sahl [86. See below, translation , n. 45. Cited in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, 1064 , Musnad 'All, index , 434; Tafsir, XVI, 29, 11. 22 f. (ad Qur. 18:1071, XVIII, 54, 1. 13 ( ad Qur. 24:2), XXVII, 142,1.2 ( ad Qur. 57:28 ), Ikhtilaf , ed. Schacht, 146; Sarih, 198; Dhayl, III, 2369, 2490, 2492, ed. Cairo, XI, 549, 638 f. Although he was a Ramli and transmitted from Ramlis , it is not certain that Tabari met him in his hometown], Isa b.Uthman b . Isa [87. According to Ibn Hajar , Tahdhib, VIII, 220, 'Isa b . Uthmin died in 251/865. The date, if correct ( which may not be the case ), would mean that Tabari could not have met him in al-Ramlah but presumably met him earlier in Baghdad. Tsa b. Uthmin 's chief authority, his uncle Yahya b . 'Isi (d . 201/81617 1, was a well-known Ramli. See, for instance , Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn Abbas, index, io66, Musnad 'Ali, index , 436; Tafsir, II, 84, 1. 31 ( ad Qur. 2:184), VI, 87, 1. 15 (ad Qur. 5:6), VII, 168, 1. 11 lad Qur. 6 : 82), VIII, 71 , 1. 17 (ad Qur. 6:158), X, 51, 1. 4 ( ad Qur. 9:31, XIV, 42, 1. 25 (ad Qur . 15:90 f.), XVII, 8o, 1. 33, 82, 1. 7 (ad Qur. 21:105 ), XIX, 26, 1. 28 (ad Qur. 25 : 68), XX, 51,|.21 ( ad Qur . 28:46 ), XXI, 43, 1. 23 (ad Qur. 31:12),  Ibn Abi Hitim has al-Sallil, whereas Tafsir has al-La"il ( 1)) see VII, 63, 1. 6 (ad Qur. 5:105, XXVII, 78, 1. 33 (ad Qur . 55:29). A Muhammad b. Ismi' il b. Will al-Dallil occurs Tafsir, V, 144, 11. 25 f. (ad Qur. 4:97). Read Abu Muhammad Ismail ... (t).],  al-Hasan b. Bilal (who had moved from al- Basrah to take up residence in al-Ramlah) [89. See below , translation , n. 6o1], and 'Abd al - Jabbar b . Yahya  [9o. See Tafsir, IV, 8,1.16 ( ad Qur. 3:96), XIII, 65,1.7, 68 , 1.14 lad Qur. 13 : 4), XVIII,  3, 1. 18 (ad Qur. 23 : 10, XX, 24, lad Qur. 28:10). His authority was Qamrah b Rabi'ah al-Filastini al-Ramli ( see Ibn Hajar , Tahdhib, IV, 460)..]. Ayyub b. Ishaq b . Ibrahim lived and taught in Baghdad and Egypt in addition to al-Ramlah, and he died in Baghdad in the 2508 or 26os (ca. 865-82); thus, we cannot be quite sure where Tabari studied with him [91. See TB, VII, 9 f. Cited in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, 1052, Musnad 'Ali, index, 426; Tafsir, X, 128, t. 11 (ad Qur. 9:74).].

  'Asqalanis are represented by Muhammad b. Khalaf  [92. See below , translation, n. 621; Ibn Abi Hitim , 111,2, 245 . Cited in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, 1071, Musnad'Alf, index, 439; Tafsir, V, 80, 1. 23 (ad Qur. 4: 48) and elsewhere ;Dhayl, III, 2379,2414,2515, ed. Cairo, XI, 557,582,657 ], 'Ubayd b. Adam b. Abi Iyas [93.'Ubayd b. Adam died in 258/872; see below, translation, n. 221 . His father, a prominent scholar of Marwan origin, was born in Baghdad and died in 'Asgalan; see Ibn Abi Hatim, I,1, 268 . Cited in Tafsir, XXI, 39,1. 14 (ad Qur. 31:6); Dhayl, 111, 2424, ed. Cairo, XI, 590], and Isam b. Rawwad b. al-Jarrah [94. See Ibn Abi Hatim, 111,2, 26; and , for his father Rawwad, 1,2, 524. Cited in Tafsir, 111, 54,1 29, 55, L 26, 56, 11. 24 ff. (ad Qur. 2:267), XVII, 69, 1. 17 (ad Qur. 21:96), XVIII, 20, 1. 13 (ad Qur. 23:50), XX, II, I. s (ad Qur. 27.82), XXII, 72, 1. 23 (ad Qur. 34:51).] It may have been in Jerusalem that Tabari met 'Ubaydallah b. Muhammad alFiryabi [95. Ibn Abi Hitim,11,2, 335, states that al-Firyabi resided in Jerusalem and that his father studied with him. One of his authorities was Damrah h. Rabi'ah (above, n. go). Al-Firyibi appears in Tafsir, VII, 193, L 3 (ad Qur. 6:98), IX , 143, 1. 9 (ad Qur.8:24), XV, 148, 1. 14 (ad Qur. 18:19), XXI , 20, 1. 1 (ad Qur. 30:15); sarih, 196]. Ibrahim b. Ya'qub al-Juzajani died between 256/870 and 259/872-3 in Syria, probably in Damascus, and Tabari may have studied with him there a few years earlier. He is described as the leader of the anti-'Alid faction in Syria. In the course of time, he was mistakenly identified as a follower of Tabari' s legal school, as his nisbah Harizi was misread Jariri; this error caused later Muslim historians to exercise their critical acumen [96. See Ibn Abi Hatim, 1,1, 148 f.; Dhahabi, Mizan, 1, 75 f.; Ibn HajaTahdhib, I, 181-3; Yaqut, Mum, II, 149 f.; Rosenthal, Muslim Historiography r , 278. He is cited in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, 1050, Musnad 'Ali, index, 424; Tafsir, XII, 24, 1. 3 (ad Our. 11:38 ), XIV, 197, 1.25 (ad Qur. 16: 88), XVI , 161, (ad Qur. 20: 115 ). He maybe meant in $arila, 196, where Ya'qub b. Ibrahim al – Juzajani is mentioned (d)].

  The individuals mentioned, numerous as they are, do not exhaust the list of those who were Tabari' s informants during his stay in Syria and Palestine. In many cases, we know quite little about them, but they all enjoyed great esteem as scholars in their time. Their number is a good illustration of the intensity with which scholars such as Tabari (but, of course, not only he pursued their "quest of knowledge."

  The year Tabari came to Egypt is indicated in one passage as 253/867, and in another as 256/870 [97. See Irshad, VI, 432,1.7, and 434, 1.4, ed. Rifa'i, XVIII, 52 and 5 5. Ibn'Asakir, LXXII, quoting Ibn Yunus, Ghuraba ', has 263 . This is no doubt a mistake (in the Ibn 'Asakir manuscript ? ) and should be corrected to 253.]. It is tempting to consider the former date as referring to his first arrival in the country, and the second as the date of his return after the excursion to Syria and Palestine. This may have been so, in particular, since both dates appear to go back to one authority, Ibn Kamil. The context in which the dates are embedded seems to confirm the first date as quite certain. It depicts Tabari as comparatively unknown when he reached Egypt, and willing to have his scholarly competence tested by someone about his own age, a certain Abu alHasan All b. Siraj. In this connection, Ibn Siraj is rather strangely described as a sort of arbiter of the Egyptian intellectual establishment whose word was taken as the ultimate endorsement of someone's standing as a scholar and man of general culture [98. Since Ibn Siraj is supposed to have died in 308 /920, shortly before Tabari's death, he could at best have been ten years older. See TB, XI, 431-3 (where he is described as a resident of Baghdad ; Dhahabi, Nubala', XIV, 283; Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat, II, 252 . The wrong date of death ( 358/968 ( 9]) appears in Dhahabi , Mizan, III, 131, and Ibn Hajar, Lisan, IV, 320 f. The information we have about him does not support the role he is assigned in connection with Tabari ' s stay in Egypt]. The second date, 256/870, is connected with an anecdote that shows Tabari as a newcomer unfamiliar with life in Egypt and indicates a great scholar as his host. Taking all these small indicia into account, it seems that while the year 253 can be taken as correctly dating his first arrival in Egypt, the date of 256 for his return visit to the country is much less certain.

  Yantis b. 'Abd al-Ali (170-264/787-877) [99. See , for instance, below, translation , n. 220; Dhay], III, 2372 , ed. Cairo, XI, 551, and elsewhere; Ibn al-jazarl, Ghayah, II, 406 f.; Subki, Tabagat, U, 170-80] was Egypt's leading scholar in the fields of hadith and Qur'an reading. Tabari profited from Ibn 'Abd al-A'la's knowledge in these disciplines, as he certainly did from other competent Egyptian scholars. But no doubt the greatest boon which Tabari reaped from his sojourn in Egypt was an increased understanding of the legal systems of Malik and al-Shafi'i. His host, al-Raba' b. Sulayman (I74-270/790[I]-884) [1oo. See below, translation, n. 736], who welcomed him to Egypt and who made a living as muezzin of  the Mosque of 'Amr, had been connected with al-Shafi'i and was a transmitter of his works. It is very likely that Tabari also met the other leading exponent of Shafi' ism, al -Muzani (175-264/791(2]-878), and discussed with him matters such as general consensus (ijma'), which came to constitute an important element in Tabari's legal thought; his biographers, however, do not seem to have been quite clear about whether there was a meeting and what was discussed at it [101. See Irshad, VI, 432, 1. 16, 433, 11. 15, 17, ed. Rffa'i, XVIII, 53 f., and below, 67 f. For al - Muzani, see Sezgin, GAS, I, 492 f. Tabari ' s friend Ibn Khuzaymah, who was in Egypt at the same time , studied with al-Muzani , see Subki, Tabagat, 11, 93].

  Among his many contacts in Egypt, the most important was probably the one with the eminent Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam family [102. See E12, 111, 674 f., s. V. Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam]. Its members had been intimately connected with the imam al-Shafi'i, next to whose grave they found their final resting places [103. See Irshad, VI, 395, ed. Rifa'i, XVII, 323, in the biography of al-Shafi'i]. They also were outstanding representatives of Malik's legal school. Muhammad b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Hakam, who zheaded the family in those years [104. See below, translation , n. 93. He is mentioned often )I have noted more than twenty- five references ) in Ta/ sir, where his authorities are his father and other Egyptian scholars. See also Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn Abbas, index, 1072], attracted scholars from all over the world to come and study with him. He had the distinction of being both a student of al-Shafi'i and a Malikite jurist, and he possessed the reputation of being the outstanding expert on law and hadith among contemporary Egyptians [105. See Ibn Taghribirdi, Nujrim, III, 44]. Years before, he had traveled to Baghdad in connection with the infamous inquisition zconcerning the createdness or uncreatedness of the Qur'an. Like Ibn Hanbal, he had shown himself to be a stout defender of its uncreatedness. We do not know whether he ever went back to Baghdad in his later years, but this is highly unlikely. His brother 'Abd al-Rahman is best known as a historian. He contributed information to the History as well as Tahdhib and Tafsir [1o6. See below translation, n. 712. As he was to die in 257/871, Tabari may have still been in Egypt at the time of his death]. A third brother, Sa'd, did not do much, if any, publishing. He zis known to have taught in Mecca for some time, presumably in connection with his pilgrimage , but this seems to have been a brief interlude in his teaching career in Egypt [107. See Ibn Abi Hatim, 11,1, 92]. It was no doubt in Egypt that Tabari received from him the information which he incorporated in Tafsir and Tahdhib [1o8. His transmission in Tafsir ( and, with one exception , in Tahdhib) is always on the authority of Hafs b. 'Umar or Abu Zur'ah Wahballah b. Rashid. See Dhayl, 111, 2391, ed. Cairo, XI, 565, and elsewhere; Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, to58; Ibn'Abd al-Hakam, Futula Mi$r, 24,1. 14; Tafsir, VIII, 102,1.25 (ad Qur. 7:17), XII, 79,1. 30, 86, 1. 34 (ad Qur. 11:114, 118), XV, 166,1.4 (ad Qur. 18:46), XVIII, 96, 1. 29 (ad Qur. 24:31), XX, 16, 1. 12 (ad Qur. 27:90), XXII, 38, 1. 6 (ad Qur. 33:70 f.), XXIV, 6o, 1. 16 (ad Qur. 41:6 f.).

The reference to a certain Yunus b.'Abdallah b.'Abd al-Hakam in Tafsir, VII, 199, 1. ,8 (ad Qur. 6 : 103) is apparently a mistake . The source of Yunus there, Khilid b. 'Abd al-Rahmin , is listed as an authority of Muhammad and Sa d (b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-Hakam); see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, 111, 103]

  We hear little about Tabari's contemporaries who were his friends rather than merely colleagues or teachers. This makes an anecdote concerning his experiences in Egypts valuable as a source of information, even if it is of doubtful historicity. Four scholars, all named Muhammad, were together in Egypt when they ran out of money and had to go hungry. The four Muhammads were, in addition to Tabari, Muhammad b. Nasr al-Marwazi, Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Hirun al-Ruyani (from Tabaristanj, and Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Khuzaymah alNisaburi-all, it may be noted, men of Persian origin. They cast lots in order to determine who would go out and beg for food. Ibn Khuzaymah was chosen, but before he could leave, a messenger from the governor (? wall) of al-Fustat came with fifty dinars for each of the four. The governor was sending them the mzoney because he had just had a dream about hungry Muhammads and, pious as he was, wished to alleviate their plight [109. See TB, II, 164 f., Ibn 'Asikir, LXXIV f., Irshad, VI, 427 f., ed. Rifii, XVIII, 46 f.; Subki, Tabagat, II, 250 f. Yiqut states that he did not use TB for this story, but the work of al-Sam'ani; however, Sam'ani, Ansab, IX, 40 ff., does not contain it. For al-Marwazi (202-94/817(81-90617)), see Sezgin, GAS, I, 494; for al-Ruyani (d. 307/919[20], see GAS, 1, 171; and for Ibn Khuzaymah, see GAS, 1, 6o1. In a different context, Subki, Tabagat, 111, 102, speaks of "four Muhammads." Al-Ruyani is replaced by Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. al-Mundhir al-Nisaburi , who, according to Subki, died in 309 or 310 / 921-2, but possibly a few years later ; see Sezgin, GAS, I 495 f. The existence of a motif of " four Muhammads"casts further doubt on the historicity of the story. The large amount of money involved and the premise of extreme financial hardship experienced by scholars as well - connected and welcomed to Egypt as Tabari is described as having been make it appear a legend. It was, however, a common occurrence for traveling students to run out of money, even if, as in the case of Abu Bakr b. Abi Dawud, they were sons of prominen scholars; see TB, IX, 466 f.]. There is much in the story that hardly permits it to be taken literally. Its basic assumption, however, appears to be factual. The four had come to Egypt on research trips and knew each other and probably roomed together. Muhammad b. Nasr al-Marwazi was about twenty years older than the other three and was clearly an established scholar and jurist in his fifties. Although already esteemed as scholars, the others fell hardly into the same category, being in their late twenties or early thirties. Among them, Ibn Khuzaymah, born a year earlier than Tabari and outliving him by one year, qualified well as a personal friend. His path may have crossed with that of  Tabari before, as he had studied with the same teachers, such as Ibn Bashshar and Bishr b. Mu'adh in al-Basrah and Abu Kuray b and Isma 'il b. Musa al-Fazari in al-Kufah [110.Ibn Khuzaymah also studied with Ahmad b. Mani' in Baghdad . lbn Mani' was an authority of Tabari in Ta/sir and Tahdhib. As he died in his eighties in 244/859 (see TB, V, 16o f.), Tabari might have met Ibn Khuzaymah in his early period in Baghdad. Ibn Khuzaymah further studied with Tulayq b. Muhammad al-Wasiti in al-Basrah (see lbn Khuzaymah, 1791. Tulayq also occurs in Tafsir and Tahdhib, but his date of death is not known.]. b Ibn Khuzaymah became a very productive scholar in the same fields as Tabari. He spent his life in his hometown of  Nisibur; but he showed lasting loyalty to his former fellow student. On every possible occasion, he strongly defended Tabari against Hanbalite attacks, and he missed no opportunity to praise his scholarship. A student returning from Baghdad who reported that he had not dared to study with Tabari because of a Hanbalite boycott was told by Ibn Khuzaymah that he would have profited more from attending a lecture of Tabari than he did from all his study with the other teachers in Baghdad [111. See TB, V, 164; Ibn 'Asakir, LXXVIII; Dhahabi, Nubald', XIV, 272]. And when Ibn Khuzaymah found out that a certain Ibn Balawayh had written down the entire Tafsir on Tabari's dictation between 283/896 and' 290/903, he asked him to lend him his copy. He returned it after a long time [112. The proposed reading "two years" in Ibn 'Asakir, as against the attested "several years," may or may not be correct] with the comment: "I perused it from beginning to end. I know of nobody upon the face of the earth who is more learned than Muhammad b. Jarir. He has been wronged by the Hanbalites [113. See above, n. iit , and Irshad, VI, 425, ed. Rifa i, XVIII, 42 f. Ibn Khuzaymah shared Tabari' s negative view of Ibn Hanbal as a wrist . A young scholar, who later became famous , Abu Bakr al - Qaffal (291-365/ 903[4] -975[6], see Sezgin, GAS, I, 497 0, visited Ibn Khuzaymah and told him that he was on his way to study with a Hanbalite jurist, whereupon Ibn Khuzaymah exclaimed : " Say, a Shafi'ite, for Ahmad b . Hanbal was just one of al - Shifl Ts young men." See Irshad, VI, 379, ed. Rifai, XVII, 298 , in the biography of al-Shifii . Al-Qaffal is said to have studied with Tabari , see $afadi , Wnfi, IV, 112, 1. 16; Subki , Tabagat , 111, 201,1. r . This must have been in the last years of the lives of Tabari and lbn Khuzaymah , when alQaffal was still in his teens. Only the last two sentences of Ibn Khuzaymah 's statement appear in Sam ani, Ansab, IX, 42; Safadi , Wafi, II, 16 f]. This is as much in formation about a lifelong friendship between fellow students as we can expect to gather from sources that usually tended to disregard personal aspects of scholarship.

His Fifty Years of Scholarly Activity in Baghdad

The person

  It is not known how much time Tabari spent in Egypt after 256/870 before returning to Baghdad [113a. Ferre , " Vie de Jesus," 8, is convinced that Tabari returned in 258 /871(2)] .  It is tempting to assume that during his western journey , and before his return , he performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, either during his sidetrip to Syria and Palestine or on the way back to Baghdad . The date of 256/870, which appears in the Story of the Belt ( see below , 99), seems to be more than just a lucky guess and may well have preserved a true fact from Tabari 's biography . Scholarly pilgrims often remained in the Sacred Territory for considerable periods of time . However, since nothing is known about his having studied with resident scholars in the Hijaz [114. The statement of Sam'ini , Ansab, IX, 41, 1. 1 , that Tabari's travels took him to the Hijaz, seems to be offhand and cannot be relied on . A reference to the various nationalities of his teachers makes no mention of the Hijaz ; see TB, 11, 165,11. 5 f., quoted in Ibn'Asakir, LXXIII, 1. 3; Ibn al - Jawzi, Muntazam, VI, 170, 1.21.1 have so far not succeeded in identifying any authority of Tabari whom he could have met only in Mecca and Medina . See also below, n. 344a], any time he might have spent there for the performance of the pilgrimage would not have been very long. With his return to Baghdad , his formal education was completed and his student days were over . The time had come for him to devote himself entirely to teaching and publication . The tremendous volume of work he accomplished evoked the admiration of his contemporaries as well as later generations . Some attempts at quantification were undertaken. Necessarily they were crude. In his continuation of Tabari's History, al-Farghani stated that some unnamed disciples of Tabari had figured out that if one took the number of folios of his works and divided it by the number of days from his puberty to his death at the age of eighty-six, one would find that he wrote fourteen (!) folios every single day (which would amount to roughly 350,000 folios) [115. See Irshad, VI, 426, ed. Rifai, XVIII, 44].And the grammarian 'Ali b. 'Ubaydallah al-Simsimi (d. 415/1024) told his student, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, that Tabari used to write forty (!) folios each day for forty years (which rather shortens the time of his publishing career for the sake of round figures) [116. See TB, U, 163, quoted by Ibn Asakir, LXXVII. For al-Simsimi , see Sezgin, GAS, IX, 184].  Such statistics were of course not needed to convince anyone that Tabari was unusually prolific in an age that boasted of many prolific authors.

  Productivity on such a scale required not only a rarely gifted type of personality but also the existence of material conditions that were conducive to sustained work. Before discussing Tabari's scholarship, it might be well to pause and review what is known of his life as a mature individual in the complex and sophisticated society of a large Muslim city.

  Apparently soon after his return to Baghdad, although the only date we have indicates that it was after 290/903, he took up residence in East Baghdad's Shammasiyyah district to live there until he died [117. See Irshad, VI, 435, 11. 3 f., 438 , 11. 11 f., ed. Rifa`i, XVIII, 56, 6o f.]. It was, we are told, a neighborhood which had been home to many grammarians in the past [118. For the grammarians mentioned in this connection , see below, 107.] . His house was located at the Baradan Bridge [119. Marked no. 53 on map V in Le Strange , Baghdad. The map is reproduced in Lassner, Topography, 203.]. It presumably was identical with the house in Ya'qub Square, in which he is said to have died and which is described as being in the neighborhood of the Khurasan Gate-not, of course, the Khurasan Gate in the Round City but the one through which the Khurasan Road leaves al-Shammasiyyah and the city [120. See Ibn al - Jawzi, Muntazam, VI, 172; Dhahabi, Nubala', XIV, 282. The Khurasan Gate is marked no. 58 on map V, and no . 17 on Le Strange's map VIII. See also Lassner, Topography, 263, n . 13. A Ya' qub Road (darb) is mentioned in the biography of Abmad b. 'All (Ibn) al-Bads ( see below, ioo) in TB, IV, 322.]. Ya'qub Square is not listed in the topographical descriptions of Baghdad , but Baradan Bridge and Khurasan Road might easily have been used for indicating the same location. Tabari's mosque-that is, the neighborhood mosque where he regularly worshiped-was situated at some distance from his house in Suq al-'Atash (presumably, "Thirst Bazaar") of the adjacent Mukharrim district. It is mentioned in a report by Abu 'Ali al-Tumari [121. Abu 'All 7sa b. Musa b. Ahmad al- Tumari was born in 262 / 875 and died in 360/970, see TB, XI, 176 f. Abu Bakr Ahmad b. Musa b. al-'Abbas b. Mujahid, the great authority on Qur' an reading , was born in 245/859 and died in 324/936. He was born and buried in Suq al -'Atash, more precisely, near al-Khursi ( al-Harashi) Square (TB, V, 145, 1. 7). See In al - Nadim, Fihnst, 31; TB V, 144-8; Sezgin, GAS, 1, 14; Shawqi gayf's introduction to his edition of Ibn Mujahid 's Sab 'ah; and also below, 67 and nn . 293, 337]. One night during the last third of the month of  Ramadan, al-Tumari served as lantern (gindil) bearer for Abu Bakr b. Mujahid when he headed toward his mosque for the nightly services ( tardwih) . Ibn Mujahid passed his mosque and went on to the mosque in Suq al-'Atash, where Tabari could be heard reciting surah 55 (al-Rahman ). To the question of the astonished alTumari of why he was keeping the people in his mosque waiting for him while he listened to the Qur'an recitation of someone else in another mosque, Ibn Mujahid replied that he did not think that there was any other human being in the world who could read the Qur'an as well as Tabari [122. See TB, II, 164, quoted by In 'Asakir, LXXXV. The approximate location of Suq al -'Atash is marked no. 66 on map V of Le Strange.

Tabari's reputation for excellence in Qur' an reading and recitation was wellattested; see below, n. 337.].  House and mosque no doubt circumscribed much of Tabari's daily life. At home, he did his research and writing . He taught, it seems, mainly in his mosque.

  Tabari appears never to have married. A Spanish scholar, Maslamah b. al-Qasim al-Qurtubi (d. 353/964) traveled in the Near East in the decade after Tabari's death, when he was in his twenties. Probably in his Si1ah, a biographical dictionary, he has the following information, evidently obtained from someone who knew Tabari: "He was celibate (hasur) and did not know women.

  In (2)36, when he was twelve, he left his town to travel in quest of knowledge . He never ceased to pursue knowledge eagerly until he died [123. See Ibn Hajar, Lisdn, V, toe. For Maslamah, see In Hajar, Lisan, VI, 35 f.; Rosenthal , Muslim Historiography2, 437 , n. 2]. There is no reason to doubt this information, even if there is little to either confirm or refute it . He was not married when he went to Egypt. This we learn from one of those innocent dialect jokes, so greatly enjoyed by Egyptians, that was played on him when he came there . He was looking for furniture for his domicile and was told to buy certain necessary items, including, among other puzzling objects, something as strange as "two donkeys." He replied that not only had he no use for two donkeys and the other things mentioned to him , but his stipend did not allow such heavy expenditures and should not be wasted on something that was of no value for his studies . It turnedout that the entire purchase did not cost more than two and one-third dirhams, a very affordable small sum. The "two donkeys " in reality referred to a wooden bed frame, with a mattress of woven palm leaves (suddah). The raised bed was needed for protection against vermin which bothered those who had to sleep on the ground; fleas in the clothes, in particular, were a terrible plague, and clothes had to be hung up before going to bed. The Egyptians had mentioned a zir as a needed item. To Tabari, zir recalled something connected with music, and piety forbade him to have anything to do with it. In fact, it meant a receptacle for water. And the qasriyyah which they considered indispensable was a bread bowl. Tabari apparently had understood qasriyyah in its ordinary meaning of (chamber) pot, and possibly he thought of small children whom he did not have or expected, for he indignantly exclaimed that he "had not let down his pants for either a forbidden or a permitted (sexual activity) [124. See Irshad , VI, 434, ed. Rifei , XVIII, 55 f]. It was not unusual for an ambitious young scholar under thirty to stay unmarried for a while. Ibn Hanbal, for instance, got married only after he had passed forty [125. See Ibn al-lawzi , Mandgib, 373.].Thus, the one apparently true element in the amusing story-that is, that Tabari was not married during his visit to Egypt -gives no indication of what was the situation later in his life.

  There is, however, a possible reference to a son of his from his old age . It is an incidental remark in another anecdote illustrating Tabari ' s scrupulousness with respect to gifts . A certain Abu alFaraj b . Abi al-`Abbas al-Isfahani al-Katib was studying (" reading") Tabari 's works with him . He found out that Tabari was interested in a mat for a small sofa [126. For su f fah, see, for instance, Sadan , Mobilier, 124 n], so he went and took the measurements of the sofa and had a mat made that fitted it . He thought that a small gift of the sort would endear him to his revered teacher. He put it in its place and presented it to him, but "when he left, he called his son and gave him four dinars "-quite a large sum-"but he did not want to take them and Tabari wanted to accept the mat only if ( his countergift of four dinars was accepted ) [127. See Irshad, VI, 457, ed. Rifa i , XVIII, 87 . It seems an open question whether this Abu al - Faraj al - Isfahani can be identified with the famous author of Aghani. The latter was born in 284/897 and began his scholarly studies at an early age. If the year of his birth is correctly stated , he could have had a child old enough near the end of Tabari ' s life to play the role indicated in the story . Abu al- Faraj often mentions Tabari as his authority for historical information in Aghani as well as Maqatil al Talibiyyin . He indicates that Tabari " told" him a certain story or that he "read " it in his presence . Once he states that Tabari told him a story "from memory " ( Aghani, IV, 138, Agh.3, V, 28) Some of his Tabari quotations cannot be traced in History. He may not have derived all of them from Tabari viva voce or may not accurately have remembered what he had learned ; and, on occasion, he may have used Tabari 's published work in order to supplement his information. However, the basic fact that he studied with Tabari cannot be denied. His contact with Tabari may have fallen any time after 299/911 -2 when Tabari can be assumed to have lectured on his History in preparation for its forthcoming publication.

In his magisterial biography of Abu al - Faraj, 1o8, Muhammad A. Khalafallah mentions the story but does not comment on the identity of the Abu al-Faraj mentioned in it, evidently, because he ruled out the possibility that he could be the author of Aghani. In fact, the patronymic of his father ( here Abu al-'Abbas) is, it seems, not attested anywhere . In contrast to other family members of the famous litterateur, his father remained completely in the shadows ; he may have died young and left no record of any noteworthy activities . Still, our lack of knowledge about his kunyah is no decisive argument against the identification. For the lively discussion about the dates of birth and death of the author of Aghani, see Khalafallah's work and the introduction by Salah al - din al - Munajjid of his edition of Abu al - Faraj ' s Adab al- ghuraba'. On p. 88 of the edition, Abu al - Faraj indicates that he was still alive in 362; this year gives a terminus post quem for his death. To add to the confusion , a story placed by him in the time of his youth is dated in the late 350s . While this may seem to cast doubt on the indicated date of his birth, it would seem that he cannot have been born much later and could have had a son able to walk in Tabari 's lifetime . See also Encyclopaedia Iranica , 1, 282 f., s. v. Abu' l-Faraj Esfahani.].  This intentionally literal translation seems to imply that it was Tabari's son to whom his father gave the money to act as messenger , but this is not certain. It could be the donor's son to whom Tabari gave the money for handing over to his father, who then refused acceptance. Thus, the evidence for a son of Tabari possibly the son of a slave girl) remains inconclusive. His kunyah Abu Ja'far, of course, does not require the existence of a son called Ja'far. If he had surviving children, our sources might very well have had occasion to mention them. As it is, the evidence clearly favors the assumption that Tabari never married throughout his life.

  His financial status was no impediment to founding a family. Scholars less fortunately situated often saw having many children as detrimental to their scholarly activities. Tabari, as we have seen, had a private income , and all the opportunities for a religious scholar with the right connections to earn money were open to him. He had no difficulty in his youth finding a position as tutor to the son of a high official [128. See above, r6 ff] . But he apparently never accepted a position in the government or, as would have been natural for him, in the judiciary. There is an anecdote that reflects his attitude toward official employment. It fits Tabari's personal situation; therefore, it is presumably not just another illustration of the common motif that scholars ought to be reluctant to enter public service. When al-Khagani, the son of his former employer just referred to, was appointed to the wazirate in 299/312 [129. See E12 , |||,824 ,s. v. Ibn Khikan (31. We have no information on his personal relations with his ( half-)brother Abu Yahya], he sent him a large sum of money as a gift. Tabari refused to accept it. The new wazir then offered him a judgeship, only to meet with another refusal, and then a third refusal when he offered to appoint him to the mazalim jurisdiction [130. The mazalim court dealt with cases outside the competence of the gadis of the shari 'ah jurisdiction]. His friends and students urged him to accept the mazalim position, since it was in need of the prestige of a renowned jurist at the head of it. He angrily rebuked them and said that they more than anybody else should not encourage him to accept the position but rather discourage him from accepting it [131. See In 'Asakir, LXXXV; Dhahabi, Nubala ', XIV, 275. The source was alFarghani],The determining element in his attitude was not, it seems, a general objection to service in government and the judiciary but his total immersion in scholarly activity. The students should have recognized the importance for themselves of having him available for teaching unencumbered by official duties. The thought of an office as a sinecure would, of course, not have occurred to someone like Tabari.

  Teaching could have been a source of income for him. He hardly belonged to those who refused compensation for all teaching as a matter of unbending principle. The number of students who attended his lectures seems to have varied greatly. There were very many at certain times , and a few carefully selected ones at others. The former was probably the rule. Especially in his later years, young students flocked to him to hear the famous man and to be able to say that they had studied with him [132. See, for instance , al-Qaffil, above, n. 113 . Many who claimed to have studied with Tabari are known to have died in the second half of the fourth century and thus were probably born not much before 290. Yaqut mentions 'Ali (b. Muhammad) b. 'All'an al-Harrini, who died in 355/966 (Mu'jam, II, 232), Sahl (Suhayl) b. Ahmad b. Sahl al - Riwandi, who died as early as 350/961-2 (Mujam, II, 891), and Abu Bakr Yusuf b. al-Qisim b. Yusuf al - Mayinaji, who supposedly died as late as 375/ end of 985 (Mu'jam , IV, 708). Like Ibrihim b. Ahmad al-Mimadhi (Mu'jam, IV, 718), for whom no dates are available, all these men are rarely mentioned in the sources , and nothing is known about their relationship , if any, to Tabari].  He probably neither wanted nor needed to derive any appreciable income from his students. Another potential source of income was legal advice of some kind or other. The only reported instance of such activity, solicited by the government of al-Muktafi, tells of a gift in lieu of a fee and rather relates to the stories of stipends and gifts which in his later years appear to have been showered upon him and which frequently involved substantial sums . As stated before, those stories were meant to be illustrative of Tabari's attitude toward the giving of gifts and the legal and moral propriety of accepting them [133. See above, n. 38.].

  In the case of al-Muktafi, protocol required that the Caliph deal not personally with Tabari. Al-Muktafi told his wazir, al-'Abbas b. al-Hasan [134. Al-'Abbas b. al-Hasan was al -Muktafi's wazir from 291/904 to the caliph's death four years later; see below, translation, Vol. XXXVIII, 149, 18q. On his sponsorship of Tabari 's Khafif, see below, 112], that he wished to hear Tabari's views on a planned endowment, so that it would be setup in a way that could not be contested. A meeting was arranged to be conducted by two officials Safi al-Hurami (d. 298/911) and Ibn al-Hawari (d. 311/923) [135. For Safi , see below, translation , Vol. XXXVIII, 103, n. 516 . For In al -Hawari, see 'Arib, 113; Hamadhani , Takmilah, 42; Miskawayh, in Eclipse, index; Bowen, index , s. v. Ibn al -Hawwari]. The Caliph listened from behind the curtain to Tabari's lengthy disquisition on the subject at hand, and when Tabari was on the point of leaving, he had a splendid gift brought out and presented to him. Tabari did not want to accept it, but the two officials warned him that this was unseemly behavior. A caliphal gift was not to be rejected. It was customary to reward those who had rendered a service to a caliph with presents or the fulfilment of a wish expressed by them. The idea of expressing a wish appealed to Tabari since, presumably depending on the nature of the wish, it was unobjectionable. Tabari's wish was that the police be ordered to see to it that petitioners not be admitted to the prayer enclosure (maqsurah) in the mosque until the Friday sermon was finished, so that there was no disturbance and interruption of it. The wish was fulfilled, and Tabari gained great admiration all around [136. See Ibn 'Asakir, LXXVI; Dhahabi, Nubala', XIV, 270, from al-Farghani.]. For Tabari, the acceptance of a gift was conditioned upon the recipient's making, or at least having the ability to make, a countergift of equivalent or greater value. As an aspiring politician, Abu alHayja', the founder of the Hamdanid dynasty, sent Tabari a gift of three thousand dinars. Tabari refused to accept the magnificent present on the ground that he could not afford a return gift of similar value. He was confronted with the argument that no countergift was required in this case, since Abu al-Hayja' meant his gift to be a good deed that was pleasing to God and would secure for him a heavenly reward (al-taqarrub ila allah). It proved of no avail [137. See Irshdd, VI, 457, ed. Rifa 'i, XVIII, 87, For Abu al-Hayja ', sce E12, III, 126 f., s . v. Hamdanids.]. We cannot help feeling that under the circumstances, the gift may have had some political purpose, such as obligating Tabari to the donor and assuring support for him in the legal community and civilian administration. Tabari may have sensed that and, therefore, shied away from a gift which could become embarrassing at some time in the future.

  The same Khaqani who had offered Tabari a high position in the judiciary made Tabari a present of pomegranates at some other time. Tabari accepted the pomegranates and distributed them among his neighbors . Hearing about it, al-Khagani, either because he was touched by Tabari's generous spirit or because he thought that his gift was considered too insignificant, sent Tabari a basket with a purse which was filled with ten thousand dirhams. An accompanying note asked Tabari either to accept the money for himself or distribute it among deserving friends, as he had done with the pomegranates. The messenger was probably unaware of the contents of al-Khaqani 's note, but as it came from a high - ranking personality, he thought that it was important, and he insisted upon being admitted into Tabari 's house . He was not aware or did not care that he was disturbing Tabari during hours that he was reserving for writing and during which he had given strict orders that nobody was to bother him . Tabari read the note and told the messenger that it was alright to accept the gift of pomegranates , but he could not accept the money . When it was pointed out to him that he was given the option of distributing the money among his needy friends (ashab) , he remained unpersuaded and replied that the wazir himself should distribute the money since he knew better who needed money and could make the best use of it [138. See Irshad, VI, 457 f., ed. Rifa ' i, XVIII , 87 f. For al-Khagani , see above, nn. 128 and 129.].  A very similar remark is ascribed to Tabari on another occasion [139. In connection with the composition of Khafif, see below, 112].

  Tabari had good relations with humbler folks in the neighborhood, where he was certainly looked up to as one of its most distinguished residents . When a neighbor called Abu al – Muhassin al-Muharrir ( thus , presumably, a professional scribe ) made him a present of two chickens , he gave him a garment in return, something obviously more expensive [140. See Irshad, VI, 457, ed. Rifa ' i, XVIII, 87.] ,  thereby following the principles that governed his attitude toward gifts . In spite of his eminence, Tabari was in general easy for his neighbors, be they scholars or ordinary people, to get along with . He went with them on picnics [141. See below, 41.] and gave them advice for their children [142. See below, 50.].

  Certain remarkable traits and attitudes that guided his daily life apart from his scholarly pursuits were fortunately recorded for posterity. His physical appearance showed a darkish brown complexion and large eyes , as well as a long beard -hardly very characteristic features . Equally commonplace was the statement that he was well-spoken and eloquent. It was more noteworthy that his hair and beard stayed quite black until he was in his eighties . He was tall and lean [143. See TB, If, 166 , quoted by Its had, VI, 423, ed. Rifa', XVIII, 40; Ibn al - Jawzi, Muntazam, VI, 17o; Dhahabi, Nubald', XIV, 282. Ibn 'Asikir, XCI, considered the little - changed hair color noteworthy.].  His leanness may have contributed to his vigor and good health throughout his long life. As far as our knowledge goes, he was seriously ill only during his last ten years when he suffered from attacks by an illness diagnosed as pleurisy (dhat al- janb)[ 144. See Irshad, VI, 461, ed. Rifa i, XVIII, 94. " Pleurisy" is a conventional translation. It is impossible to guess what illness was really meant according to modern terminology]. It may have been illness or old age that caused him to stop lecturing some time before his death [145. See below, 83 and 120.].

  His leanness may not exclusively have been an accident of heredity. He was very diet-conscious. The noteworthy feature of the diet favored by him is that it was one that would find qualified approval among today's dietitians [146. All the information on Tabari's diet discussed here appears in Irshdd, VI, 459 f., ed . Rifa 1, XVIII, 9o ff]. He avoided fat and ate red meat plainly prepared (al-sirf), cooked with nothing but (raisins raisin juice zabib). He ate only white bread (samidh), because it was baked with refined wheat flour (qhasl al-qamh) [ 147. Samidh, an ancient Semitic word, is connected with Greek semidalis and, possibly, also with semolina. See Fraenkel, Fremdworter, 32, and, for instance, Brockelmann , Lex. Syr.2,479b, and von Soden, Akkadisches Hand worterbuch, (II), 1018a. For the suggested relation of Latin simila ( from which semolina is derived ( with the Semitic word, see, for instance , Oxford Latin Dictionary, 1763a].He liked raziqi grapes , waziri figs [148. For the razigi grape, see Lane, 1077a; Heine, Weinstudien, 121; and, for instance, Ibn al-R6mi , Diwan, III, 987 f.; Ibn Abi Awn, al-Ajwibah al- muskitah, 06. The waziri fig remains to be identified . Both the waziri fig and the rdzigi grape are mentioned as noteworthy ' Iraqi products by Abu Bakr al-Khuwirizmi, Rasa 'il, 49. Cf. also JahiZ, Hayawan, VIII, 8; al-Hugri, lam', 291 ( Cairo 1372 / 1953)] , "' fresh dates (rutab), and hisrim ("unripe fruit " ) [149. Hisrim is mentioned, for instance , by Rizi, Hawi, XX, 3oo, XXIII,1, 44. For a potion (sharab) made from it, see Hawi, XXI, i, 118; it is possibly identical with the thickened juice (Tubb) of hisrim mentioned by Tabari, Firdaws, 483. For the dish called hisrimiyyah, see Rosenthal, "Hidden illness ," 59, n. 89 . The reference to hisrim is continued with the remark that "in the summer, he often did not go without hays ( date meal mixed with butter and curd ), basil, and nenuphar."] in season to go with his meals. He counseled against the consumption of sesame , honey, and dried dates (tamr), to which he ascribed unpleasant side effects, such as overloading (1-t-kh, lit. soiling) the stomach, weakening one's eyesight, and ruining the teeth [150. See below, n. 237]; and in the case of sesame and honey, also causing bad mouth odor. His favorite food was a special milk dish cooked until the milk was condensed, with bread crumbs added, and then eaten cold with milk, seasoned with marjoram/thyme (s/sa'tar), habb al-sawda' [151. Unidentified], and olive oil. He also enjoyed isffdhbaj and zirbaj, kinds of pies made with meat or chicken and gruel [152. Zirbdj(ah), approximately " underlaid gruel," appears, for instance, in Tabari, Firdaws 476; Arabian Nights, ed. Mahdi, 304; Dozy, I, 618b; Steingass, 633b (zirbd); Rodinson, "Recherchess," 134, n. 3, 137, 149 ("poulet en gelle" ). Isfidhbaj "white gruel " is listed in Dozy, I, 22b; Steingass, 58b; Tabikh, ed. a1-Barudi, 31 f., trans . Arberry, "A Baghdad cookery book," 46. Dishes in Tabari's time commonly had Persian names ; Tabari's Persian origin had nothing to do with their use by him.]. When he overindulged occasionally, as he had to in order to be good company during a picnic with his neighbors in the countryside, and ate too much of a bean dish [153. Qarah al-bagilla, approximately "clear bean broth," may be identical with ma' al-bagilla described in Tabikh , ed. al-Barudi , 33, trans . Arberry, " A Baghdad cookery book," 47.],  he later treated himself at home with a variety of medicines including electuaries [154. "Electuaries (juwarishnat)" have a long chapter in Tabari , Firdaws , 474-81. See also Wdrterbuch, K, 365b , a. v. kammuni; Steingass, boob (guwarish, guwdrisht f!1)].

  His diet was clearly based upon the views and practices of contemporary medicine, in which he considered himself well-versed. It owed little, if anything, to the delight in high cuisine widespread among the upper crust of society and the intellectuals moving among them, or the squeamishness affected by the zurafa', the refined dandies [155. For the social stratum of zurafa', see, for instance , Washshi', Muwashsha, 129 ff.; Ghazi , " Raffines," 39 ff. In connection with Tabari ' s leanness mentioned before, see Muwashsha, 50, where the Arab ideal of leanness is discussed.]. On the other hand, his insistence on good table manners, while certainly in keeping with prevailing fashions, derived mainly from the religious law which paid much attention to the subject. His appearance projected the cleanliness demanded by religion and society, just as it reflected his inner purity [156. See Irshdd , VI, 456, 1. 18, ed. Rifi'i, XVIII, 86]. He would put his hand into the bowl and take a morsel, then, when coming back for a second time, he would wipe clean the part of the bowl that had become besmeared the first time, so that only one side of the bowl would be soiled [157. Ibn Kamil has the following introductory remark: "I have never seen anyone eat in a more refined manner (azraf aklan)."]. He took a bite of food with his right hand as was proper, but he simultaneously also covered his beard with his left, lest it be soiled by dripping sauce or the like. He daintily used his napkin to wipe his mouth, and he did not spit in public. Such spitting was hardly less of a social sin than was frequently swearing by God. He studiously avoided both [158. See Irshad, VI, 459 , ed. Rifai , XVIII, 9o, from In Kamil . For the use of the napkin, see the forthcoming article "mandil " in E12].

  Less commendable, it seems to us, was his attitude toward another guest at a banquet who noticed how longingly a waiter looked at one of the dishes and sneaked him a morsel from it. Tabari shamed the man by asking pointedly who had given him permission to do that [159. See Irshdd, VI, 458 f., ed. Mai, XVIII, 89.].  And again, his general fastidiousness provoked him to gossipy criticism of a great scholar, Abu Hatim alSijistani. He told others that he had seen Abu Hatim applying stibium (kuhl) to his eyes so clumsily that some of it ran down on his beard and from there on his clothes in front. In a way, for Tabari, that seemed to disqualify Abu Hatim from being considered a respectable scholar [160. See Zubaydi, Tabaqat, , oz, from Ibn Kamil . Zubaydi, 65, seems to quote the year of Tabari's death from al - Farghani].

  All these small details are no doubt to be taken as factual. It is hard to imagine that anyone would have bothered to invent them. It was more perfunctory to describe Tabari as living the true religious life, as someone who was abstemious and observed the religious law punctiliously. Even if it was perfunctory, it is not difficult to believe that it described him accurately. His daily routine is also described in an interesting manner. As customary, it began with the preceding night. He slept in (a room cooled with dampened?) felt in a short-sleeved shirt perfumed with sandal oil and rose water [161. For the manifold uses of sandal and ma' al- ward in perfumes , see, for instance, Kindi ( pseudo-), Kimiya', 342, ff., 268 f.].  He rose early for the morning prayer at home, then did research and writing until afternoon. He prayed the afternoon prayer in public, presumably in his mosque in SUq al-Atash. He recited the Qur'an and taught Qur'an reading there until evening. Finally, before returning home, he taught jurisprudence and studied (having students study jurisprudence and other subjects) until the time of the late night prayer [162. See Irshad, VI, 460, ed. Rifa I, XVIII, 92]. The details here appear a bit schematic and hardly characteristic of Tabari as an individual. But the description of his daily routine makes the obvious point that he led a highly disciplined life.

  Urbanity and wit combined in Tabari with a sense of humor. Along with the ability to write occasional verse with reflections on man and society-for Tabari's poetical efforts, see below, 48-all this was very much part of the picture of the good Muslim. Meeting the nine-year-old son of Ibn Kamil, he would playfully comment on his names and their auspicious omen [16 1 See above, 15.]. A witty remark might express his strong conviction that religious scholarship deserved precedence over political prominence. A person whose turn had come to read the Qur'an hesitated when he noticed that the great wazir al-Fadl b. Ja'far b. al-Furst had just entered the room. "Your turn is now," Tabari told him, "so don't be disturbed by either the Tigris or the Euphrates (Furat)[ 164. See Ibn ' Asakir, LXXXVI, 11. 13 f. For the Ibn al-Furst family of officials, see E12, III , 767 f., s. v.]! A conversation with Abu al-Faraj b. al-Thallaj [165. See below, n. 195.] was on a less elevated level. It was about cooking and involved the preparation of a dish called tabdhajah. Abu al-Faraj pronounced it tabahagah and defended his pronunciation with the (quite correct) observation that Persian g appeared in Arabic as either j or q. Tabari rejoined that in this case, his name should be Abu al-Faraq b. al-Thallaq. This was meant as light banter and not in any way as indicative of Tabari as a stickler for philological accuracy [166. See Irshad, VI, 461, ed. RifaI, XVIII, 93. For tabahajah, see Tabikh, ed. alBarudi, 16 f., trans. Arberry, "A Baghdad cookery book,"37. Tabari cannot have been ignorant of the equivalence of i and q in Arabicized Persian words . The wellknown sweet dish f alddhaj was no doubt known to him in this form, but he writesz falddhaq in lkhtilaf, ed. Kern, I, toy]. In fact, he was not above making fun, as philologians were wont to do, of the pedantry of many of their colleagues. He complained that a certain Abu Bakr b. al-Jawaligi overdid things to the point of nausea (bughdah "hatred"). The unfortunate fellow became known as Baghid al-Tabari, approximately "Tabari's pet hatred”  [167. See Irshad, VI, 461, ed. Rifai, XVIII, 93 f. The source (Ibn Kimil ?) continues with an anecdote about the foolishness of the man.]. Yet, Tabari's friendly joking in company was never permitted by him to degenerate into conflicting with the seriousness required of scholars [168. See Irshad, VI, 456 f., ed. Rifai, XVIII, 86.].

  Tabari's life as a human being is presented as that of an individual living up to the best ideals of his society. Major flaws, if there were any [169. On questionable character traits, see below, 58 f. They are rare and doubtful], are not indicated in our biographical sources. The picture before our eyes may indeed have been composed of real, historically true fragments from the life of an exceptional man.

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