HISTORY OF TABARI VOLUME 1

HISTORY OF TABARI

VOLUME 1

General Introduction

                                                                                                      

Translator's Foreword

  This volume contains the first part of the Tabari translation, a biographical sketch , and a discussion of what can be said at present about Tabari 's literary output , as well as some remarks on the English translation of the History. Much work remains to be done before all the data are clarified and Tabari's works and his intellectual position in his environment have been fully studied. Although considerable effort has been expended to this end in recent years, it can truly be said that the task has just begun.

  It has been deemed advisable that the General Introduction and the translation of Volume I be kept as separate as possible, even if they appear under the same cover . However, continuous pagination has been adopted , and entries for the Bibliography and for the Index have been combined . On the other hand, the numbering of footnotes starts afresh in the Translation . Therefore , in the General Introduction, cross-references to footnotes in the Translation are prefaced by "translation ." Inversely , in the Translation , crossreferences to footnotes in the General Introduction are marked accordingly. In view of the different character of this volume as compared to the other volumes of this series, the index should, perhaps, have been considerably modified , but this has been done only to a very small degree, as stated in the note at the head of the Index.

  Some of Tabari 's works still in manuscript have remained inaccessible to me I am grateful to the Escorial Library for having Zprovided me with a microfilm of the manuscript of Tabsir and to the Beinecke Library of Yale University for making me a copy of the Tabari biography from the Landberg manuscript of Ibn 'Asakir. I have discussed the "praiseworthy position" (below, 71 ff.) with a number of colleagues-foremost among them Josef van Ess to whom I am indebted for essential references. Gerhard Bowering helped me out with a xerox from his copy of the biography of Tabari in Dhahabi's Nubala'. My former student, Dr. Elise Crosby, was instrumental in obtaining for me a copy of the Hadith al-himyan. Yale University Library and its former Near East librarian Dr. Jonathan Rodgers have been as helpful to me in connection with this work as the library staff has always been during the past thirty years.

Franz Rosenthal

The Life and Works of al-Tabari

A Remark on the Sources

  The information we have on Tabari 's life and works is unusuall instructive in a number of ways , but it leaves many large gaps in our knowledge. Important questions have to be asked for which no definite answers are available . In writing his biography, it is also necessary, and has been attempted here , to distinguish as clearl as possible between securely known data and what appears to be valid information but in fact remains the result of unverifiable speculation. . [ bibiographical notices such as the one by R. Paret in the first edition of EI, s. v. al-Tabari (see also Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, 556 f.(, contain the elementary data and may serve for quick information.']

  Tabari shows himself very reluctant to talk about his personal life, at least in the preserved works, which constitute only part of his large literary production . Although it is by no means certain, he may have revealed more about his personal situation in someof his lost writings , for instance, the original Dhayl al-mudhayyal in which he discussed his teachers [ See below , 89 f. For the Ijadith al • himyan , see below , 98 ff.; whatever one may think about its genuineness, it doezs not qualify as a "work by" Tabari.] . ' He does provide his biographer with the names of numerous scholars with whom he had personal contact . There can be no doubt that the " I was told" and " we were told" at the opening of the chains of transmitters  [ See below, 147]. have as a rule to be taken literally as indicating direct personal contact or contact within the setting of public lectures and instruction. In most cases, however, it is unfortunately not clear how close such contact may have been. Knowledge of the circle of individual among whom Tabari moved is invaluable for understanding th eevents of his life. It has been imperative therefore to try to learn as much as possible about his authorities, colleagues, students, and acquaintances , and to establish their relations with him. Conversely, where it proved impossible to identify an individual, we are left in the dark with respect to potentially important, even crucial , nexuses.

  As a scholar convinced of the preeminence of the material with which he dealt, Tabari was not inclined to waste time and space on such mundane matters as when and where he had contact with his authorities. Occasionally, he might very well have indicated such data , for it was the custom to keep notes including the name of a teacher and the time of attendance at his classes. In fact, Tabari did so as a young student; he may have continued the custom later in his life, but for his own information and not for publication  [ See IrshAd, VI, 431, ed. Rifa 'i, XVIII, 51, and below, 21 ]. It must also be assumed that he often referred to someone with whom he undoubtedly had some personal contact; but later, he used the source that was transmitted to him by that individual in its written (published) form and quoted from it while pretending all the time to rely upon oral transmission . This was no doubt the manner in which he handled quotations in Tafsir from earlier Qur'an commentaries. It also seems very likely that he relied on written (but presumably unpublished) "books" when transmitting information that had been preserved as the heirloom of a particular family such as that of Muhammad b. Sa'd [ 5. See below, translation, n. 337]. In certain cases , the function of Tabari's direct informant seems to have been hardly more than to legitimize the use of a recension of a work in its written form, as in those of Ahmad b. Thabit al-Rani as the transmitter of Abu Ma'shar [ 6. See Sezgin , GAS, 1, 292; Tabari, History, 1, 1141 and frequently . It seems uncertain whether Ahmad b. Thabit al-Razi is identical with the person listed in In Abi Hatim, l,1, 44; Ibn Hajar, Lisdn, I, 143, as suggested in Sezgin , GAS, I, 796 ], or of al-Sari b. Yahya as a transmitter of Sayf  b. 'Umar [ 7. See Sezgin, GAS, I, 311 f ].' Al-Sari, it should be noted, transmitted Sayf's historical information to Tabari by written communication; under the circumstances, it is rather doubtful whether there was indeed personal contact between him and Tabari where the formula " he told me /us" is used [8. As, for instance, Tabari, History, 1, 1845 , 1848, 1851 , etc., as against the use of the verb " to write " in I, 1749, 1921 , etc. Written information from a certain 'Ali b. Ahmad b. al-Hasan al -'Ijli is mentioned in Tabari, History, I, 1311 . See also, in particular, the reference to Ziyad b. Ayyub in 1, 3159 , below, n. 210 . See also below, n. 455, on al-Mas 'udi's relationship with Tabari ].

  In sum, we are faced with the fact that Tabari's own works, as far as they are preserved, are a very limited source of hard biographical data. They do provide us with many important leads, and they are of the greatest value to us because they reveal his scholarly personality and attitude.

  No biographies of any length appear to have been written during Tabari's lifetime, but there were a number of men who had known him personally and who wrote on his life and works. Abu Bakr Ahmad b. Kamil (26o-350/873[4]-961) [9. See Sezgin , GAS, 1, 523 f. We cannot pinpoint the exact location of Ibn Kamil's East Baghdad residence on Shari ' 'Abd al- Samad in Suwayqat Abi Ubaydallah (see TB, IV, 357, 1. rr; Miskawayh, in Eclipse, 11, 184; Lassner, Topography, 78-80). It was probably closer to Tabari's mosque in Suq al-'Atash than to his home. Miskawayh, who made very extensive use of History, studied the work with Ibn Kamil. He read some of it to him and received his permission ( ijazah ) to use the rest , see Eclipse, II, 184. Cf. J. Kraemer, Humanism, 223. ],' who had a distinguished career as a judge and productive scholar, was on familiar terms with him. He was among those present when Tabari died. An early follower of Tabari's legal school, he seems to have veered away from it later in his life [to. See below , nn. 251 and 301.] .  His monograph became a prime source for Tabari biographers.

  While Ibn Kamil's prominence earned him obituary notices in a number of reference works, another individual who wrote a biography and seems to have been close to Tabari, Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Muhammad al-Tabari, remains obscure. We can place neither him nor his supposed monograph [11 it. His work , as that of Ibn Kamil, is specifically stated by Yaqut to have been a monograph; see Irshad, VI, 462, ed. Rifa i, XVIII, 94 ].

  Abu Muhammad 'Abdallah b. Ahmad b. Ja'far al-Farghani (282-362/895[6)-972[3] [12. See Sezgin, GAS, I, 337 , and History, translation , Vol. XXXVIII, xv, n. 7], prepared an edition of Tabari's History and wrote a continuation (Silah) to it. He had personal contact with Tabari as a student, but it is difficult for us to say how extensive this contact may have been. He devoted a long obituary notice to Tabari in his Silah, which served as an important source of biographical information. Another valuable document from alFarghini 's hand is an ijazah giving permission to a certain 'Ali b. Imrin and (?) a certain Ibrahim b . Muhammad to teach a number of Tabari's works which al-Farghini himself had studied with Tabari. It was originally affixed to a volume of Tafsir, no doubt the one used by the mentioned student ( s), and dated from Shaban 336/February-March 948 [13. The text of the ijazah is quoted in Irshad, VI, 426 f., ed. Rife i, XVIII, 44 f. Two recipients of the ijazah seem to be mentioned, but a singular pronoun is used to refer to them.].

  Another follower of Tabari 's legal school inserted much information on Tabari in his historical work that depended on (continued? ) Tabari's work. We know not much more about him than his name, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim b. Habib al-Sagati al-Tabari. He can be assumed to have lived while Tabari was still alive [14. See Ibn a1-Nadlm , Fihrist, 23 S, 1. 24].

  Among those who were born during Tabari's lifetime but had no personal contact with him, the Egyptian historian Abu Said b. Yunus (281-347/894-958) may be mentioned. It was natural for him to include a notice on Tabari in his work on "Strangers in Egypt," because Tabari had visited Egypt for purposes of study [15. Ibn Yunus is referred to in connection with Tabari by Ibn 'Asakir, LXXII, and Ibn Khallikan , Wafayat, Iv, 192. For Ibn Yunus, see Ell, III, 969b, s. v]. Others in his generation who wrote biographical works would certainly not have overlooked a man of Tabari 's stature . However, as far as our information goes, another biography in monograph form was not written for about three hundred years, at which time the Egyptian scholar al-Qifti (568-646/1172-1248) compiled a Tabari biography, entitled al-Tahrir ft akhbar Muhammad b. Jarir [16. See Qifti, Inbah, III, 9o, and Muhammaddn, 264]. AlQifti was a great admirer of Tabari, for he not only wrote this monograph but took the opportunity to list Tabari in other works of his, such as his dictionaries of grammarians and of poets named Muhammad; neither work, especially the latter, necessarily required mention of Tabari.

  None of the early biographies, including al-Qifti's monographs, has come down to us . We have to rely on excerpts preserved by later scholars . These excerpts give us some idea of the contents of those biographies, and they furnish the most reliable information at our disposal . Among the biographical sources that are preserved, the oldest is the History of Baghdad by al-Khatib alBaghdadi (392-463/1002-71), cited here as TB." The Khatib's biographical notice was quoted by practically all later biographers. Since Tabari spent some time in Damascus on his western journey, Ibn 'Asakir (499-571/1105-76) devoted to him a long and informative entry in his History of Damascus. He went beyond TB [17. See TB, II, 162-9] and added much information from the old sources [18. Attention to Ibn 'Asakir's biography of Tabari was first drawn by Goldziher, "Die literarische Thatigkeit ." In a letter to T. Noldeke , he mentions that this edition was a difficult task, see Robert Simon, Igndc Goldziher, 197. Goldziher published only the part dealing with Tabari's works . The manuscript he used is now in the Yale University Library, Ms. L-312 (Cat. Nemoy 11821, fols. 1o9a-117b. On the basis of the same manuscript, the complete text was published in Tabari, Introductio etc ., LXIX-XCVI, with comparison with and additions from other biogra. phies, in particular , those of Ibn al-Jawzi , Muntazam, and al- Maqrizi, Muqaffa, also Subki, Tabagdt, as well as brief passages from al - Dhahabi and al-Nawawi. (Al-Dhahabi ' s source is now available , see Mu ' afe, falls, 1, 472, quoted in TB, X, 98 f., in the biography of Ibn al - Mu'tazz, see below, n. 464)]. By far the most extensive coverage of Tabari's life and works is the one we owe to the great geographer and biographer Yaqut. He was a contemporary and long-term associate of al-Qifti, whose enthusiasm for Tabari he apparently shared. Yaqut's article on Tabari in his Dictionary of learned men and litterateurs, cited here as Irshad, reproduces long excerpts from the old sources. It seems that he quotes them quite literally. The available text is not free from mistakes. In all likelihood, however, they do not affect anything essential [19. See Irshdd, VI, 423-62, ed. Rifa 'i, XVIII , 40-94 . Rifa i offers some suggestions and corrections . For Yaqut 's sources, see Bergstrasser, " Quellen," 201 f. For his biography , see Sellheim , "Neue Materialien," 87-118, and Materialien zur arabisehen Literaturgeschichte , 1, 226-31].

  Tabari's fame was such that no biographer in subsequent centuries who touched on Tabari's age and fields of scholarly activity could afford not to mention him. Biographical notices are numerous, if often quite perfunctory. Some provide valuable bits  additional information not found elsewhere, but that is rare [20. See, for instance, below, n. 123]. s a rule, they do not offer noteworthy biographical data beyond what is found in the works of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn 'Asakir, and Yaqut. Among the longer notices, reference may be made here, without prejudice, to those in the Muntazam (VI, 170-2) of Ibn al- Jawzi (507-97 / 1 1126-1200), the Nubala' (XIV, 267-82) of al -Dhahabi (673-748/1274-1348) [21. Al-Dhahabi had occasion to come back to Tabari in other works. His Ta'rikh al-Islam presumably contained a lengthy obituary notice . It was not available to me], and the large Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyyah (III, 12o-8) of Taj al-Din al-Subki (727-71/1327-70). Other works have, of course, been mentioned here wherever indicated [22. For instance , the biographies in Ibn Khallikin and al-Nawawi were already edited and translated by Hamaker , Specimen, 21-32 . For Hopi Khalifah and d'Herbelot, see, in particular, below, 138.].

  Not surprisingly, the critical evaluation of the available material presents difficult problems. The reports we have are expectedly partial to Tabari. In fact, they can be suspected of an attempt to idealize him. Since Tabari expressed views on nearly every aspect of religion, law, and society, he inevitably made many enemies . They left no biographical notices known to us, and their views are rarely heard [23. Some hostile Hanbalite information seems to have entered the biographical mainstream ; see below, 73 f]. We may question whether the anecdotes told about him actually occurred and whether he did in fact do all the things and make all the remarks attributed to him. Furthermore, there was, and is, the temptation to suppose that a famous person had contact with any other famous person in his time and place. Thus, there is occasionally some doubt as to whether the individuals named in anecdotes, on which we must rely for reconstructing some of the data of Tabari's life, were accurately reported [ 24. The often crucial dates for individuals connected with Tabari are unfortunately not always as certain as we might wish; see below, translation, v f.]. In view of these and other difficulties, the only sound procedure is the one followed here: Unless there is irrefutable proof to the contrary, we must assume that the reports reflect reality, and that idealizing descriptions depict, if not reality, then something equally or more important, namely, the perception of  contemporaries. In either case, they provide legitimate material for the biographer, to be used, it is true, with appropriate caution.

His Early Life

  Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarir al -Tabari was born in Amul, the principal capital city of Tabaristan, located in the lowlands of the region at a distance of about twenty kilometers from the southern shore of the Caspian [25. See "Amol" in Encyclopaedia Iranica, I, 98o f.]. It was sometime during the winter of A.D. 839, when al-Mu'tasim ruled as caliph in Baghdad. Tabari himself was not quite sure whether his birth fell near the end of the hijrah year 224 or in the beginning of 225. According to local memory, it coincided with some noteworthy happening, but those whom he asked at some later time in his life were uncertain what that happening had been. Tabaristan certainly went through an eventful time at this period of its history, though the political circumstances may not have been responsible for the particular happening by which Tabari's birth was remembered. In the years 224 and 225, the governor of the region, Maziyar b. Qarin, a recent convert to Islam and a member of the Bawandid dynasty who were still non-Muslims [26. See "Bawand" in E12, 1, nio. On the Tahirids, see, for instance, C.E. Bosworth, in The Cambridge History of Iran , IV, 9o if], rebelled against control by the Tahirid dynasty of governors and thus against the central authorities of the caliphate. In the course of the rebellion, heavy taxes were placed upon the landowners of Amul, and the city itself was laid waste. We do not know in which way and to what degree these events affected Tabari's family. It is possible that the attempt to levy new taxes on farms and real estate had a temporary unsettling effect on t. With the victory of the Tahirids, Amul seems to have entered upon a prosperous phase of its history.

  Tabari retained close ties to his hometown throughout his life. At some later date, he wrote an essay detailing his religious principles, and addressed it to the people of Tabaristan. He felt that erroneous doctrines, such as those propounded by Mu'tazilites and Kharijites, were spreading there [27. On Tabsir, below, 126 f] Shi'ah influence also was strong. 'Alids and their supporters achieved political hegemony when the Zaydi dynasty came into power in 250/864. Probably about 290/903, on his second (and, apparently, last) of his recorded visits home, his outspoken defense of the virtues of the first two caliphs against Shi'ah attacks caused him much trouble. Reportedly, he had to leave the region in a great hurry. An old man who had given him timely warning of the danger awaiting him was severely beaten by the authorities; cognizant of his indebtedness to him, Tabari had him brought to Baghdad where he treated him hospitably [28. See Irshdd, VI, 456, ed. Rifai, XVIII, 85 f.].  There may be no special significance to the fact that men from Tabaristan were rather numerous in the historian's circle of acquaintances and that History pays a good deal of attention to events in Tabaristan, but it could be another indication of Tabari's attachment to the land of his birth.

  Information on the more remote history of Tabari's family is restricted to the names of his ancestors on his father's side. Yazid is reasonably well-established as the name of his grandfather. It is mentioned regularly, and it also occurs in Tabari's own works, though rarely and with somewhat doubtful authenticity [29. We can never be sure whether "b. Yazid" goes back to Tabari 's own text or was added in the course of the manuscript transmission . See Taftir, 111, 107, 1. 14 beginning of surah 3). The subscription of the ancient manuscript of lkhtilnf, ed. Schacht, x, refers to Yazid, but the text later on )p. 242 ) does not have it. It is, however, frequent in Kern's edition of Ikhtlldf]. Beyond Yazid, the names of Tabari's great-grandfather and greatgreat-grandfather appear as Kathir b. Ghalib in one tradition, while another less common one knows only of a great-grandfather named Khalid [30. Thus Ibn al -Nadim, Fihrist, 234, t. 9. His source was al -Mu'afa, who might have had reliable information ; still, the majority opinion seems to be correct. See also Ibn Khallikan, Wafaydt, IV, 191] These are all good Arabic Muslim names and as such contain no hint at ancient non-Muslim roots on his father's side. They would lead into the mid-second/eighth century before Tabaristan came, in a way, fully under Muslim control. It is thus not entirely excluded, if far from certain, that Tabari's paternal forebears were Muslim colonists who migrated to Amul and settled there at some date. Tabari himself discouraged speculation about his ancestry. When he was asked by a certain Muhammad b. Ja'far b. Jumhur [31. He cannot be further identified . He appears to have been a follower of Tabari's school. His name is given only in Ibn 'Asikir, LXXIII f., who indicates that his information goes back to al-Mu'afi.] about his ancestry, he replied by quoting a verse of Ru'bah b. al-'Ajjaj, in which the famous Umayyad poet deprecated pride in one's pedigree.

(My father) al-'Ajjaj has established my reputation [32. Cf. Qur. 94:4. Ru'bah's Diwdn does not have " my." A reading dhikrd, and not dhikri, has nothing to recommend itself.], so call me by my name ( alone)! When long pedigrees are given (for others ), it suffices me [33. See Rubah, Diwan, 16o, no . 57, 11.8 f., translation , 215) Ibn ' Asikir ( above, n. 31); Irshad, VI, 428, ed. Rifi'i, XVIII, 47].

  Perhaps, Tabari wished to express disdain for the view that merit was based upon ancestry rather than individual accomplishment (even if Ru'bah's verse is not a good example for it). This was a topic hotly debated in Islam at all times . On the other hand, it could merely mean that Tabari did not have memorable ancestors whom he knew about or cared for.

  A strange family relationship was claimed for Tabari on the basis of a couple of verses ascribed to the well-known poet Abu Bakr (Muhammad b. al-'Abbas ) al-Khuwarizmi, whose death is placed about 383/993 or a decade later [34. See Sezgin, GAS, II, 635 f. Abu Bakr al - Khuwarizmi was also called alTabarkhazi, because his father came from Khuwirizm and his mother from Tabaristin; see Sam ' ini, Ansab, IX, 37 f.; Ibn Khallikin , Wafayat, IV, 400; and $afadi, Wafi, III, 191. See further EI2, IV, Io69 , s.v. al-Khuwaazmi] The verses speak about the poet's relationship to the " Jarir family ( banu larir )." He states that he was born in Amul and boasts that the Banu Jarir were 'Alid extremists (rafidi) through the female lineage ('an kaldlah), while he himself was a rafidl by paternal inheritance [35. See Yiqut, Mu'jam, I, 68. Yigiit rejects the story as malicious Hanbalite slander picked up by the Shi 'ah poet , but it appears to have been accepted by scholars such as Ibn Khallikin , Wafayat; IV, 192, and Safadi, Wafi, It, 284,111,192.] The relationship was supposed to be as close as that of nephew and uncle (?), which would be chronologically impossible . The little we know about Tabari 's family does not support such a relationship or the existence of an extended " Jarir family." As suggested by Yaqut, the connection of the verses with the historian may have been the work of hostile Hanbalites who wished to brand him as a Shi ' ite. But we also hear from a Shiite source that the other Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarir al - Tabari, whose grandfather 's name was Rustam and who was the likely author of al -Mustarshid ( see below, i 18 f .), applied the verses to himself, with the difference that he claimed maternal relationship while someone else claimed paternal lineage for their Shi'ah loyalties [36. See Ibn Abi al - Hadid, Sharh , 1, 301].  At any rate , the story can be safely disregarded as absurd and unhistorical , as far as Tabari is concerned.

  His father, Jarir, was a man of property, although he was not rich. As long as he lived, he provided his son with an income, and Tabari inherited (his share of) the estate after his father's death, the date of which is not known to us. According to an anecdote placed in the time of the wazirate of Muhammad b. 'Ubaydallah b. Khagan, who became wazir in 299/912, even at that late period of Tabari's life, the pilgrim caravan brought the proceeds from his lands (day'ah) in Tabaristan to Baghdad-as usual, it seems, in the form of merchandise rather than cash. It was Tabari's custom to use the occasion to make gifts to friends and acquaintances to whom he was obligated. This time, he selected [37. Yaqut is not very clear as to whether Tabari bought the fur from the proceeds or whether it was part of the merchandise he had received . There is good reason to assume the latter . It could conceivably suggest that the total value of the merchandise was substantial.] a sable estimated to be worth fifty dinars, wrapped it up in a large parcel, and had it conveyed to the wazir, who was surprised when the parcel was opened in his presence and he saw the valuable gift. He accepted it, but he indicated that he did not want Tabari to give any more such presents to him in the future. On his part, Tabari had intended the precious fur as a countergift for one the wazir had offered him, and it was to serve as a hint that as a matter of principle, he felt he could not accept any large gifts from the wazir or anybody else [38. See Irshad, VI, 457 f., ed. Rifa'i, XVIII, 88 f. The informants here, Abu alTayyib al-Qasim b. Ahmad b. al-Sha 'ir and Sulayman b. al-Khigani ( if these are the correct forms of their names) , cannot be identified . Tabari ' s attitude toward gifts will come up repeatedly here , as it is a recurrent motif in his biography. The exchange of gifts played an important role in Muslim society and found much attention among jurists ( see, for instance E12, III, 342-40, s. Y. hiba) . For Tabari's views on the acceptance of gifts from non-Muslims -a subject that had major political implications -one may compare his discussion in Tahdhib, Musnad 'Ali, 207-21].

  The modest degree of financial independence which Tabari enjoyed throughout his life enabled him as a student to travel, and it gave him some freedom to follow his scholarly and moral ideals when he was an established scholar and other potential sources of income were readily at his disposal. Living and traveling at rather large distances from his source of income, it could happen that his father's stipend did not reach him on time, and he experienced some temporary inconvenience. Once, he was forced to sell some of his garments, such as the long sleeves characteristic of the scholar's robe [39. See below, n. 69. Ibn Abi Hatim, Taqdimah, 363 f., reports a similar experience of his father]. In Egypt, he and his friends even had to go hungry until a local dignitary miraculously came to their rescue and sent them a large amount of money[40. See below, n.109. It was , of course, nothing rare for students and many other young men to live on paternal bounty. Thus, Tanukhi, Faraj, II, 179, tells about a Khurasanian who every year received his annual allowance through the pilgrim caravan . Unable, or unwilling, to stretch it to last the entire year , he compiled debts to be paid off when next year 's caravan arrived, only to get into a very tight situation when the caravan did not bring anything for him one year because his father had been seriously ill].

  At a young age, Tabari displayed his precociousness, which was remarkable even in a world where precociousness was not unusual and was carefully nurtured by parents and teachers. As an old man probably in his seventies, he recalled that he knew the Qur'an by heart when he was seven, served as prayer leader when he was eight, and studied (lit., "wrote down") traditions of the Prophet when he was nine. This remark may sound a little boastful, but there is no reason to doubt it. The words appear to be those actually used when he wanted to convince the father of a nineyear-old boy, the young son of his future biographer Ibn Kamil, that it was not too early for Ibn Kamil to have the boy study with him and that he should not use the boy's tender years and lack of preparation (qillat al-adab) as an excuse for not doing so. In order to stress his point, he told Ibn Kamil of a dream which his own father had once had about his young son. "My father," Tabari reminisced, "had a dream concerning me. He saw me standing before the Prophet with a bag filled with stones, and I was Zspreading some of them in front of him. A dream interpreter told my father that the dream signified that I would be a good Muslim as an adult and a strong defender of the religious law of the Prophet. As a consequence, my father was ready to support my studies ('my quest of knowledge' talab al-'ilm) when I was still a small boy [V. See Irshad, 429 f., ed. Rifa'i, XVIII, 49. On Tabari's good-humored banter with the boy's names on this occasion , see below, n. 163].

  Whether it was an actual dream or a literary fiction does not really matter. Dreams commonly served as a means to express basic convictions. In this case, the dream mirrored the desire of Tabari's father to further his son's education, although he himself most likely had no specialized scholarly training. He encouraged him to leave home "in quest of knowledge," when he reached puberty (tara'ra'a). We are told reliably that young Tabari left home in 236/850-1, when he was only twelve [42. The source for the precise date is Maslamah b. al-Qasim , as quoted by Ibn Hajar. See below, n. 123.]. It often was a wrenching decision, especially for a mother, to send a child off to college, for this is what "traveling in quest of knowledge" really meant in cases of young boys such as Tabari. The situation was aggravated by the fact that there were no organized "colleges" in his day (as there were in later centuries) which could have provided institutional support. Providing for proper living arrangements for the youngsters was left to individuals, family connections, or, preferably, teachers. We know nothing about Tabari's mother, not even if she was still alive when he left home. If she was, she might have felt like the mother of Ibn Bashshar, one of Tabari's influential teachers, when her son was faced with the decision of going away to study. She did not want him to leave, and he heeded his mother's advice and stayed, at least for the time being. Later, he felt that it was on account of this act of filial piety that he was blessed with a successful career [43. See TB, II, 102, 11. 3 f.].

  Young Tabari left to receive his further schooling in the nearest metropolis, al-Rayy, on the site of present-day Teheran. The teachers in Amul whom his father had engaged for him naturally did not measure up in prestige to those in al-Rayy. It was there that, during a stay of apparently close to five years, Tabari received the intellectual formation that made him the scholar he was to become. There is no record of his having visited other scholarly centers before leaving for Baghdad, where he arrived "shortly after the death of Ibn Hanbal" in the latter half of 241, that is, late in 855 or early in the following year [44. See Irshad, 430, 1. iS, ed. Rifa'i, XVIII, So]. "Traveling in quest of knowledge" could mean brief visits to famous authorities. Frequently, however, and no doubt in the case of very young students such as Tabari, it entailed an extended stay and the systematic attendance at regular courses rather than occasional lectures. A teacher would quiz his students in the evening on the material they had taken down during the day. When the students happened to take a course with a teacher who lived outside the city limits, they had to run back "like mad (ka-al-majdnin)" in order to be on time for another class [45. See Irshad, 430, ed. Rifa 'i, XVIII, 49 f.].

  Most prominent among his teachers in al-Rayy was Ibn Humayd. Abu 'Abdallah Muliammad b. Humayd al-Razi [46. For In Humayd, see below, translation , n. 26. Irshad, VI, 42,4, 1.2. ed. Rifa'i, XVIII, 41, 1. 2, had Abroad for Muhammad by mistake ( misprint f)] was in his seventies at the time, and he died a decade later, in 248/862. He became one of Tabari's most frequently cited authorities. Ibn Humayd had lectured in Baghad and had been welcomed there by Ibn Hanbal, who is even said to have transmitted traditions on his authority. If it is correct that Ibn Hanbal's son 'Abdallah (213-9o/828[9j-9o3) [47. See below, 70. For In Humayd's connection with Ibn Hanbal and the latter's son'Abdallah, see TB, II, 259,11.4 f., 12, and 260,11.4 f.] had studied with him, his stay in Baghdad cannot have been very much in the past, unless, of course, 'Abdallah was a small child when he attended his lectures, which is quite possible. In Tabari's time, Ibn Humayd had apparently retired to his native city. We have no information that he returned to Baghdad during his remaining years, in which case Tabari could have continued his studies with him there. Thus, the material he quoted on Ibn Humayd's authority was acquired by him in al-Rayy. No doubt he filled his notebooks with it for future reference, but he can also be assumed to have checked it all against the books upon which Ibn Humayd had based his teaching, and supplemented it from them.

  Another teacher from Tabari's days in al-Rayy was al-Muthanna b. Ibrahim, whose nisbah was al-Amuli (rather than al-Ubulli as found in Irshad) [48. See below, translation, n. 179]. Practically nothing more is known about him, but he also served as an important source of information for Tabari's writings. Another, even less-known teacher of Tabari was a certain Ahmad b. Hammad al-Dawlabi. His main claim to distinction was that he had been a student of the reputable Sufyan (b. 'Uyaynah) [49. See History, below, I, 18o6; Tafsir, VI, 3,1.21 (ad Qur. 4:1481, XI, 94,1.21 (ad Qur. 10:641, XVIII, 6o, 1. 8 (ad Qur. 24:51.] It must be said that our lack of knowledge about these men does not mean that their standing in the world of contemporary scholarship was low in any respect.

  It is significant that the instruction which Tabari received from Ibn Humayd in al-Rayy extended to the historical works of Ibn Ishaq, famous above all as the author of the life of nabi Muhammad s.a.w  (aI-Sirah). He thus learned about pre-Islamic and early Islamic history. Knowledge of it was needed by religious scholars in general. In Tabari 's case, more importantly, it would seem that in the process, the seeds were planted for his wider interest in history which later culminated in the writing of his great History. According to Yaqut, Ibn Kamil is supposed to have reported that it was under the guidance of the just-mentioned Ahmad b. Hammad l-Dawlabi on the authority of Salamah [50. For Salamah b. al-Fadl, judge of al-Rayy, see below, translation, n. 49] that Tabari studied Ibn Ishaq's Mubtada' and Maghazi and thus laid the groundwork for History [51. See Irshdd, VI, 430, ed. Rifa i, XVIII, 5o.]. However, in History itself, the isnad is always Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq. The reference to Ibn Hammad in this connection is no doubt a mistake, which, however, could hardly have occurred in Ibn Kamil's original text but must have crept in during the course of transmission [52. It is possible that both Ibn Hammad and Ibn Humayd (who also taught Qur'an commentary) lectured on the same material from Salamah from Ibn Ishaq in alRayy at the same time, but it does not seem very likely.]. Tabari later on continued his study of Ibn Ishaq. In al-Kufah, both Hannad b. alSari and Abu Kurayb transmitted to him information from Ibn Ishaq according to another recension, that of  Yunus b Bukayr (d. 199/814(51) [53. For Hannad (below, translation , n. 71), see History, I, 970 , and for Abu Kurayb (below, translation , n. 77), see History, II, 311, 111, 52. For Ibn Bukayr 's recension, see Sezgm, GAS, I, 289, and Ibn Haar, Tahdhib, XI, 434 f., where Hannad and Abu Kurayb are listed among Ibn Bukayr's transmitters.]. At that time, Tabari probably did not receive instruction in special courses devoted entirely to Ibn Ishaq. It was rather through incidental reference that he learned more about him there.

  Ibn Humayd's status as an authorized transmitter of Ibn Ishaq's Maghazi through Salamah was attacked by an otherwise unknown 'Ali b. Mihran. Ibn Mihran claimed plagiarism on the part of Ibn Humayd. According to him, Ibn Humayd did not receive the material directly from Salamah but through him. Therefore, he contended, a certain Ishaq b. Mansur (possibly the bearer of the name who died in 251/865?), who had studied with Ibn Humayd just like Tabari, was right when he classified Ibn Humayd as a "liar [54. See TB, II, 262 f] . Quarrels of this kind were not uncommon, but even if there was some truth to the accusation directed against Ibn Humayd, it would in no way reflect upon Ibn Humayd's decisive role in Tabari's development as a scholar.

  A continuation of his studies in the center of the Muslim world, the capital city of Baghdad, was a natural choice for Tabari, who by then was not yet seventeen years old. Baghdad not only counted many of the greatest representatives of Muslim scholarship among its residents, but scholars as well as litterateurs also came to lecture there for longer or shorter periods. Many stopped over on their way to or, more commonly, from the pilgrimage to Mecca, offering students the opportunity to add to their store of knowledge. In fact, if we can believe the Story of the Belt (below, P. 99), Tabari himself went on the pilgrimage in 240/855, possibly before his first arrival in Baghdad (and not in the time between his arrival in Baghdad and his study trip to southern Iraq). The date of Tabari's arrival in Baghdad is fixed by the statement that what attracted him to Baghdad was the expectation to study with Ahmad b. Hanbal (164-241/78o-855), but Ibn Hanbal died shortly before his arrival [5 5. See above, n. 44]. It cannot be entirely ruled out that this report was invented to defuse later Hanbalite animosity against Tabari. There is, however, nothing inherently impossible in it, even though Ibn Hanbal was no longer fully active at the time. Ibn Humayd might very well have suggested to his bright young student that it was advisable for him to profit from contact with the great traditionist, no matter how slight such contact would be.

  Rather soon [56. The assumption of HGfi, 35, that Tabari left Baghdad right away seems unlikely . Irshdd, VI, 430, II. r9 f., ed . Rif!'!, XVIII, 50, states that he began to study in Baghdad and then left for al - Basrah. His tutorship, which has been assigned by me to a later date ( see below, 2r f.), could conceivably fall into this time, but this would seem improbable.], Tabari left Baghdad in order to continue his study and research in the great towns south of Baghdad, al-Basrah and al-Kufah, including Wasit on the way. A number of famous authorities, mostly men already at least in their seventies, lived and taught there. It would have been possible for Tabari to make repeated trips while spending some time in between in Baghdad, but a student was hardly likely to do this; thus, it can be confidently assumed he undertook just one extended journey. The date when it started can be established with reasonable accuracy. Some of the authorities with whom he studied, such as the Basrans Humayd b. Mas'adah, who is often quoted in Tafsir, and Bishr b. Mu'adh al-'Agadi [57. For Humayd b. Mas'adah , see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, III, 49. He is often quoted in Tafsir as well as Tahdhib, Musnad 'Ali, index, 429. For Bishr, see below, translation , n. 196],  died at the latest in 245/859-60; but one of the Kufan scholars, Hannad b. al-Sari, who also provided him with much information for Tafsir, is said to have died already in 243/857 as a man in his nineties[58. See above, n. 53]. Assuming that this date is correct, Tabari's first stay in Baghdad lasted hardly more than a year, and he had gone south already in 242/856-7.

  Scholars in al-Basrah whom Tabari met during his visit there included men quoted again and again in his works. Among them were Muhammad b. 'Abd al-AU al-San'ani (d. 245/859[60] [59. See below, translation , n. tot.],  Muhammad b. Musa al-Harashi (d. 248/862) [6o. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IX, 482, no. 778] and Abu al-Ash'ath Ahmad b. al-Migdam (d. 253/867) [61. See below, translation , n. 970] Others, such as Abu al-Jawza' Ahmad b. 'Uthman (d. 246/860, are cited less frequently [62. See Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IV 206 f. He is mentioned in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas , index , 1051 , and History, I, 1147.].

  In al-Kufah, he encountered, among others, Ismail b. Musa alFazari (d. 245/859), whom Tabari considered to be a grandson of alSuddi [63. For al - Fazari, see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, 1, 335 f. His relationship to al-Suddi (below, translation, n. 276) was disputed.], and Sulayman b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Hammad al-Talhi (d. 252/866, an expert in Qur'an reading who showed himself willing to test Tabari's knowledge and qualifications in the field [64. For Sulayman al-Talbi, see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, IV, 206 f., Ibn al - Jazari, Ghayah, II,107, and 1, 3r4, 11. 13 f. ('arada 'alayh al-imam Muhammad b. Farir al-Tabanl. Ibn al - Jazari, like al - Magrizi, Mugaffa (Tabari, Introductio etc., XCVI), depends on al-Dim . $afadi, Wafi, II, 2.85 , 1. 5, and Subki , Tabagot, III, rir, also mention that Tabari studied Qur'an reading with him. It is not certain that he met him in al- Kufah. Al-Talbi is mentioned in Tafsir, XVI, 61, 1. 3 (ad Qur. 19:31).].

  The two men from whom he profited most in those years were Muhammad b. Bashshar, known as Bundar (167-252/783(4]-866) [65. See below, translation, n. 44], in al-Basrah, and Abu Kurayb Muhammad b. al-'Ala' (d. in his eighties in 247 or 248/861-2)[ 66. See below, translation, n. 77] in al-Kufah. As appears from the innumerable times that they are cited as transmitters, both Ibn Bashshar and Abu Kurayb exercised a great influence on him. Abu Kurayb was a difficult person, but Tabari did not fail to mollify him from the start of their acquaintance by his extraordinary ability. When he came to his house together with other hadith students clamoring for admission, he found the great scholar looking out of a window and asking for those who could recite from memory the traditions they had written down on his dictation. The assembled students looked at each other and then pointed to Tabari as the one who would be able to do that. Abu Kurayb examined him and found him able to recite every tradition he was asked, with the exact day on which Abu Kurayb had taught it [67. See Irshad, VI, 43 r, ed. Rifa 'i, XVIII, S r. "Difficult person " renders sharis a]-khuluq. This characterization, which fitted other scholars as well, is also used for the grammarian Tha'lab (lrshnd, VI, 438, 1. 7, ed. Rifa'i, XVIU, 60).].

  Tabari probably spent less than two years traveling in southern Iraq and may have returned to Baghdad about 244/858-9. It was not until eight years later that he undertook his next major research trip that took him to Syria and Egypt. During that interval between journeys, we should possibly date his first attested gainful employment. He accepted a position as tutor to a son of the wazir 'Ubaydallah b. Yahya b. Khaqan [68. See E12 , III, 824a , s. v. Ibn Khak3n (2). The future wazir was a student of Ibn Hanbal; see In Abi Ya'la, Tabagat, I, zoo. On another son, the wazir al-Khagani, see below, n. 129]. The boy was called Abu Yahya. As the story suggests, he probably was the wazir's son by a slave girl . Since Ibn Khagan was out of office and in exile between 248 and 253, Tabari would have held his tutorial position sometime between 244/858-9 and 248/962. The report we have is introduced by the words "when Tabari entered Baghdad" and could refer to his first arrival in the capital. However, a rather high salary is involved, which seems more than could have been commanded by a very young and unknown student such as Tabari was when he first came to Baghdad. Moreover, the story shows Tabari already firmly committed to legal ethics, which is hardly in keeping with someone seventeen years of age . Tabari, we are told, had merchandise to provide for his living expenses (sent, no doubt, by his father). It was stolen, and he was in dire straights, so much so that he had to sell part of his clothing [69. The manuscript of Ibn 'Asakir has k-s-y gamis-h, which was emended to kummay... "the long sleeves of his shirt" in Tabari, Introductio etc., LXXV. The correction is confirmed by Dhahabi' s quotation in Nubala', XIV, 271 f. In a brief statement reported by Subki, Tabagat, III, 125, Tabari is quoted by al-Farghani as having said, "My father' s allowance for my living expenses did not arrive on time, so that I was forced to cut off the sleeves of my shirt and sell them ." Al-Subki no doubt refers to the same event.]. A friend of his knew that the wazir was looking for a tutor for his son, and the friend asked Tabari whether he was willing to accept the position if it was offered to him. Tabari agreed, no doubt eagerly. The friend was able to arrange matters. After first providing him with the proper clothes, he introduced him to the wazir. Ibn Khaqan gained a good impression of him. He offered him the position and agreed to pay ten dinars per month. In addition, he had a contract drawn up specifying the time Tabari [70. The Arabic pronoun clearly refers to Tabari, and not to his young pupil] was allowed to devote to study, prayer, eating, and resting, and even gave him upon his request a one-month advance. A well-equipped classroom (hujrat al-ta'dib) for the boy was assigned to Tabari. He instructed him in writing, and his pupil appears to have quickly learned how to write. The writing tablet that demonstrated the boy's newly acquired skill was taken by servants to his mother and the other slave girls who had borne children to their master (ummahat alwalad) as proof of the good news. The overjoyed ladies filled a tray with dirhams and dinars and sent it with the servants back to Tabari. He, however, refused to accept the money. He had, he said, a contract with the wazir to be paid a certain sum and was not entitled to any further compensation. The matter was submitted to the wazir who summoned him and told him that he was wrong to reject the well-meant gift of the women and had offended them by not accepting it. Tabari argued that the women were slaves and legally owned no property of their own. He obviously implied that it was really the wazir who was the source of the money and who therefore was paying more than had been agreed upon in the contract. Tabari learned a lesson from this occurrence. Later on, when friends would bring him a gift of food, it was his established custom (sunnah) to accept it as being, in contrast to money, merely a token gift; but, prompted by his socially proper attitude (muruwwah), he would make an appropriate return gift. This taught his friends that it would be inadvisable to press gifts on him [71. See Ibn 'Asakir, LXXV f., and Dhahabi, Nubala' (above, n. 69)].

  Being in his late twenties, Tabari was an acknowledged scholar-a "recent Ph.D." in our parlance-when he left Baghdad for further study in the West, that is, in the countries located to the west of Iraq. His goal was Egypt, but his journey included visits to Syria and Palestine both on the way to Egypt and on a sidetrip from Egypt before his eventual return to Baghdad. Beirut was an especially important stop because it gave him the opportunity to study with al-'Abbas b. al-Walid b. Mazyad al-'Udhri alBayruti (ca.169-270/785[61-883(4)]  [72. See Ibn 'Asakir, LXIX and LXXII; Ibn al- Jazari, Ghayah, 1, 355, II, 107; alMaqrizi, Mugaffa (Tabari, Introductio etc., XCVI). For al-'Abbas and his father (who was also always the source of his traditions in Tahdhib, Musnad Ibn 'Abbas, index, 106,), see below, translation , n. 98. Al-'Abbas b. al-Walid's authority is said to be Khallad b. Khalid id. 220/835; see Ibn al-Jazari, Ghayah, I, 274 Q. Tabari,according to Irshad, VI, 427,11.9-12, ed. Rifa'i, XVIII, 45, taught Qur'an readingwhich he supposedly did rarely, and only to selected individuals-according to the tradition of 'Abd al-Hamid b. Bakkar al- Kala'i . 'Abd al-Hamid was also a teacher of Qur'an readings (huruf) to al-'Abbas b. al-Walid; see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, VI, 109; Ibn al-Jazari , Ghayah, 355, 360. No contradiction is involved here, inasmuch as al-'Abbas b. al-Walid transmitted material from both authorities to Tabari.

  In his second passage, Ibn 'Asakir quotes a work entitled Talkhis qira'at alSha'miyyin by a certain Abu 'Ali Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Hasan al -Isbahani. Regrettably, the quotation is out of context: "Abu Ja' far, that is , Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, stayed in Beirut several days , spending seven nights in the main mosque until he finished the Qur'an according to this (!) transmission , reciting it to al-'Abbas b. al-Walid. Then, after the reading, he listened to the Book being read by al-'Abbas. He informed him that he had thus read the Qur'an to 'Abd al-Hamid b. Bakkar twice, and so on.]. Al-'Abbas instructed him in the variant readings (huruf) of the Qur'an according to the Syrian school. Moreover, he was instrumental in conveying to him through his father al-Walid the legal views of al-Awza'i, Syria's most prominent jurist who had died in Beirut about a century earlier [73. For al-Awza'i, see below, translation , n. 95. The isnad "al-'Abbas b alWalid-his father-al-Awza'i" occurs, for instance , in lkhtilaf, ed. Kern, 20, 1. 4, etc., ed. Schacht, 148.].

  Tabari's precise itinerary in Syria and Palestine is not known to us. Some of the places he visited can be deduced from the names of the authorities cited in his works. The scholars named Himsi, Ramli, or 'Asqalani could, of course, have been in Iraq or in Egypt when Tabari studied with them. However, even if it is not expressly attested that a given scholar resided in his native town at about the time Tabari visited there , there are additional indications for their places of residence, such as, for instance , their permanent close ties to a given town , their having been visited there by contemporary students such as Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (ca. 240-327/854151-939) and his father Abu Hatim (195-277/ 810{I]-90[1], their interconnections with other scholars of the region, their failure to be listed in TB, and the like [74. Another father - and-son team traveling in quest of knowledge among Tabari's contemporaries was Abu Bakr b. Abi Diwud (see below, n. 229) and his father Sulaymin b. al-Ash'ath; see TB, IX, 464.In connection with these pages , it is particularly regrettable that most of Ibn 'Asakir's History of Damascus was unavailable to me].

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