Abū 'Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn 'Imrān ibn Mūsā ibn Sa'īd ibn 'Abd Allāh al-Marzubānī () (c. 909 – 10 November 994), was a prolific author of
adab,
akhbar (news), history and
ḥadīth
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
(traditions). He lived all his life in his native city, Baghdad, although his family came originally from
Khurāsān.
Life
Al-Marzubānī came from a wealthy family connected to the royal court of the
Abbāsid caliph.
Ibn al-Jawālīqī in his ''Kitāb al-Mu'arrab'',
[Sachau. Gawaliqi's Almu'arrab mit Erläuterungen herausgegeben. Leipzig, 1867.] explains that al-Marzubānī inherited his Persian epithet "
Marzban
Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension militar ...
", which means 'Guardian of the frontier'. The
Buyid
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...
amir
‘Aḍūd al-Dawla was known to visit his residence on the east bank of the
Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
, where he would also entertain members of a literary circle dedicated to the conservation and transmission of Arabic philological literature. Fellow authors in his circle were Abū Ya'qūb al-Najīramī (d.1031), Abū Sa'īd al-Sīrāfī (d. 979) and Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-Tārīkhī. He edited the first
dīwān (collected poems) by the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
caliph
Muawiyah I
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
(r. 661–680), which he produced in a small volume of about three kurrāsa, – ca., 60 ff.
Al-Marzubānī's principal teachers
*
'Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Baghawī (829 – 929), jurist.
*Abū Bakr ibn
Abī Dā'ūd al-Sijistānī (ca. 844—928/929),
ḥāfiẓ, scholar of Ḥadīth and Qur'an, and author of ''Kitāb al-Masābīh''.
*
al-Ṣūlī held al-Marzubānī in high esteem and much of al-Marzubānī's material in his ''Kitāb al-Muwashshaḥ'' and his compilation technique was apparently borrowed from him.
Al-Marzubānī's principal authorities
*
Abū Bakr ibn Durayd (837 -934), a great
grammarian of Basra.
*Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim ibn al-Anbārī (855 – 940) was a famous pupil of
Tha'lab.
Abū Bakr al-Khwārizmī led the funeral service. He was buried in his house on Shari Amr al-Rūmī (Amr the Greek Street), on the eastern quarter of Baghdād.
Legacy
He was the last of the authorities of literary and oral tradition
Isḥāq al-Nadīm met. He was cited by the
Mu'tazilite
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
theologian Abū 'Abd Allāh al-Ṣaymarī (d. 927/8), Abū al-Qāsim al-Tanūkhi (940 – 994), Abū Muḥammad al-Jauhari, et al. Some sectarian-based criticismattributed to al-Marzubānī's religious leanings and ''
madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...
'', despite his publication of
Ḥanafī,
Shī'i and
Mu'tazila
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
''riwāya'' and ''akhbar'' (biographies).seems to have led to the relative neglect of his writings by
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
scholars in later centuries.
Works
Among his books were:
Books about the ''Sawād''
*''An'ān al-Shi'rEssences of Poetry'; about praise and satire, glory and generosity
*''Akhbār al-AjwādTraditions about the Generous'
*''Al-AwṣāfQualities'
*''Al-TashbihātAllegories'
Isḥāq al-Nadīm records that 20,000 ff from sources written in al-Marzubānī's handwriting had survived to his day.
See also
*
List of Arab scientists and scholars
This is a list of Arab scientists and scholars from the Muslim World, including Al-Andalus (Spain), who lived from antiquity up until the beginning of the modern age, consisting primarily of scholars during the Middle Ages. For a list of cont ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marzubani
900s births
994 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
10th-century biographers
10th-century historians from the Abbasid Caliphate
Encyclopedists of the medieval Islamic world
Islamic culture
Islamic poetry
Writers from Baghdad