Umāra ibn Abī al-Ḥasan al-Yamanī ( ar, عمارة بن ابي الحسن اليمني) was a historian, jurist and poet of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
of great repute who was closely associated with the late
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
of Egypt. He was executed by order of
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
at
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
on April 6, 1174 for his part in a conspiracy to restore Fatimid rule. His ''Tarikh al-Yaman'' is the earliest, and in respects the most important, history of Yemen from the Islamic era.
Biography
Invariably given the title ''
al-faqīh'' ("The Jurist"), Umara was born ca. 1121. His ''Tarikh'' gives the town of al-Zara'ib (),
Ibb
Ibb ( ar, إِبّ, ʾIbb) is a city in Yemen, the capital of Ibb Governorate, located about northeast of Mocha and south of Sana'a.
A market town and administrative centre developed during the Ottoman Empire, it is one of the most important ...
province in northern Yemen, as his place of birth. The tribal district of the
Banu Hakam is indicated by his denomination, "''al-Hakami''". He was descended from the
Qahtan
The terms Qahtanite and Qahtani ( ar, قَحْطَانِي; transliterated: Qaḥṭānī) refer to Arabs who originate from South Arabia. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple ancient Arabian inscriptions found in Yemen. Arab traditions be ...
tribe through al-Hakam ibn Saad al-Ashira of the
Banu Madh'hij. In 1136-7, he went to
Zabid
Zabid ( ar, زَبِيد) (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since ...
, where he studied jurisprudence for four years. In 1154-5 while on
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
to Mecca he came to the notice of the ruler of Mecca,
Qasim ibn Abi Falita Qasim, Qasem or Casim may refer to:
* Qasim (name), a given name of Arabic origin and the name of several people
* Port Qasim, port in Karachi, Pakistan
* ''Kasım'' and ''Casim'', respectively the Ottoman Turkish and Romanian names for General T ...
, who sent him as his envoy to the
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
. In May 1155, Umara arrived at the court in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
of the six-year-old caliph
Al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah
Abūʾl-Qāsim ʿĪsā ibn al-Ẓāfir ( ar, أبو القاسم عيسى بن الظافر; 1149–1160), better known by his regnal name al-Fāʾiz bi-Naṣr Allāh (), was the thirteenth and penultimate Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1 ...
. The
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
Tala'i ibn Ruzzik
Tala'i ibn Ruzzik ( ar, طلائع ﺑﻦ ﺭﺯﻳﻚ, Ṭalāʾīʿ ibn Ruzzīk, with his full titles and surnames ''Abū'l-Gharāt Fāris al-Muslimīn al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ṭalāʾīʿ ibn Ruzzīk al-Ghassānī al-Armanī'') was a military co ...
was the effective ruler, styling himself ''al-Mālik aṣ-Ṣāliḥ'', "The Virtuous King". In the presence of both, Umara recited his panegyric ''
qasida
The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...
''. This short extract is a paraphrase:
Tala'i ibn Ruzzik, who surrounded himself with scholars, ''
qāḍī
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
s'' and ''
kātibs'', favoured Umara with distinction. Umara resided at the Fatimid capital until December 1155 and by April 1156 had returned to Mecca, before journeying on to Zabid. The same year Qasim once again sent him as envoy to Egypt, where he remained until his death. Ibn Ruzzik, a zealous Isma'ilite, failed to convert Umāra, who remained steadfast to his
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 ...
orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
faith and the
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
school. Despite their religious differences and due to Umara's great sociability, they became constant companions, Umara composing numerous eulogiums for the vizier and his sons.
In 1160 al-Fa'iz died aged 11 and Ibn Ruzzik placed his cousin
al-Adid
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ( ar, أبو محمد عبد الله بن يوسف; 1151–1171), better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh ( ar, العاضد لدين الله, , Strengthener of God's Faith), was the ...
, also a minor, on the throne. When Ibn Ruzzik died in 1161, he was briefly succeeded by his son,
Ruzzik ibn Tala'i
Abū Shujāʿ Ruzzīk ibn Ṭalāʾiʿ was the son of the Twelver Shi'a Armenian vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate, Tala'i ibn Ruzzik, and succeeded his father when the latter was assassinated in September 1161. He was himself overthrown by the Bedou ...
, who took the title ''al-Malik al-'Ādil al-Nāṣir''. Upon al-Adil's assassination in 1162 the rival claimant
Shawar
Shawar ibn Mujir al-Sa'di ( ar, شاور بن مجير السعدي, Shāwar ibn Mujīr al-Saʿdī; died 18 January 1169) was an Arab ''de facto'' ruler of Fatimid Egypt, as its vizier, from December 1162 until his assassination in 1169 by the ge ...
was installed as vizier with the aid of the
Sultan of Aleppo
The rulers of Aleppo ruled as kings, emirs and sultans of the city and its surrounding region since the later half of the 3rd millennium BC, starting with the kings of Armi, followed by the Amorite dynasty of Yamhad. Muslim rule of the city end ...
, ''
atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the title's use was wit ...
''
Nur ad-Din Mahmud
Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. "Light of the Faith" in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province (''Shām'') of the Seljuk Empire. He reig ...
, whose Kurdish general
Shirkuh
Asad ad-Dīn Shīrkūh bin Shādhī (; ar, أسد الدين شيركوه بن شاذي), also known as Shirkuh, or Şêrko (meaning "lion of the mountains" in Kurdish) (died 22 February 1169) was a Kurdish military commander, and uncle of Salad ...
led his army into Egypt. A five-year struggle for control of the enfeebled Fatimid realm ensued between the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
and Nur ad-Din, culminating in the killing of Shawar in 1168, and the accession of Nur ad-Din's representative, Shirkuh, to the vizierate. Shirkuh died later that year, and al-Aḍid invested the vizirate in Shirkuh's nephew,
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, who received the title of ''al-Mālik al-Nasir'' ("the Succouring King"). By 1171 al-Aḍid was on the point of death when he was formally deposed by Saladin as the last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, and the suzerainty of the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
was restored over Egypt.
Conspiracy and execution
When a plot, involving
Amalric of Jerusalem
Amalric or Amaury I ( la, Amalricus; french: Amaury; 113611 July 1174) was King of Jerusalem from 1163, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. He was the second son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem, and succeeded his older broth ...
to restore Fatimid rule, was discovered, Umara was among the eight principal conspirators arrested. He and his co-conspirators were sentenced to death by strangulation. The execution took place at Cairo on a Saturday in April 1174.
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani
Muhammad ibn Hamed Isfahani (1125 – 20 June 1201) ( fa, محمد ابن حامد اصفهانی), more popularly known as Imad ad-din al-Isfahani ( fa, عماد الدین اصفهانی) ( ar, عماد الدين الأصفهاني), was ...
wrote in his ''Kharīdat al-Kasr'':
Evidence supporting the suspicion of Umara's involvement in the conspiracy had been his proposal for
Turan Shah
Shams ad-Din Turanshah ibn Ayyub al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Shams ad-Dawla Fakhr ad-Din known simply as Turanshah ( ar, توران شاه بن أيوب) (died 27 June 1180) was the Ayyubid dynasty, Ayyubid emir (prince) of Islamic history of Yemen, Yeme ...
, Saladin’s brother, to lead an invasion force for the conquest of Yemen. The commander’s absence would have greatly increased the chances of the conspiracy succeeding.
Another factor may have been the influential head of Saladin's chancellery,
al-Qadi al-Fadil
Muhyi al-Din (or Mujir al-Din) Abu Ali Abd al-Rahim ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Lakhmi al-Baysani al-Asqalani, better known by the honorific name al-Qadi al-Fadil ( ar, القاضي الفاضل, al-Ḳāḍī al-Fāḍil, the Excellent ...
(1135-1200). Umara had for a time enjoyed amical relations with him, and it was al-Faḍl who had suggested to Umara to write a history of Yemen. However they became bitter enemies and his hatred of Umara, and others' of Saladin's adherents, may have fed the suspicions.
Some of Umara's poems in honour of Saladin and his family are included in his ''
Dīwān'' (collection of poetical works). However, in one addressed to Saladin, entitled ''Shikāya tal-Mutazallim wa Nikāya tal-Mutaāllim'' ("Complaint of the oppressed and pains of the afflicted"), he describes his miserable situation. In another, the “People of the Palace”, he openly laments the fall of the Fatimids.
Al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
says the following poem composed by Umara was the cause of his death:
Umara was also accused of writing this dubious verse:
Idris Imad al-Din
Idris Imad al-Din ( ar, إدريس عماد الدين بن الحسن القرشي, Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn ibn al-Ḥasan al-Qurashī; 1392 – 10 June 1468) was the 19th Tayyibi Isma'ili '' Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq'' and a major religious and politic ...
quotes verses of as-Salih ibn Ruzzik addressed to Umara, pressing him to become a
Shi'ite
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
. In the same page he observes “Strange that Umara, who had refused to attach himself to the Fatimid Ismaili doctrines when they ruled, should have given his life to restore them to power.”
Works
*''The Land of Yemen and Its History'' (translated by
Henry Cassels Kay into English and published with the title ''Yaman, its early mediaeval History by Najm ad-Dīn ‘Omārah Al-Ḥakami…''; (original texts, with translation and notes; London: Edward Arnold, 1892), by Umarah ibn Ali al-Hakami (1120 or 1121-1174), Ibn Khaldun, and Muhammad ibn Ya'qub Janadi.
*''An-Nukat al-Asriya il-Wuzarā il Misriya'' ((); (contemporary anecdotes respecting the vizirs of Egypt)
*''Les finesses contemporaines, récits sur les vizirs d’Égypte''; French-Arabic edition published by the French orientalist
Hartwig Derenbourg
Hartwig Derenbourg (17 June 1844 – 12 April 1908) was a French Orientalist.
Biography
Hartwig Derenbourg was born in Paris, where he studied Hebrew, Arabic, and other Semitic languages as a pupil of Joseph Toussaint Reinaud, Salomon Ulmann a ...
.
*Dīwān of ‘Umāra, or unknown poems by two other editors introduced by ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ismāʻīl Abū Shāmah; ca. 1250 into his ''Kitāb al-Rawadhatayn fī Akhbār al-Dawlatayn'', () (''Book Of Two Gardens'') dedicated to the two rulers Nūr ad-Dīn and Saladin. (Bayrūt, Muʼassasat al-Risālah, 1997.)
*ʻImād al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Kātib al-Iṣfahānī (1125-1201), Saladin’s first secretary for Syrian affairs, in ''Kharīdat al-qaṣr wa-jarīdat al-ʻaṣr'' published Umāra's poems and a short biography in rhyming prose.
*''Mufid fi Akhbar Zabid'' () ("Book of Instruction on the History of Zabid"),
Manuscripts
*Manuscript A,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
610 de l’ancien fonds; Cat. No. 2147.
*Manuscript B,
Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...
2256, described by
Wilhelm Pertsch; Cat. IV, p. 268.
*Manuscript C,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
835 (Marsh, 72; Uri, Catalogus p. 181).
*Manuscript D.
Asiatic Museum
The Asiatic Museum (Азиатский музей) in Saint Petersburg was one of the first museums of Asian art in Europe. Its existence spanned 112 years from 1818 to 1930 when it was incorporated into the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the ...
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia, 298.
See also
*
Muslim scholars
This article is an incomplete list of noted modern-era (20th to 21st century) Islamic scholars. This refers to religious authorities whose publications or statements are accepted as pronouncements on religion by their respective communities and ...
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umara al-Yamani
1121 births
1174 deaths
12th-century Arab historians
12th-century Arabic poets
12th-century jurists
12th-century people from the Fatimid Caliphate
12th-century Egyptian historians
People executed by strangulation
Treason trials
Yemeni writers
12th-century executions
Scholars from the Ayyubid Sultanate
Yemeni Sunni Muslims
Ambassadors to the Fatimid Caliphate
Saladin