Ya'Qubi - Adaptation of Men to Their Times

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The Adaptation of Men to Their Time: An Historical Essay by Al-ya'Q#b#

William G. Millward; Al-ya'Q#b#

Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 84, No. 4. (Oct. - Dec., 1964), pp. 329-344.

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T H E A D A P TA T IO N O F M E N T O T H E I R T I M E :A N H I S T O R I C A L E S S A Y B Y A L - Y A ' Q V B I

TRANSLATED AND A N N O T A T E D BYWILLIAM G. MILLWARD

TBHEAN

Introduction * on film by the Institute for the Restoration ofAra bic Man uscr ipts of the Leagu e of Ara b state .^T H E NISTE CENTURY ARAB\TRITER &mad b. The manuscript occurs in a six-part hliscellanyd b i Ya'qub al-Ya'qiibil is already well known as from the library of Illurzd Mull% in Istanbul,the au tho r of two valuable books, one on geography covering pages 79b to 86b, inclusive, of this cor-(Ei tdb a l-Buld&n),2 he o ther on h is tory ( T a ' r ~ k h ) . ~ Palaeographical evidence indicates that theThe text translated hereafter represents another ofal-Ya'qiibi's historical compositions, a shorttreat ise with the ful l t i t le J tushdkalat al-misli-zamcinihim wa-md yaghlibu 'alayhim f i kulli'ap%n. The existence of this little monograph at-trib ute d to al-Ya'qiibi's auth orsh ip has been knownto l l usl im scholarship since the 13th century A. D.(7t h century of the H ijr a) .* A presumably com-plete copy of it came to light with the publicationof the catalogue of Arabic historical manuscripts

* I would like to convey here my gratitude to Dr.Michel hfazzaoui and Professor S. hf. Stern for generoushelp and criticism extended during the preparation ofthis article.

1 Ahmad b. Ish&q (Abi Ya'qfib) b. Ja' fa r b. Wahb b.W&dih al- K&tib al-'Abbasi. Following the notice inYBqiit (see footnote 4 below) t he tra diti onal date foral-Ya'qebi's death is given as 284/897, but with thepublication and tra nsl ati on of his Kitcib al-Bulddn newevidence mas adduced for advancing this date as lateas 292/905 (Wie t, Les Pays, avan t propos viii, and p.244). The fact that the present work by al-Ya'qubitakes account of the caliph al-hfu' tadid (A . D. 892-902),albeit very briefly, may be considered supporting evi-dence for the later date.

%ed. N, J , de Goeje, (Bib lioth eca Geographorum-4rabicum VI I ) , Leiden, 1892. -41~0,Kajaf, 1938. Trans.Gaston W7iet, Les Pays, (Textes et Traductions d'Au-teurs Orientaux-Tome Premier-Publications de 1'In-st it ut Franeais d'Arch6ologie Orie ntal e), Cairo, 1937.

Ibn Wndhih qui dicitur al-Ja'qubi, Hi sto ~i ae, didit11. Th. Houtsma, 2 vols., Lugduni Batavorum, 1883.Also, 3 par ts, Najaf, 1358/1939; 3 vols., Beirut, 1375/1955-6; 2 vols., Beirut, 1379/1960. (Cita tio ns herea fterare to the second Beirut edition).

P&qiit, rshBd al-Arib ilci Ma'rifat al-Adib, ed. D. S.Xargoliouth (Gibb Memorial Series VI, 2nd ed. ), 7vols., London, 1923-31, 11. pp. 156-7.

majmd'a, written in a clear naskhi hand, datesfrom the ninth century of the H ijr a (15th centuryA. D.). Orthographical features include omissionof medial long aliph; the diacritical vowel pointsare only rarely supplied, usually to indicate tan-win. Red ink is used occasionally to indicate anew heading or to introduce a new personality.There are only sporadic marginal notations,mostly omissions from the body of the text cor-rected by the copyist himself. Two insignificantnotat ions appear to be writ ten in the margin byanother hand.

I n essence the trea tise is simply a brief surveyof the reigns of the various caliphs from AbiiBakr to al-Mu' tadid, in which the author at temptsto demonstrate the thesis that the principle ofimitation was one of the most important factorsin the development of Islam ic civilization. Un -fortu nate ly the te xt itself does not quite live up to6Pihris al-YakhtQtcit al-Mu~awwara,Vol. 2, Pt. 1

(Ta'rikh) ed. Lutfi 'Abd al-Badi', Cairo, 1956, p. 214,KO. 405.. The majmC'a in question is not number 1410 in thecatalogue of the l ibr ary of hIur&d Mull&, a s claimed inthe above-named reference, but the number 1433(majmQ'a dhaha biyya ). See Defter-i Kutiipkhdne-iDcimcidzcide Kcidi 'Asker Yehmed Murcid, Constantinople,1311/1893-4, p. 115.

Another copy of t his te xt is exta nt in the F&tihLibrary, number 5347. I t is the fourth p ar t of a com-posite Miscellany composed of t en sect ions, and coversfolios i3 b to 75a. The script is rtasta'liq and cannot becounted more than two hundred years old. This copyrepresents only par t (ab out one-t hird) of the completework. The vari ants are minimal and add nothing toour knowledge of the tex t.


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330 MILLWARD:T h e Ad ap ta ti on of Z e n t o T h e i r T i m ethe promise of its highly suggestive title.? It con-tains no explicit philosophical exposition but isconcerned primarily with concrete statements offact which are the material illustrations of theauthor's main point, to wit, that the early caliphsof the Arab empires were the models of taste andetiquette both for the nobles and the masses ofpopulation in their respective domains. Th efashions of architecture they se t for the ir housesand palaces were copied by their aristocratic con-temporaries. Modes of dress and trai ts of cha r-acter and behaviour exhibited by the chief of stateand his courtiers were even emulated by the broadmass of society. T h e aust ere simp licity of the daysof the orthodox caliphate is sharply contrasted tothe extravagant ostentation of later Umayyad and'Abblsid times. It is doubtful whether much ofthe information contained in this pamphlet can beconsidered new or hitherto unknown. Its chiefvalue lies in the wealth of corroborating evidenceit supplies for the economic, social and culturalhistory of Islam. Moreover, it is one of the earliestextant examples of the 'historical essay ' genre ofcomposition in Arabic litera ture a nd indeed one ofthe rare attempts by Muslim historians to passbeyond mere reporting of historical facts to dis-cerning certain general principles in the historicalprocess an d thei r import fo r human society.I n the course of his brief account al-Ya'qiibiemploys seven different expressions to convey theidea implicit in the key word of th e title, mushdka-lat (ada ptati on). These are listed as follows inthe order of frequency of occurrence in the text:( a ) dhahaba madhhabahu ( e ) i t taba'ahu(b ) tashabbaha bihi ( f ) iqtafd atharahu(c ) salaka sabilahu ( g ) iqtad6 bihi( d ) taqabbala fi'lahuThese expressions, in the context of the presenttreatise, are all variations on the theme which thetitle conveys most succinctly. Th e first example isby far the most frequently ci ted; for the most pa rtthi s expression is used i n th e general sense of "t oadopt or follow th e opinion or practice of (some-one)," but o n a t least one occasion it appears tohave the more technical meaning "to profess areligious view or belief." The basic notion behindall seven expressions is Qne a nd th e same. Doubt-less linguis tic usage i n al-Ya'qiibi's time sanc-

Cf . F. Rosenthal, A H i s t o r y o f M u s l i m H i s t o r i o g -raphy, Leiden, 1952, p. 15 .

t ioned one term rather tha n another in a part icularcontext so th at each of these expressions usedseparately may well have stood for a specific aspec-tua l variation of th e basic idea. Fo r the purposesof the present work however, the author appearsto have used these expressions roughly sjnono-mously to preserve the unity and sharpen theimpact of his central idea.

Nowhere is this idea elaborated in detailed terms.The author was apparently content with a super-ficial statement of his frame of reference such asis implied by each of these expressions. For themost part he is concerned with specific, concretestatements of f act which illustrate his main point.This idiosyncracy is indicative of the same practi-cal, statistical approach which readers of his ge-ography and history will quickly come to associatewith the author's name. H is preoccupation withfigures and numerical detail is characteristic of allal-Ya'qfibi's comp osition, an d while it serves thedemands of his primarily u tilitaria n liter ary valuesit must also be regarded as the main cause of hisstylistic deficiencies. I n the present work, th elarge num ber of quasi-synonymous expressions forthe same idea no doubt represents the author'sattempt to alleviate somewhat the rather stiltedand discursive style, an d to mitigate the tendencyto monotony resu lting from the constant repetitionof such phrases as "an d he was the first person todo such and such . . ."

Th is last phrase leads to recognition of anotherimportant aspect of this treatise, namely, its rela-tion t o al-Ya'qiibi's othe r works, an d its positionand classification vis-8-vis the other genres in thescheme of Arabic literat ure. These two categoriesmerge together when considering a feature ofal-Ya'aiibi's historical work which has hithertobeen overlooked. Even a cu rsory glance a t the tex tof the treatise will reveal tha t i t partakes, in largemeasure, of th e na tur e an d substance of th e awd'illitera ture. As such it is an expression of th e sameinterest which the author manifests countless timesthroughout the pages of his larger historical work.8I n some cases the same awd'il traditions are givenboth in the larger H i s t o r y and in th e treatise, b utthe majority of those given in the treatise repre-sen t new inform ation which al-Pa'qiibi himself h asnot given elsewhere. Since the H i s t o r y deals pri-

s A typical passage for repeated examples of awci'iltraditions may be found in the chapter on &fu'%~viya'scaliphate; i. e. 11, pp. 21G-40.


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331ILLWARD:The Adaptation of Men to Their Timemarily with political considerations, it is not sur-prising t ha t the auth or should find scope to presentnew traditions about "the first inventors or doersof things " n his treatise with its more prominentsocial and cultural orientation.

I n this sense the present treatise represents botha precis or condensation of t he larger work, and a tthe same time, a supplement thereto. It coversroughly the same time expanse as par t two of hisHi story , except of course th a t he passes over thecareer of the Prophet. It includes, moreover, men-

many traditions from the present treatise withportions of t ha t work. Th e obvious question thu sarises as to the na ture and direction of t he int er-dependence between the two compositions. Areview of the parallel traditions unfortunately re-veals no reliable indicatio n of the source or sourcesutilized by both authors. Both dispense with theisnfid formula, thus mak ing i t impossible to ascer-tain in which collections and by which authoritiesthese traditions were first brough t together. Twoalternative explanations for this remarkable seriestion of one more 'AbbHsid caliph than the H i s t ~ r y , ~ f parallels can be suggested. Firs tly, i t is not

a fact that suggests it was written at least twentyyears later, presumably close to the time of theauthor's death. It is thus the produc t of hismature years and represents his reflections onsocial and cu ltu ral aspects of Islam ic history.Inso far as this treatise contains awd'il traditionsit shares the distinction of being one of the earlie stexamples of this type of literature among Arabauthors. Awd'il literature first appeared, accord-in g to the testimony of I bn al-Nadim,1 shortlyafte r the beginnin g of th e thi rd cen tury of th eHijra. None of the alleged early works of thiskind has survived however, or been quoted assources in later examples, so that some doubt hasbeen expressed as to whether they dealt with awii'ilin the later technical sense represented by thistrea tise of al-Ya'qfibi's.l1 I n any event al-Yacqfibiwas contemporary with the first positive exampleof the histo rical va riety of aw&'il which app ears i nIbn Qutayba's Eitfib al-Ma'&rif,12and a good cen-tury in advance of the first known monographtrea tm ent of the subject in an adab context.13BToreover, the examples given in the present workby al-Yacqfibi show affinities to a ll th e lat er knownvarieties of this literary genre, viz., the historical,adab and theological contexts.Readers familiar with al-Masxdi's Jfurzijal-Dhahab will recognize at once the similarity ofThe Ta'rikh concludes with a notice mentioning the

yea r 259,472, i. e. the year 2 of a l-Mu' tamid's reign(870-892) , whereas the treatise mentions al-Mu'tadid(892-902),his successor.1 Fihr is t, ed. RahmBniyya, Cairo, 1348H, p. 151, a t -tributed to al-RLads'ini.

l1F. Rosenthal, Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd Edition),s. v. Awci'il, p. 758.ed. F. Wiistenfeld, Gijttingen, 1850, pp.. 273-77.

l3dhii Hilitl al-'Askari (d. 395/1005), Katcib al-Awri'il;cf. C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Li tt er a-tu r, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Leiden, 1943-49, Supplement , 3 vols.,1937-42, I, 126.

inconceivable that al-BfasYidi (d. A. D. 956) usedal-Ya'qcbi's treatise, in one fo rm or another, forhis version of these trad ition s. The numb er ofparallel traditions, forty-three in all, is unusuallyhigh i n a work as short as the present treatise, andmoreover the parallels extend virtually the wholelength of it. There are many variant readings andfrequent substantive differences in individualtraditions but these might be explained as altera-tions which have arisen during the transmissionhistory of both works. There is a fur the r difficulty,however, in the fact that al-Mas'fidi does not ac-knowledge this opuscule by al-Ya'qfibi among hisdeclared sources as he does fo r al-Ya'qfibi's Ta'r ikh .It may be answered that its content; were perhapsreceived by him through some intermediary whodid n ot acknowledge al-Yacqfibi as the p riorauthority.14

A more plausible explanation would seem to beth at al-Ya'qfibi and al-Mas'fidi drew thei r material14 An example of one such possibility is given by

Mas'iidi himself (Mu rEj , ed. P. de Courteille and C. B.de Meynard, 9 vols., Par is, 1861-77, VI II , pp. 289, 304)in connection with a series of paral lels dealing with the'Ahbitsid caliphs up to al-hlutawakkil. " The historianMuhammad h. 'Ali al-hlisri al-Khuritsitni has mentionedthat one day al-Qithir took him aside and made himpromise to tell the tru e st ory (ab out the 'AhbBsids) bythrea tening him with a weapon." Having set the stagewith this introduction, hlas'iidi proceeds t o relate a com-pact series of t rad iti ons which, with only a few excep-tions, have their counterp arts in Ya'qiibi's tr eatis e. Theparallels are rarely exact though their intent is one andthe same. In cases where the difference in choice ofwords is marked, Mas'iidi generally represents the fullerand more intelligible version. He concludes thi s section(V II I, p. 304) with t he following notice: " The man whorelated the preceding account to me i s the a uthor ofmany fine stories (akhbcir); he is still alive today, inthe year 333 [944/45], earning his living as a story-teller a t court and a companion to people in highplaces. He is a man of keen intel lect and soundopinions."


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332 MILLWARD: The Adaptat ion of Men t o Their Timefrom one or more common sources. It is difficultto accept the proposition that al-Ya'qfibi's namecould be completely dissociated from these tradi-tions in the short space of time separating thecomposition dates of these two works, if he werethe first to collect them together an d comm it themto writ ing in a s ingle opus. The fact that theparallels occur at regular intervals consistentlythroughout the treatise (excepting only the sectiondealing with al-3la'mfin's clemency), militatesagainst the probability of a plurality of commonsources. It must remain an open question whichof the authorities named by al-Uascfidi in hispreface represents the source of this information,or whether in fa ct he has named him a t all .Two further indications on sources are foundin the text of the treatise itself. I n two separatetraditions, both of which have their parallel inal-Mas'udi, the a utho rities 'Abd Alliih b. 'Utba an dSa'id b. al-Musayyib are named as the originalsources for the information related. There is noindication whatever of the intermediate stages inthe chain of transm ission to al-Ya'qfibi. Morespecific evidence on this question however is pro-vided by another parallel, this time with al-Tabari(111. p. 2329,-concerning Hu wa ytib b. 'Abdal-'UzzL's purc hase of a house fro m hfu'l wi ya) , fo rwhich he supplies the following isni id :Ib n 'Umar-'Abd al-Ralpniin b. Abi al-Zinld-his father.15

'-Abd A lla h h. Dhikm&n, a nati ve of Medina a nd aclient of Quraysh. He received trad itions fro m 'UbaydAll&h h. 'Abd AllZh, Ih n 'Ahb&s, AbC Hu ra yr a and


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333I L LWARD : The Adaptation of .Men to Their TimeTHE AD-4PTATIOx OF MEN TO THEIR TIME "You have disgraced us, since, being our lord, youA N D WHAT CHARACTERIZES THEM carry a sheep-skin in the company of the Rluha-

IN EVERY AGE * j i ri in an d An~ ar. " To this he replied, "Did youI n the name of Allah, the Xe rcifu l an d Compas-sionate ;may He bless our lord Rluhammad.The eminent and distinguished scholar, theHafi? and Im am Ahm ad b. Abi Ya'qiib b. Ja'f ar b.WBdih (may God have mercy on him !) has said:The 31uslims in every era have followed the ex-ample of the caliphs an d rulers of Islam, travellingthe course they charted, subscribing to theirrespective programmes and conducting themselvesin accordance with the model they observed inthem, without deviat ing from [the standard of]their moral qualities, t heir actions and th eir words.

[THE ORTHODOX CALIPHS] 17Aft er God's messe nger (o n whom God's blessingan d peace !), Abii Bak r was th e most ascetic of t hehluslims, as well as the most humble an d the mostspa rin g in h is dress. While he was caliph he usuallywore a long cloak that covered the whole body(sh am la) or a stripe d woollen cloak ('abd'a). Th eArab notables and the kings of the Yaman wouldcome into his presence wearing crowns and em-broidered brocade cloaks an d garm ents ;when theyperceived his humble clothing, they removed whatthey were wearing, adopted his habit, and followed

his example. Among those who appeared beforeAbii Bakr was Dhii al-Hula', the king of Himyar-who had a retinue ten thousan d strong in ser-vice throughout his administrative districts-sur-rounded by his relatives and retainers and wearinghis royal crown. T h e n he saw Abii Bakr's clothinghe exclaimed, "It is not fitting that we shoulddress in a fashion contrary to t h at of the successorto God's messenger," (u po n whom God's blessingan d peace !) an d with tha t he removed his custom-ary garb and adopted the habit of Abii Bakr.When he was seen later in the mar ket of RIedinawearing a sheep-skin draped about his neck, hisrelatives and followers reproached him saying,

* From the Arabic tex t printed in Beirut (The NewBook Publishing House), 1962, mith introduction andindex, 47 pp. This tex t was recently reprinted alongmith a Persian translation, introduction and notes; seeHusayn Khadiv Jam, H a m c i h a n g i - y i M a r d o m , (Ibn-iSin& ) Tehran , 1343Hs/1964, 69 pp.

This heading does not occur in the MSS but repre-sents an addition to the Arabic printed te xt for purposesof parallelism.

k a n t me to be a proud ty rant i n the JBhil iyya andin Islam as well ? " l8Al-Ash'ath b. Qays, the king of Hinda, wasaccustomed to wear a crown and was usuallygreeted with the phrase "May God prolong theking's life ! " When he returned to Islam afterhaving apostasized from i t and Abii Bakr had m ar-ried him to his sister Umm Farwa, the d aughter ofAbii Quhafa, after being haughty and proud hebecame humble and gentle to the point where hewould wrap himself firmly in worn and shabbygarments and would then proceed himself to rubdown the hides of the cattle with a black germi-cide, emulating Abii Bakr and casting asivde the

habits he used to practise during the Jahiliyya.Abii Bakr (God have mercy on him!) wouldnot permit any of the nobles to exceed the limitsof pro priety an d custom. One day he was informedabout a matter concerning Abii SufyBn b. Harbwhich displeased him. He summoned the latterand began shouting at him so that Abii SufyBnbecame humble and submissive toward him. AbiiQu&ifa app roac hed the scene guid ed by his atten -dant-for he ha d alrea dy become blind-and whenhe heard Abii Bakr shouting he inquired of hisguide as to whom i t was directed. SQhen informedth at it was Abii Sufy an b. Ha rb, he exclaimed,"Do you presume to raise your voice to Abii Su-fyan, 0 'Atiq?lg You have certainly oversteppedyour ra nk !" To this Abii Bakr replied, "RIyfather, through Islam God has elevated some andhumb led others."

Then came 'Umar b. al-HhattBb (the mercy ofGod alm ighty be upon him !) who was character-ized by his humble circumstances, the austerity ofhis clothing and fare and his scrupulous concernfor matters relating to God. His governors andCf. hlas'iidi, op. c i t . , IV, pq. 178-79.

Is Both MSS read " qci la ab a 'a t iq a 'a16 abi sufycin. . ." The printed text (page 11, line 6) has beenemended to read " qci la abC 'a t iq : a 'a16 ab i sufycin . . ."The epithet ' a t i q (freed slave) mas attribut ed as a l aqabto both Sbii Bakr and his fath er, Sbii QfiBfa 'UthmBn.I have not found a single precedent for its use in ak u n y a ascribed to the father. I t would therefore seembest to emend the printed text to read " qc i l a : yci ' a t i q ,a 'a lc i abi sufycin . . . " I have so translated. Cf. IbnSa'd, al -Tabaqci t , ed. Sachau et alii, 9 vols., Leiden, 1904-40, III/l, pp. 120, 133. EI ( 2 ) , s. v. Sbii Bakr.

20 Cf. Mas'iidi, IV, pp. 179-80.


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33 4 MILLWARD:The Adaptation of Z e n t o Thei r Timeother agents, whether in his presence or far re-moved from him, all followed his example and hedid not dissociate himself from any one of thecompanions of God's messenger (upon whom God'sblessing and peace !). He usually wore a full-sleeved woollen chemise (jubba @ f ) an d wrappedhimself w ith a stripe d woollen cloak ('abd'd) .21 H ewould often rub down the cattle with disinfectantan d carry th e w ater skins on his back for his family.His lieutenants, the men who governed the prov-inces and commanded the armies, to whom Godgave the victory of conquest and whom he endowed,strengthened, enriched and sufficed, used to gobarefoot; they would remove their shoes (ni'bl)and mould not put on slippers (k hifaf) . Theywere accustomed to wear rough clothing and when-ever they appeared before him they were usuallypale and wan, disheveled and dusty and cladin coarse garmen ts. If he actually saw them ,or if he even heard of them doing otherwise he wasdispleased with them for it. Their r iding animalswere more often camels than horses, in accordancewith [their desire to1 emulate 'Umar and to imi-tate his actions and the customs normally prac-tised during the lifetime of God's messenger (onwhom God's blessing an d peace!). Th us Abfi'Ubayda b. al-Jarrlh, the military commander ofSyria, over which God had given him victory, wasseen wearin g a woollen jubb a w hich gave off astro ng odour. [ I n defense of this] he declared, " Ionce sa t down in the presence of God's messenger(on whom God's blessing an d peace !) in a gar-ment more fet id than this and he did not dis-approTe of it." 22SalmBn al-FBrisi, 'Umar b. al-Khattlb's gover-nor over al-IIadB'in, used to wear rough clothingand ride around on a she-ass equipped with a packsaddle an d halter rope made of palm-fibre. Whenhis death was imminent, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqiis cameto him and asked, "Do you h are any final instruc-t ions for me 0 Abfi 'Abd Allah ? " "Yes indeed,"he replied, "reckon God among your thoughtswhenever you make any plans, mention him withyour tongue whenever you speak and bear himwitness with your hand whenever you disburseyour wealth." 23 With that Salmiin began to weepand Sa'd asked him w hat i t was th at m ade him doso. H e answered, " I once heard God's messenger

21 Ib id . , p. 193. 22 Ibid. , pp. 196-97. 23 i d h R q a s a m t a , or alternatively, "whenever you make

a division of spoils."

say that in the hereafter there is an obstacle thatcann ot be crossed except by those who trave l light,a n d I see all these black objects surrounding me."Sa'd explained that he looked around and sawnothing in his house except a few pots and pans(idawa, rakwa, qidr, ma$ hara ) 24'Umar b. al-KhattBb made 'Umayr b. Sa'dal-Ansari military commander a t Himg. H e re-mained there for one year and then returned onhis camel in the very same condition in which heoriginally parted from 'Gmar. [When he realizedthis] 'Umar declared, "Woe to the people overwhom you were pu t in charge! Did they notrecognize your rights?" or some such remark asthat .

Upon returning from the pilgrimage, 'Umar b.al-KhattZb said to his son 'Abd AllBh, "How muchdid we spend on our pilgrimage ? " His son repliedthat they had spent sixteen dinars, whereupon heexclaimed, "We have certainly Seen extravagantwith our money." 25

'CthmLn b. '8ffBn was known for his forbear-ance and generosity, for helping his kinsmen andfamily and for spending money according to hisfancy; 26 and people emulated his behaviour.'UthmBn built a home in Medina on which hespent a large sum of money by constructing it ofstone and pu ttin g teakwood on its doors. H e alsoacquired properties in Nedina, springs and herdsof camels. 'd bd A llBh b. 'Utba 2T has reported thaton the day of his death 'Uthmln left in his trea-sury one hundred and fifty thousand dinars andone million dirham s. H is estates were Bi'r Aris,Khaybar and SQBdi al-Qurii, whose total value was

24 Cf. Vas'iidi, IV, pp. 195-96.251bid., p. 255. Ibn Sa'd, op. cit., III/l, p. 222, lines11-13.

28 Cf. Ya'qiibi, T a ' r i k h , 11, p. 173.=?A bii Abd al-Rahm5tn 'Abd A llsh b. 'Utba b. Xas'iidal-Hudhali. A famous Medinan jurist and traditionist,he attained majority during the career of the Prophet

and died in Kiifa in 70 or 74H (one report has 9 4) .He heard t rad itions from 'Umar b. al-IChatt5tb andseventy early AIuslims, including his more famous pater-nal uncle 'Abd -4118h b. Mas'iid, for which reason he wasalso known as an authority on Qur'cin reading. He hadserved as one of 'Umar's governors and n7as made q d d iof ICiifa in 67H. His autho rity a s a tradi tion ist (h e isclassed as t h i q a ) was recognized by al-'Uqayli, al-Ajali,al-Bukhari, &fuslim and others. Many authoritie s alsomention his skill as a m u f t i . Cf. Ibn Sa'd, V, p. 42, VI,p. 82; Ibn KhallikBn, de Slane, I, p. 565, 2, p. 7 6 ; IbnQajar, T a q r i b a l - T a h d h i b , ed. Delhi, 1320, p. 107;T a h d h i b a l - T a h d h i b , ed. Haydarabad, vol., 5, pp. 211-12.


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335ILLWARD:The Adaptation of illen to Their Timetwo hundred thousand dinars. H e also lef t horsesand camels.28I n the days of 'Uthmg n the companions of God'smessenger (on whom H is blessing an d peace !)acquired property an d bu ilt houses. Al-Zubayr b.al-'Aww5m built his famous house in al-Basra wherethere were many mark ets and shops. Al-Zubayralso built a house in al-Kiifa, one in old Cairo(mk r )and one in A lexandria; 29 his finan cial assetstotaled fifty thou sand dinars. Besides this, he le fta thousand horses and a thousand slaves as well asproperty in old Cairo, Alexandria, al-Eiifa anda l -Ba~ra .~OTalha b. 'Ubayd All5h built houses and estatesto the value of one hundred thousand dinars.31H is daily income in Ir aq reached an even thousand[dirhams] ; his revenue fro m S yria was ten thou-sand dinars [per a n n ~ m ] . ~ ~e built his house ofgypsum, baked bricks and teakmood and left be-hind him great wealth in gold and silver.33'Abd al-Rahm5n b. 'Awf built himself a largean d spacious house, a nd owned a thousand head ofcattle, ten thousand sheep an d one hund red horses.A fo urt h part of all his wealth was valued ateighty-four thousand dinars.34

Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas built his house in 'Aqiq,35whitewashed it and put balconies on it. Sa'id b.al-Nusayyib 36 reported that Zayd b. Th5bit leftgold and silver enough to be broken up with pick-axes, in addition to property, estates and springs28 Cf. hfas'iidi, IV, p. 253." Cf. Ibn Sa'd III/l, p. 77, line 11f.30 Cf. lfas'fidi, IV, pp. 253-54.31Q gap in the F&tih l fS begins a t this point (bot-

tom of folio 74b ).32 Cf. Ibn Sa'd, III/l, p. 157, lines 22 f., 25 f.33 Cf. hfas'fidi, IV, p. 254.34 Ibid.36 There were several towns throughout Arab ia of thetime with thi s same name. Presumably the one near

lfe din a is meant here. Cf. Ygqfit, Mu'jarn al-Bulddn,ed. I?. Wiistenfeld, 6 vols., Leipzig, 1866-70, 111, p. 699 f.Ibn Sa'd, III/l, p. 105.

3BAbi i Muhammad Sa'id b. al-Musayyib b. Haznal-Qur ashi. -4 nat ive of hfedina and a member ofQuraysh, he was one of the seven grea t jurisconsults ofth at ci ty and the chief aut hority on Tradition amongthe Follo~-ers.He heard traditions from Abfi Hurayra,Sa'd b. Abi Waqqss and the Prophet's 15-ives. As afaqih he was highly regarded by al -Zuh ri and others.Born 15-16H/636-37 A.D., the dat e of his death inh1edina is various ly reported as 91/709-10 or 100/718-19, Cf. Ibn KhallikBn, de Slane, I, p. 568 f. ; al-Dhahabi,Tadhkirat, I, pp. 51 -3; Ya'qiibi, Ta'rikh, 11, pp. 232, 253,283-84, 303.

to a tota l value of one hundred and fifty thousandYa'lL b. Munya 38 al-Tamimi lef t f ive hundredthousand dinars, several mansions, estates and loancredits worth three hundred thousand dinars.39Al-hIiqd5d40 built his castle in al-Jurf usingunbaked bricks; he p ut stucco on i t both insideand out and incorporated balconies in its design.41No one had made use of these features previouslyduring the era of 'Umar and they came into gen-eral use only after his time.'Ali b. Abi TLlib (peace upon him!) was occu-pied all his days with fighting . hIoreover, he neverwore new garments, never owned an estate andnever contracted to acquire property other thanw h at h e h ad i n Ya nb u' a n d a l - B ~ g h a y b i g h a , ~ ~hoseincome he gave away as alms to the poor. Peo ple

preserved his speeches and sermons, of which hedelivered four hundred. They were retained i npeople's memories and are circulated among theman d made use of in t he ir own speeches an d dis-c o u r s e ~ . ~ ~[THE UMAYY-4D CA4LIPHS]44

Th en Jfuc8wiya b. Abi Suf yan acceded to thesupreme authority. H e built castles and erectedhouses, raised partitions and barriers, inauguratedthe watch an d police systems, an d set up th e office ofchamberlain. H e also built lodges in mosques an drode abo ut on slow-moving she-asses equipped withpadded saddles. H e wore silk an d embroideredgarments and inaugurated crown-properties 45 and'37 Cf. lfas'iidi, IV, pp. 254-55.88 Not " hfunabbih," as in the Arabic text. Cf.

al-Na~vawi,Tahdhib al-Asmd', ed. F. Wiistenfeld, Gijttin-gen, 1842, p. 638.

Cf. hIas'iidi, IV, p. 255.4 O Al-MiqdBd b. al-Aswad b. 'Amr al-Bahrgni, one of

the Companions and a prominent military commanderunder 'Umar and 'Uthman. Cf. Ya'qfibi, Ta'rikh, 11, pp..69, 124; al-K'awa~vi,op. cit., p. 575.

41 hfas'iidi, IV, p. 255.4 T h i s word is unpointed i n the lfuriid hIull& &IS;Cf. Ygqiit, Bulddn, vol. 1, p. 696, and 8.v. Yanbu';

hfas'iidi, IV, p. 441 f.4s Cf. JIas'iidi, IV, p. 441.4 4 This heading also does not occur in the MS.46Sau;df i(sg. scifiya),properly, the lands and proper-tie s of those who died fight ing the Muslims, which were

confiscated by the caliph, being his pa rt of the booty a schief of state. This type of land is first mentioned inconnection with the caliph 'Umar but the instituti on a si t was known in i ts lat er form was most probably in-aug ura ted by hIu'Bwiya, a s al-Ya'qiibi asserts here. Cf.


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336 MILLWARD:The Adaptation o f Nen to Their Timeestates. Em broidered finery was made for him int h e Y a m an , E g yp t, Ale xa nd ria a n d a l - X ~ h 1 . ~ ~i sfamily, children and governors all adopted hispractices and imitated his actions.'Amr b. al-'As built his house in Egypt andchose estates for himself there. On his estate inal-?%'if, called al-TT'aht, he planted one milliongrap e vines. H is [yearly] income reached ten mil-lion dirhams, and on the day of his death he leftbehind three hundred thousand dinars. TTlhen hisdeath was imminent he [is reported to have] said,"I could wish th at i t were [only] one hundredthousand dinars !"'Abd Alliih b. 'Amir b. Kurayz, bIu5wiya'sgovernor ('&mil)in al-Basra, also did somethingsimilar to this. He dug irrigation canals, erectedhouses, built castles and acquired estates, gardensand other properties in al-Basra, Mecca andal-Tii'if. JIu'iiwiya's govern or in Ir aq , ZiyBd,47 didthe same thing in al-Kfifa and al-Basra andthrough out the rest of the province. H e acquiredestates an d erected buildings. On the day of hisdeath he left six million dirhams and one hundredthousand dinars which were confiscated byhl'u'iiwiya. RIu'awiya used to tr ea t his governorsin this way, but sometimes he shared [the estatesof deceased governors] with th eir heirs [an d didnot confiscate the whole of it]. His governor inEgypt, RIaslama b. Mukhallid, also imitated thispractice. H e acquired estates in Egypt an d settledthem as trusts for the maintenance of his family.On his death he left one hundred thousand dinarsand one million dirhams.

'Uqba b. 'Amir al-Juhani, who was also governorfor RIuCiiwiya n Egypt, acquired estates there andmade charitable fou nda tions of some of these. H ebuilt himself a house in Egypt using stone andgypsum as building materials, and left an estateof thirty thousand dinars and seven hundredthousand dirhams.H uw ay tib b. 'Abd a l - ' U ~ z a ~ ~ aought houseD. C. Dennett, C o n v e r s i o n a n d t h e P o l l T a x in E a r l yI s l a m , Cambridge (Mas s.) , 1950, pp. 25-31. This termalso designated property abandoned by its owners, orwhose owners had died with out heirs. Cf. Ibn nfan~ fir ,L i sc i n a l - 'A rab , 20 vols., Bfillq, 1883-91, 19, p. 196.

4%ncient Edessa, in the province of al- Jazir a, equi-distant from Rfosul and Damascus. Cf. G. Le Strange,L a n d s o f t h e E a s t e r n C a l i p h at e , Cambridge, 1930, pp.103-4; SBqfit, B u l d B n , 11, p. 876, spelled al-Ruhl'.

4TZiy ldb. Abi Sufyln (or, b. Sum ayy a), more com-monly kno vn as Ibn Abihi. Cf. E I ( 1 ) , IV, p. 1232.48A member of the delegation sent by Quraysh to

from JIu'Bwiya for forty thousand dinars. [Onthis occasion] someone said to him [in disbelief]," 0 Abii Muhammad, forty thousand?" to whichhe replied, "What's forty thousand dinars to aman with a family of six? " 4 8 Mu'iiwiya used tosay [in this connection], " I have divided up thekingdom."Then Yazid b. AIu'Bwiya acceded to the supremeauthority. H e was fond of hunting, of gameanimals and dogs, of entertainment and booncompanionship over drinks; these tastes becameprevalent among his friends. It was in his timethat singing as a form of public entertainmentfirst made its appearance in Mecca and Medina,that musical instruments came into vogue and thenobles began to imbibe alcoholic beverages in

Then 'Abd al-bfalik b. MarwBn acceded to thehead of state. H e was stern, resolute and miserly ;he used to love poetry and panegyrics which glori-fied and praised him lavishly.51 I n his time theleading figures among the poets were Jarir,al-Farazdaq, al-Akh tal an d several others. Th edays of 'Abd al-RIalik witn essed th e efflorescence ofpoetry, and poets eulogised officials and soughtrewards.'Abd al-Malik was noted for being exceedinglybloodthirsty and his governors behaved accordingto his custom; these were, al-Hajjiij in Iraq,al-Muhallab in Khurasiin, HishBm b. Ismsilal-JIakhziimi in Medina, 'Abd Allah b. 'Abdal-IIalik in Egypt, Mfisa b. Kusayr al-Lakhmi inthe M aghrib, JIu2;lammad b. Tiisuf al-Thaqafi, thebrother of al-HajjBj, in the Taman, and Muham-mad b. Marwan in al-Ja zira and al-Mawsil. Theywere all unjust, tyrannical, violent and oppressive,and of them all al-HajjBj was the most tyrannousand most predisposed to bloodshed.52Al-Walid b. 'Abd al-Malik was proud, stubbornand tyrannical and his governors in all provinceswere of a sim ilar character. 'Um ar b. 'Abdal-'Aziz used to say that with al-Walid in Syria,

al-Hajjaj in Iraq, 'UthmLn b. HayyBn in theHijaz, JIuhanlmad b. Tiisuf in the Taman, Qurrab. Sh arik in Egy pt a nd hIiis% b. Kugayr in Ifr i-tre at ~ 15th luhammad over the fate of Mecca. Latera convert to Islam and a prominent Companion, d. 54.Cf. Ibn Sa'd, V, p. 335.

48 Cf. Tabari, f11. p. 2329.Cf. 1\IasCiidi,V, p. 157.Zbid., p. 210.

62 I b i d .


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337ILLWARD:The Adaptation of Men to Their Timeqiyya, th e whole ea rth was fu ll of injustice.Nothing of the achievements of al-Walid is knownexcept the fa ct tha t he built mosques, among th emthe great mosque of Damascus.Then Sulaymiin b. 'Abd al-hIalik b. Jlarwiinacceded to the caliphal authority. H e was a ma nwho liked his food and consumed large quantitiesof it, igno ring the limita tions of his capacity. H ewas also fond of wearing mantles, cloaks, trousers,turbans and caps, all made of fine embroideredcloth (wash


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338 MILLWARD:The Adaptation of Hen t o T h e i r Timeauthority, but his term of office did not last longso that his personal qualities and customary be-haviour are not known except the fac t tha t he usedto profess Mu'tazilism an d to engage in argu mentsabout it.

Then Marwiin b. Muhammad b. Marwan b.al-Hakam acceded to the supreme authority. H i sdays were devoted entirely to warfare ;however, hewas the first caliph to display 'asabiyya63and heengendered it in the people. H is secretary was'Abd al-Hamid b. Yahyii b. Sa'd, the author of the[well known] epistles who was a teacher a t thebeg innin g of his career. H e was the first person towrite long epistles and to make use of formulasascribing praise to God in the chapter headings ofhis books, a practice which was much used bypeople after him.64THE 'ABBASID C-4LIPHS

Abii al-'Abbiis was then invested with the titleof commander-of-the-faithful; his fu ll name was'Abd AllBh b. Muhammad b. 'Ali b. 'Abd AllBh b.al- 'dbbls b. 'Abd al- l lut tal ib. The f irst thing hedid-and people followed his example here-wasto deliver the khu tba while standin g at the pulpit .The Umayyads used to deliver the khutba whileseated, and thus people acclaimed al-'dbbls saying,"0 nephew of God's messenger, you have revivedth e custo m of God's em issary " (on whom God'sblessing and peace !) .6 5However, he did not hesitate to give orderswhich involved bloodshed. H is governors alsoshared this propen sity; they were, al-Asheath inthe Naghrib, Siilih b. 'A17 in Egypt, Hgzim b.Khuzayma and Humayd b. Qahtaba in Iraq, 'AbdAllah b. 'dli in Syria, Diiwiid b. 'Ali in the HijBz,and his brother Yahya b. X uham mad in al-Nawsil .Nevertheless he was also generous, liberal and "open-handed with his money.Then dbii Ja'far al-Mansfir 'Sbd AllBh b. Xu-hammad acceded to the supreme authority. H ewas the first Hiishimite to draw a distinctionbetween the progeny of al-'dbbBs b. 'Abd al-Nut-tal ib and AbE T ll ib b. 'Xbd a l- l lut ta l ib so th at thenames 'Abbiisi a nd T alibi came in to use. It is saidtha t t ha t had been the nam e of a l l Bani i H i i ~ h i m . ~ ~

He was the first caliph to acquire his own[court-] astronomers and to make use of the stars ;he was also the first caliph to have the old foreignbooks translated and transcribed into the Arabtongue. I n his days the books Eal%Za wa-D imn aand al-Xind Hind were translated [into Arabic]as were also the books of Aristotle, the Almagesfof Ptolemy, the book of Euclid and the treatise onArithmetic, and many other foreign works on thestars, arithmetic, medicine, philosophy and so on,which were widely studied and used.67 It was inthis era too that Muhammad b. Ishlq b. Yasiir 6swrote the Maghazi [biography of the Prophet]which ha d no t previously been collected or edited.6DHe was also the first caliph to build a new cityand live in it, i. e. the city of Baghdad. B horo-scope was cast to ascertain a favourable time tobegin its construction, and he was also told th at n ocaliph would die within its walls. Sb B Ja'far wasa student of religious sciences and a reporter oftraditions, and in his day people pursued a widevariety of learning and exposition. H e was th efirst caliph to appoint as governors his clients( m n w d i ) and servants (ghi lrndn) whom he ad-vanced over the Arabs. Th e caliphs of his ownline who succeeded him also adopted thi s practice.70The first of them was al-Mahdi, who displayeda noble and liberal character and was especiallygenerous with his wealth. Du ring his term peoplefollowed his exaniple and enjoyed easy and pros-perous lives. Whenever he n-ent ou t rid ing healways carried money pouches with him and ifsomeone would ask him for aid, he personallywould give it to them. The result was th at peopleimitated his example in this respect.One of his objectives was to wipe ou t th eellipsis in the text here. "T ha t" cannot refer to either'-4bbiisi " or "Talibi," but surely the point is t ha tbeforehand a ll members of both families were called"Hiishimi." The parallel tex t in al-Rias'iidi (VI II , p.290) presents a clearer version: zoa- kana m a- l l dh i aw w al am a n a zo qa 'a a l - f u r q a b a y ? ? a w u l d i ' I - 'A b b d s b . ' A b da l - X u t t a l i b w a - b a y n a c ili A b i T a l i b w a - q ad k 6? 7a q ab l adhc i l i ka am ruhum w c i h i da?b- " H e was the first to sowdiscord between the children of al-'Abbiis b. 'Sbd al- i\Iut -tali b and the f amily of Abii Tiilib who had hi thert omade common cause."

O 7 In the margin of the Nuriid RIullii RfS a t thi s pointOSThe congeries of at ti tu des and feelings deriving the words "the first caliph to have the ancient writings

from the ties of kins hip: in Ritter 's terminology, " i r ra- translated was Abfi Ja'far al-Nanijiir" are written by ational sol id ar it ~ omplex." Cf. E l ( 2 ) , p. 681. different hand.

O 4 Cf. Rlas'iidi, VI, p. 81. O8 Not Bashshiir, as in the Arabic text. O 5 Ibid. , p. 88. O0 Cf. Rias'iidi, VII, pp. 290-91. OeThere would a ppear to be some sor t of h ia tus or 7 0 I b i d . , pp. 291-92.


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339ILLWARD:The Adaptation of Men to Their TimeManicheans (zanddiqa) because their numbe rs hadincreased radically, because of the books which Ibnal-Muqaffa' transla ted by MBni al-Th anaw iT1 an dIb n Days ln a l -Thanawi 72 an d others besides them,an d because of w hat I bn Abi al-'Awji?~',~~ammkdcXjrad,74TahyB b. Ziyad 75 and Muti' b. IjryLs 76wrote, thereby flooding the land with the writingsof the Zindiqs. The dua lists (zana diqa ) increasedgreatly in numbers and their books were spreadabroad amo ng the people.77

Al-Mahdi moreover, was the first caliph to re-quire the theologians to write books refuting theheretics. H e also rebuilt the Holy Mosque [in31eccaI to its present-day condition, and themosque of God's m essenger (o n whom H i s blessingand peace !) [in Jledina] which earthquakes haddestroyed.78Then Mfisi b. al-Mahdi acceded to the caliphate.H e was basically tyrannous in n ature. H e was alsothe first caliph to have his men parade before himwith draw n swords, maces an d braced bows. All

For RIani, his life and teachings, plus extracts fromrelevant Srabic and Persian texts and a bibliographyof publications in western languages see Ha san TaqiZBdeh, Mcin i v a D i ne - i i , Tehran , 1335Hs. (An Arabictransl ation of the firs t seventy pages, and a seven pagesupplement appeared in a l - D i r d s d t a l - A d a b i y y a , Leba-nese University, Dep't. of Pe rsi an Language and Litera -ture, IVth year, Kos. 2, 3, 4, pp. 195-284).

72 Bardesanes, see E I ( 2 ) , s. v. Daysgniyya.73 Cf. E I ( 1 ) )11, p. 355.'4H amm&d b. 'Umar b. Yiinus b. Kulayb , a-na ti ve of

al-Ki ifa or Tv8sit and a cl ient of Banii Saw'at b. 'Amirb. SaC+a 'a. He went to Baghdad d uring the er a ofal-JI ahdi and Iron a reputation as poet, bon-vivant andint ima te of people in high positions. He was suspectedof being a xzndiq. d. 161/777-8, or 168/784-5. Cf. IbnKhallikBn, de Slane, I, pp. 474-75. Aghcini , ed. BiilBq,XII, 82-109; XIII, 73-101.

76YahpB b. Zipad b. 'Abd A11iih b. 'Abd Allahal-HBrithi , also a native of al-Kiifa. There are manyanecdotes in the Aghcini and the books of al-JBhi?concerning this figure and his t ~ oompanions. Ac-cording t o one he Tras made governor of AhwLz byal-Mahdi. Cf. A ghc i n i as above; and XVII, 15; XVIII,109.7BAbU Salma Muti' b. IyyBs al-KinZni. AnotherKiifan, he TTas in favour during the late Umayyad erabut seems to have declined under the 'Abbasids. He wasa poet of so rts and a ~ r e l l nown x i nd i q . d. 168/784, orliO/ i86-87 . Cf. Ibn KhallikBn, de Slane, I, p. 438, fnt. 4.GAL , I, 73; SI, 108. For references to these threefigures in Arabic and Persian sources see the index toTaqi ZXdeh's book cited above.Cf. Rfas'ildi, VIII, p. 293.

78 Ibid. , p p 293-94. 7

his governors adopted his practices and followedhis policies to the letter.79Al-Mahdi's son, H ir fi n al-Rashid, came next inthe line of succession to the caliphal au thority .He was devoted to the policies of fulfilling thepilgrimage, conducting military campaigns andbuilding cisterns an d fortresses along the road be-tween Mecca and Medina as well as in IIecca,Medina, Mina and 'ArafM. H e built eight frontierfortifications such as th e ones a t Tarsfis an d else-where, and also erected housing units for troopsstationed on the frontiers. Hi s family, governors,friends and secretaries all imitated him in thisregard to the point where there was not a singleindividual who did not build one house in JIecca,one in Xedina, and another in Tarsfis (followinghis lead and doing just as he did). The one whoimitated him most and best was his wife, UmmJa'far, the daug hter of Ja'f ar b. al-Ilan sfir. Ke xtin order were the Barmakids, his viziers, a nd the nthe oth ers of his clients, generals a nd ministers.Al-Rashid moreover, was the first caliph to playpolo and bowls and the first to shoot arrows at atarge t. H e rewarded those who became most pro-ficient at these sports. H e was also the first caliphto play chess and backgammon, and he advancedthe skillful players and gave them subsidies.80

He was the first caliph from the [family of]Banii Hlshim to acquire singing girls for himself.The entire population emulated him and followedhis direction. H is viziers were recruited from th eBarmakid family; Tahya b. KhLlid was a lover ofwisdom, discussion and study. I n his day thetheologians mu ltiplied in num bers, engaged in dis-cussion and dispu tation and wrote books. Some ofthe ir names were Hi sha m b. al-Hakam;l DirStr b.' A m r s h n d DIu'ammar b. 'Umar.83 Pahy5i ap-plied himself as well to the study of writings onchemistry. Th e Barm akid s were characterized by7@Ib i d . , p. 294.Ib i d . , pp. 294-96.S3Cf. Ibn ya ja r, Liscin al -Mixcin, ed. Haydarabad,

1329-31H, vol. 6, p. 194 (XO. 691). Also, EI ( l ) , 11,p. 318.s z I b i d . , vol. 3, p. 203 (KO.912).s31b i d . , vol. 5, 68 ( No. 264) . The first of theseauthor ities was considered a Shi'ite, the other t ~ r oRfu'tazilites. Some of thei r teachings and doctr inalpositions are mentioned in I. Friedlaender, T h e H e te r o-d o x i es o f t h e S h i i t e s a c c or d in g t o I b n H a x m , Kew Haven,1909, and in &I.Horten, D i e p h il o s o ph i s ch e n S y s t e m ed e r s p e k u l a t i v e n T h e o l o g e n im I s l a m , Bonn, 1912 (con-sult indices).


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340 MILLWARD:The Adaptat ion of ,Men to Th eir Tim ea generous and noble nature and [showed them-selves] to be munificent, bountiful and benevolent.Their governors together with the people imitatedtheir qualities, until the days of al-Rashid came tobe called "the wedding days" because of theplethora of g enerous persons who lived in thistime.84 The achievements of the Barmakids arerenowned and famous, and there was no one inthe en toura ge of al-Rashid who was not generousei ther innately or through imitat ing others .Again, al-Rashid was the first caliph to includein th e heading of letters [the follon~ ing ormula]" . . . a n d I implore Him to bless Muhammad,His servant and His messenger (may God blessand preserve h im !)." Subsequ ent caliphs followedhis precedent in thi s practice. H e was also thefirst caliph to wear the long Ru@ fa headgearand the first to write in white on the black['Llbb8sid] standards [the formula] " There is noGod bu t Al lah [and] l luhammad i s His mes-senger."

As for Umm Ja ' far , the daughter of Ja ' far b.al-Mansfir, she was always trying to outdoal-Rashid, both in serious and frivolous pursuits.Her achievements in the first category were thebeautiful monuments which have no equal in [theanuals] of Islam. She arranged for a spring tobe dug at a l-Mushlsh 86 and extended its con-struction for twelve miles to Mecca. On thisproject she spent one million seven hundredthousand dinars.87 Then she had cisterns,dr inking fo untains a nd ablut ion centres bui l t roundthe I-Ioly Mosque. Sh e also built way-stations an dcisterns in Minfi, drinking fountains in 'Arafiit,and bad wells sunk in Min8 on the road fromMecca. F or the ir upkeep she made endowments ofseveral revenue properties whose total incomeamounted to thir ty thousand dinars per annum.I n the f rontie r districts she built way-stations anderected hospitals; she applied the revenues of cer-tain estates as charitable foundations for themaintenance of frontier settlements and for thepoor and the needy; their income amounted to onehundred thousand dinars.88

As for the second category, those luxuries from11-hich kings derire pleasure and easy circum-8 4 Cf. Mas'iidi, 1-111, p. 296.65 Cf. Serjeant, "Materials," B r s I s l a m i c a , IX, p. 84.so Cf. P&qiit, B u l d d n , IT, p. 836. al-Azraqi, A k h b d rM a k k a , ed. I?. Wiistenfeld, I, pp. 444-45.Cf. Rfas'iidi, VIII, p. 297.Ib id . , p. 295.

stances, she was the first person in Islam to haveutensils made of gold and silver and inlaid withjewels. She preferred to wear fine clothing madeof washi, so much so that finally the cost of onegarment ta i lored for her reached @ty thousanddinars. Sh e was the first to employ Shdkirf ser-vants and slave-girls ;they used to ride errands fo rher a nd c arry her mail. She was also the first tohave litters 8g made of silver, ebony and sandal-wood, with crown and fittings fashioned of goldand silver, and furbished with washi stuff, sablea n d b ro ca de, k h a ~ z - s i l k , ~ ~z~lham91 and Dabiqi~ 1 0 t h ; ~ ~he first to introduce the fashion of robes(qamis) embroidered with pearls picked out withother jewels, and of amber lamps. The generalpopulace imitated Um m Ja'far in all her actions.93Then 3luhammad al-Amin, al-Rashid's son,(whose mother was Um m Ja 'far) acceded to thesupreme authority. H e gave priority to his ser-vants (khidam) and showed them preference byelevat ing their ranks. When Um m JaYar per-ceived his weakness for these young pages sheselected a number of serving-girls renowned fortheir beauty of form and feature, perfumed theirheads, provided them with forelocks, [set] theirhair at the temples and back of the neck in page-boy style, dressed them in men's full-sleeved gowns(qiba') and waist bands and paraded them beforehim. She was the first to do this, and she alsopu t them on display before the public. The resultwas that the notables, and people in general, ac-quired their own serving-girls with short cut hair,dressed the m i n men's full-sleeved gowns an dwaist-wrappers and called them 'female pages'(ghuldmiyydt) .g4 3luh am ma d was killed when hisdays in office were still few in num ber.Th en al-31a7mfin b. a l-Rashid became com-mand er-of-the-faithful. A t the beginning of his

89 Literally "domes," i. e. the dome-like or tent-likecovering for a woman's camel li tt er or palanquin. Alsoa dome or cupola of stone or bricks, or a buildingcovered thereby. Cf. E. W. Lane, A n A r a bi c - E ng l i shL e x i c o n , 8 vols. London, 1863-93, p. 2478.g o Cf. Serjeant, " Materials," A r s I s l a m i c a , IX, pp.68, 72, 86, 91; X, 72, 76, 80.

Ib id . , IX , pp. 68, 71; X, p. 93 ; XIII-XI\-, p. 92.Stuff with a warp of s ilk bu t a woof of some othermaterial.Ib id . , XI , p. 129. A kind of cloth or stuff originallynamed aft er it s place of m anufacture i n Egypt nearTinnis. Cf. E I (1) , s. v. Dabik.

O 3 Cf. IIasciidi, VII I, p. 298." I b i d . , p. 299. x. Abbott, Two Q u e e n s of B a g h d a d ,Chicago, 1946, p. 212.


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341ILLWARD:The Adaptation of Men t o Their Timeterm as caliph, al-Fad1 [b. Sahl] exerted a domi-na tin g influence on him. As a stu de nt of astrologyhe made use of the stars [in deciding his affairs] ;he followed the exam ple of th e kings of Pers ia an dliked to read classical texts. When he came toIraq however, he put these interests aside andissued declarations proclaiming the doctrine ofdivine justice and asserting the unity of God. H esat down for discussions with the theologians,lawyers and l i t terateurs , brought them from theprovinces, and provided them with subsidies.During this time the theologians were numerousand everyone wrote books affirming his positionan d refutin g those who opposed him. H e was themost generous of men with forgiveness, the mostpuissant, the most benevolent with his money, andthe most lavish in bestowing g i f k g 5

An example of the first-mentioned virtue washis forgiving IbrBhim b. al-Jfahdi who had with-held recognition from him after being made hisgovernor in al-Ba$ra. Ibr lhim had then pro-claimed himself [as calip h], called himself 'com-mand er-of-the-faithful,' an d proceeded to joincombat with al-Ma7mtin's forces. H e forgave tooal-Fadl b. al-RabYgEwho had urged Muhammad(al-A min ) to remove al-Na7mtin as heir-apparentand had sent troops to f ight with him. Then he(al-Ma'mfin) gran ted him an amnesty, but he(al-Fadl) broke [their agreement] and invitedpeople to give allegiance to Ibriihim b. al-Xahdi.H e also pardoned IsmB'i1 b. Ja'far b. Su lay ml nwho had withdrawn recognit ion from him andreproached him in the most shameful language.He also absolved Nu'aym b. Hlzim who had con-tinued to fight against him f or a numbe r of years.He gave a reprieve to 'Is5 b. llluhammad b. AbiHhllid who had violated his oath of fealty to himtime after t ime and had carr ied on the f ightagainst his troops until the commander of hissecurity forces was killed. H e gave amnesty alsoto Sah l b. Sal lm a al-Rlutawwi' i n ~h o used toclothe himself in a woollen garment, drape a copyof the Qur'En about his neck, and urge people todepose al-Ma'm tin ;bu t no one ever paid any atte n-t ion to him. E e gran ted indemni ty to I Iahdi b.

Ibid. , pp. 301-02.a V o r further details of his career consult Anwar J.Chejne, " -41-Fadl b. al - Rabi'-A Pol iti cian of the Ea rl y

'Abbnsid Period," I s lanaic Cul ture , Vol. X X X V I , hTo. 3,July 1902, pp. 167-81. See also, D. Sourdel, Le V i x i r a t'Abbciside de 7 4 9 & 936, 2 vols. Damascus, 1959-60, pp.183-94.

'Alwiin al-Shiiri who had take n th e nam e of com-mander-of-the-faithful an d proceeded to engagein combat with his forces. Al-Ma'miin ca pture dhim unconditionally and without guarantee ofsafe-conduct. H e absolved Di'bil the po et g7who had taunted him in the foulest terms, andexcused 'Ubayd AllBh b. al-Sari b. al-Hakam whowon control over Egypt and had maintained hos-tilities with him fo r several years. H e also ab-solved Mu hamm ad b. Ja'far b. Muham madal-'Alawi who had openly rebelled against him inMecca and had take n th e name of comm ander-of-the-f aithf ul. H e gave amn esty also to Z,ayd b.&lfis%b. Ja'far who had rebelled in al-Basra andwithheld his recognition of al-Ma'miin's auth ority ;t o I bd h i m b . Miis5 b. Ja'far b. Rluhammadal-',%lami who had rerolted in the Paman andfo ug ht against a l - J ~ l i i d i ; ~ ~o all the usurpers [ofportions of his realm] such as Rabiih b. XbiRamtha who rebel led in Diylr RabTa, andal-'Abbfis b. Za far al-Hiliili, th e usu rpe r of Qiirus,belonging to the military district of Qinnasrinand Nasr b. Shabib al-'Aqili who rebelled in DiylrMu dar after fighting him over a period of time ;andto 'Uthmln b. Thamiima al-'Abbasi who revoltedagainst him in the HijEz; to al-Hawfiri b. Hafinal-Taniikhi the rebel who incited Taniikh; gg an dma ny othe rs besides these, men tion of whom wouldprolong this monograph excessively. Al-Ma'miinonce said, " I have such a natural inclination toforgiveness that I do not think I shall obtain anyreward for it.''An example of his benevolence and liberality isthe following: one day he gare orders that one

B7 Di'bil b. 'Ali al-XhuzZi, a prominent 'Abbzsid poetwho wrote many poems attacking and satirising personsin high positions, including the caliph himself. Hisdiwcin has been collected and edited, with introductionand notes, by 'Abd al- Sahib 'ImrZn al-Dujay li, DiwcinDi'bi l b. ' A l i u l - Xhuzc i 'i , 255 pp., Naja f, 1962. The mostfamous poem attacking al-Ma'mtin is No. 86, on pages144-45. The editor (i n a footnote on these pages) claimsthat this poem, which many people hare interpreted asan attack ( h u j w ) , is in fa ct nothing of the kind, butmerely self-praise ( f a k h r ) and pride ( i ' t i d d d ) on thepa rt of t he poet. At most it is merely friendly blameaddressed to the caliph. Cf. L. Zolondek, D i ' b i l b . ' d l i :th e l i f e aizd tor i t inqs of an ea r ly ' db has i d poe t, Univer-si ty of Kentucky Press, 1961, pp. 5, 102.'ts& b. Pazid al -Jult idi, one of al-Xa'mtin's foremostmilitary commanders whom he later made governor ofthe Paman. See Pa'qtibi, T a ' r i k h , 11, p. 455.

The sett lements of the Tantikh were located, amongother places, in the environs of Aleppo. See Y&qiit,Buldcin, 11, p. 185.


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342 MILLWARD: The Adaptation of Men to Their Timemillion five hundred thousand dinars were to begiven to three individuals, five hundred thousandto each.When the funds in the state treasury were lowhe assembled his associates and informed them ofthe state of thin gs, saying, "Money is scarce andthis is causing us and our associates great hard-ship. Request loans for us from the merchan ts inthe amount of ten million dirhams until somerevenue comes into the treasury; then r e shallrepay." Th ere up on Ghassfin b. 'Abbfid got up an drecounted the favours for which he was indebted[to al-Ma'mfin] and then presented him thirtymillion dirhams, saying, "I happen to have it onhand." Then Huma yd b. 'Abd al-Ha mid al-Tfisistood up and made a similar declaration andgradually all of his associates there present in themajlis got up and offered what they had u ntil th eirdonations totaled one hun dred an d fifty-six milliondirhams. However, he did not accept a singlething from any one of them, and thanked themfor the ir generosity. Nonetheless the revenuefund s were late in arriving. At last the good newswas spread of the arrival of the land tax (khardj)monies from the Persia n provinces and he rode outhimself to see it. H e the n apportioned all of it[to various bequests and charitable purposes] andnothing remained except the sum needed to paythe army . H e ordered al-Mu'allfi b. Ayyfib to takecharge of it.loO

His companions, viziers, secretaries and militarycommanders used to conduct themselves in accord-ance with the custom he established, to follow thecourse he charted and to emulate the standard heset. Among their number was al-Hasan b. Sahlwho was the noblest and most generous of themand the one endowed with the most liberal quali-ties. He was also the most gracious among themin the face of misfortune and calamity and themost consistent in granting to everyone whateverthey asked of him.Hum ayd b. 'Abd a l-Ham id al-Tfisi was a gener-ous, benevolent and virtuous man. H e endowed sev-eral estates as trust-foundations for the benefit ofpeople of good families and estimable character;they produced an annual revenue of one hundredthousand dinars. He n-ould never tu rn anyonedown . Gh ass ln b. 'AbbLd was extrem ely gen erou s ;on a single day he distributed thirteen million'OOAfuller account of this incident is given in Ahmad

Rifz'i's ' A s r al-Na'mCn, 3 vols., Cairo, 1346/1927, I,p. 332.

dirhams. \$'henever anyone asked hi m to in te r-cede with al-Ma'mfin on some request or other, hewould give it to them from his own funds andspeak to al-Ma'mfin about i t afterwards. '8b d,%11Eh b. TLhir was a person of humane qualities,gre at patience and generosity. One day he gaveinstructions that three of his friends mere to begiven one hundred thousand dinars apiece, andth at th ree o ther persons were each to be given fiftytho usa nd dinars. 'A17 b. Hishfim was the mostgenerous of his people and t he one with th e mosthuma ne character. Whenever he went on a t r iphis cook would load up seven hundre d camels [withkitche n supp lies]. H is [al-Ma'mfin's] secretary,Ahmad b. Yfisuf, was renowned for his manlyqualities, and people in general were disposed topraiseworthy conduct. Once the army in Baghdadwas incited to resentment because of the delay[in payment] of their wages and their outcriessteadily increased. Accordingly, F ar aj al-Rukh-khaji went out to see them and guaranteed thempaym ent of a year's wages. H e the n delivered onhis promise from his own resources.Al-Ma'mfin was also the first caliph to add theform ula ' I n the name of God, the Merciful, theCompassionate' to the headings of his letters, thefirst to institute a paymaster's departmen t for thearmy and the first to have the dates of lettersendorsed with the name of his secretary (kdtib).These had only been authorized formerly by thename of the clerk (muharrir). This procedurehas remained in use.

Then al-Mu'tasim acceded to the supreme au-thority. H e was otherwise known as Muhamm adb. HErfin al-Rashid. I n his declarations on [th esubject of] religious belief he followed the per-suasion of al-Ma'mfin. H e was fo nd of horsem an-ship and of imitating the Persians. H e woreclothing with narrow sleeves and thus the publictoo narrowed the sleeves of their own garments.H e also wore large, yellow leather boots and squarescarves. H e was the first to wear a square scarf,which the public also wore in imitation of him,calling it a "Mu'tasim scarf." 11 H e was the firstcaliph to ride on a horse's saddle th at was notcovered [in some manner], and he preferred Per-sian musical instrum ents. He was widely imitate damong the general public. The re was no one inhis time among his viziers, generals or secretarieswho could be described as generous, beney-olent or

Cf. Vas'iidi, VIII, p. 302.


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34 3ILLWARD: The A daptation of Men to T heir Tim eforebearin g except al-Hasan b. Sahl, in spite of hislim ited m eans, a nd I bn Abi Du'Bd,lo2 who wasrenowned for his magnanimity. H e was theperson who exercised a dominating influence onhis regime and enjoyed seniority at court.lo3

Then Hiirfin al-Wgthiq b. al-Mu'tasim accededto the throne. I n religious matte rs he adhered toth e profession of divine justice i n accordance wi thth e persuasion of his father al-Mu'tasim a nd hisuncle al-Ma'mfin. He issued proclamations andestablished an inquisition to this effect. Thosewho differed with him he punished and whoeverdisplayed obstinacy in these m atter s he imprisoned.He wrote to his judges in the various provincesinstructing them to examine the notaries ( 'udQ1)and not to accept in evidence the testimony ofanyone who had not openly declared for his pro-scriptions.la4 As a result, th is belief gained theupper hand among the population and by thismeans they sough t to win the fav our of Ib n AbiDu'iid an d the judges. Du rin g his term there wasno one who could prevail upon him except IbnAbi Du'Bd. 81-WL thiq was a heavy eater with alarg e capacity for food. H e was also very liberalwith alms and assiduous in assisting members ofhis house in every land.lo5Then came Ja'far b. al-Alu'tasim al-Mutawakkil.H e rescinded the doct rina l professions of al -Wiithiq and proclaimed his adherence to orthodoxyand the belief of the community.106 He releasedfrom prison those who had been incarcerated forthe reason of their unwillingness to accept thecredo that the Qur'dn was created, and he forbadecontroversy on this. Those trad ition reporterswhom he had set free he ordered to return to theirwork. So the public abandoned and repudiatedthose doctrines they had been professing and all

lo2Ahmad b. Abi Du'Bd al-IyBdi, the archit ect of t hehlu'tazilite hegemony under al-Ma'miin, al-Mu'tasim andal-Wathiq. He was named qadi al-qudcit by al-RIu'tasimand mas in charge of th e inquisition tribu nals such asthe one that tried Ahmad b. ganbal. He died in 240/854. Cf. EZ ( 2 ) , p. 271. For references to the Arabicsources on this figure see Sourdel, op. cit., p. 245, fnt. 1.103Al-Ya'qfibi's testimony here agrees substantiallywit h t ha t of I bn Kha lli kan (ed. BiilBq, vol. 1, pp. 39-40;de Slane, I, p. 62 f. ). Ibn Abi Du'Bd seems to have hadeven greater influence over al-RIu'tasim than either ofhis viziers, al-Fad1 b. hlarwBn and Ibn a l-Zayy 8t. Fo rfurt her examples of his dominant aut hority see Sourdel,pp. 258-59.lo4Cf. RIas'iidi, VIII, p. 302.1Vbid., p. 303; VII, p. 146.Zbid.

controversy and discussion disappeared from thescene.lo7Among those things which he occasioned wasthe bui ldin g of priso ns an d enclosures with heavydoors. All the people of SBm arra buil t housesincorporating this feature. He preferred to weargar me nts made of mulham cloth over all others.This material became the standard wearing ap-parel for himself and everyone in his household,low and high, with the result that the price ofmulh am cloth in his tim e rose because of i ts goodquality. H is days were brig ht and cheerful andfu ll of f un, due to the fact tha t he was the firstcaliph to practice levity and exchange jokes andlaug hter in the majlis-as well as other thin gs wewill omit to men tion here-which spread amongthe public and were made use of by them. B utal-Alutawakkil was not one of those who are char-acterized by generosity, nor by liberality.Al -F ath b. Eht?iq5nlo8 was the person m ostinfluential over him and the one most preferred byhim. H e was not one from whom generositycould be expected, but on the other hand one hadno cause to fear his displeasure.100 'Ubayd Allahb. Yahya b. Eh8q5n became his vizier and he wasa man of peace distinguished by manly qualities.He granted favours to no one but people had noreason to fear bad actions on his part. H e wasunjustly accused of making certain statements.Ahmad b. IsrB'il 11 used to say, "It was he whotaught us how to lie."Then Muhammad al-Muntasir b. al-Mutawakkilbecame caliph. H is days were few in number an dno thi ng is known of his custom ary usages otherthan the fact th at he was miserly. Hi s secretaryand vizier was Ahmad b. al-Khasib. By and largehe was deficient in good qualities, prone to malevo-lence and exceedingly ill-informed.Then al-Musta'in acceded to the supreme office.His full name was Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Mu'tasim. H e was the first caliph to broaden thelo7Cf. Ya'qiibi, Ta'rikh, 11, pp. 484-85.lo 8Cf. 0. Pinto, "Al-Fath b. Khlqan, favorito dial-Mutawakkil," Rivista degli Studi Orientali, XIII,1931, pp. 133-49. Also Sourdel, p. 282 f.looCf. RIas'iidi, VII, p. 190-92.lTOecretary and later vizier to al-Mu'tazz, who wasdeposed, imprisoned and finally killed a t the instiga tionof qBlih b. Wasif al-Turki. The latte r, along withBa'ikbak, w as actually i n control of affairs of s tat edur ing the reign of al-3Iu'tazz and al-hlu htadi. Cf.Ya'qiibi, Ta'rikh, 11, pp. 487, 504-05. Sourdel, pp. 281,290. 295-98.


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344 MILLWARD:The Adaptat ion of Men t o Their Timesleeves of h is garm ents to the w idth of three spans,or thereabouts, and to shorten the qalansuwa andmake it smaller.111 None of his habits, in whichthe public followed him, are known, nor moralcharacteristics for which the public em ulated him.He was continually diverted from everything [heundertook] by what appeared to him to be rebel-lious attempts to depose him.81-Mu'tazz, whose fu ll nam e was Abfi 'AbdAllHh b. al-Mutaw akkil, succeeded him. H e wasthe first caliph to go out riding with gold orna-ments. Th e preceding caliphs were accustomed toride in public with light silver ornaments set intheir waist-bands, sword handles, saddles andreins.l12 When he began to ride about usin g goldornam entation, people took u p his example in thisrespect.l13 None of his qualities, eith er praise-worthy or culpable, is known.Then al-Muhtadi assumed the caliphal author-ity. He was known as Muh amm ad b. al-WHthiq.H e used to give judicial opinions on matte rs relat-ing to rel igion and si t in judgment on criminalcases [at al-m ag lim courts] . H e used to sign[documents] in his own hand and sought the com-

Cf. Mas'iidi, VII, pp. 401-02. 'I2 The FBtih MS resumes here. Il S Cf. Mas'fidi, VII, pp. 401-02.

pany of lawyers. He used to say, "Allow me, 0Banfi HHshim, to follow the pat h of 'Um ar b. 'Abdal-'Aziz and be to you what he was to BaniiUmayya." H e owned very litt le clothing an dfurni ture 114an d people supposed th at he professedthe same religious belief as his father in assertingtha t t he Qur'dn was created.

Then came al-Mu'tamid, otherwise known asAhmad b. al-Mutawakkil. It was not long beforehis authority was forcibly withdrawn from him.H e preferred the life of pleasure and applied him-self assiduously to personal enjoyments. H isbrother, Abii Ahmad,l15 gained control of affairs ofstate until finally he prevented access to him alto-gether and imprisoned him. H e was the firstcaliph to be totally subdued, deprived of hisauthority an d removed fro m public access.lleThen al-5luCtadidacceded to the head of state.His ful l name was Ahmad b. Abi Ahmad b.al-Jlutawakkil. H e v a s a vigorous, resolute man.

Ibid., VIII, p. 19.l l j Commonly known as al-Muwaffaq; i. e. Talha b.Ja'far al-Mutawakkil b. Muhammad al-Mu'tasim b.HBriin al-Rash id. Cf. Ibn al-Tiqtaqa, al-Fakhri, Cairo,1317 A. E., p. 226. Abii al-FidB', al-Bidcya, 14 vols.,Cairo, 1351/1932, 11, p. 63.I l a Cf. Mas'iidi, VIII, p. 67.

T H E N E U TE R P L U R A L OF H I T T I T E i- AND u- S T EMS

N OTLONG AG O I discussed the manner in vhichthe neuter plural nominative-accusative ending -iof Hittite i- stems was apparently transferred tor- , 2- and r /n - stems.l I n the process I surveyedbriefly all endings found among the i- stems, forcompletion among the consonant stems of the i-stem pattern of distribution was taken to be thebasis of the transfer. Conce rning the origin ofthese endin gs one or two com mon l~r ccepted pointswere pertin ent to the discussion. I n their develop-ment an even more cursory look at the u- stemswas foun d convenient. Otherwise the i- stemscould from the point of view of the transfer betaken as they were found. I n particular, the

Brosman, J A O S 82 (1962) 63-5.

transferred i- ending itself was accepted as belong-ing where it was. Indic ation s were observed, how-ever, that the endings of the i- and u- stems,despite the ease with which those that occur mayeach be explained separately, might themselves beof i n t e r e ~ t . ~ ow a more thorough examinationof the two sets of forms has revealed a rather strik-ing divergence which appears not to have beenn ote d p r e v i ~ u s l y . ~he purpose of th e present note

I b i d . p, 63, fn. 5.The grammar of Friedrich (Johan nes Friedrich,Hethitisches Elementarbuch2 [Heidelberg, 19601 ) men-tion s no differences between i- an d u- stems in the neuterplural, while that of Sturtevant (Edgar H. Sturtevant,A Comparative grammar of the Hittite language " [NewHaven, 19511, I, 91) seems to imply parallel develop-

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Ya'Qubi - Adaptation of Men to Their Times