Page:The Oriental Biographical Dictionary.djvu/26
Abu
14
Abul
Abu-Ja'far al-Haddad, ^tij^-'t^A*£.jJt^ ) Two great
Abu- J a'far al-Saflfar, jli^Jf^A*^ ] JSuarHfe!
one was a locksmith, and the other a brazier.
The latter is called Al-Haffdr, i. e., grave-digger, in
Jami's Nafliat-ul-Uns.]
Abu-Ja'far al-Tabari, L^Jf isj^^^^ J^^y^> son
of Jarir, author of the Tarikh Tabari, a very authentic
history in Arabic, which he wi-ote in the year 912 A. D.
This work was translated and continued by Abu-Muhammad
of Tabriz in Persian. Tabari was the founder of the
seventh Sunni sect, which did not long survive the death
of its author. He was born at Amul in Tabaristan in 838
A. D., 224 A. H., and died at Baghdad in 922 A. D., 310
A. H. He is also the author of a commentary to the
Koran.
Abu-Ja'far Muhammad bin-'Ali bin-Babwaihi al-
Kumi, (
Arabic characters)
surnamed As-Sadiik, one of the earliest of the many writers
of commentaries on the Kuran among the Shi'as. He lived
in the fourth century of the Hijra, and was a contempo-
rary of Rukn-ud-daula Dailami. He was one of the greatest
of the collectors of the Sh'i'a traditions, and the most celebra-
ted of all the Imamiya lawyers of Kum in Persia. This writer
composed a large and a small Tai'sir. There is considerable
tmcertainty as to the exact time when he lived. Shaikh Tusi
says in the Fihrist that Abu-Ja'far died at Rai in 331
A. H., A. D. 942, but this appears to be erroneous. Shaikh
Najashi, who died in A. D. 1014, states that Abu-Ja'far
visited Baghdad, whilst yet in the prime of life, in A. PI.
355, A. D. 965, which might well have been the case,
since Abul-Hasan 'AH bin-Babwaihi, the father of Abii-
Ja'far, did not die until A. H. 329, A. D. 940. In addi-
tion to this, Nur-ullah relates, on the authority of the
Shaikh ad-Duryastf* that Abu-Ja'far lived in the time of
Eukn-ud-daula Dailami, and had repeated interviews with
that prince, who, as is well-known, reigned from A. H.
338 to A. H. 366, A. D. 949—976. He is also the author
of the "Man la j'ahzarhu al-Fakih," which is the fourth
of the four authentic books on Shi' a tradition, called
Kutub Arba'. He is said to have written in all 172 works,
and to have been especially skilled in Ijtihad.
Abu-Ja'far Muhammad bin-Hasan al-Tusi, (Shaikh)
who was one of the chief Mujtahids of the Imamiya or
Shi'a sect, is the author of the work entitled " Fihristu-
Kutub-ish-Shi'a wa Asma-il-Musannifin." It is a biblio-
graphical dictionary of Shi' a works, together with the
names of the authors. The greater part of this author's
works wer% publicly burnt in Baghdad in the tumult that
arose between the Sunnis and Shi'as in 1056 A. D., 448 —
460 A. H. Abu-Ja'far died in 1067 A. D. He is also the
author of a very extensive commentary on the Kuran, in
twenty volumes, which is generally called the " Tafsfr |
ut-'Tusf," though it was entitled by its author the " Majma'-
ul-Bayan li-'ulum-il- Kuran." Among the Four Books
on Shi'a Hadis, called Kutub Arba', the two first in order
were composed by him entitled " Tahzib-ul-Ahkam," and
Istibsar. His chief works are the Mabsut and the Khilaf,
which are held in great estimation, as are also the Nihaya
and the Muhi't by the same author. The Risala-i-
Ja'fariya is likewise a legal treatise by at-Tiisi, which is
frequently quoted.
Abu-Jahl, Ji^j.Jt^ theuncloof 'Umar ibn-ul-Khattab. He
was one of the most inveterate enemies of Muhammad
and his religion. Though his son 'Ikrima became a con-
vert to the tenets of Muhammad, j'et his father was for ever
shut out from paradise ; and so violent is the resentment
of the Musalmans against this first enemy of their prophet,
that they call the colocynth, in contempt, the melon of
Abu-Jahl. Abii-Jahl was slain in the battle of Badr,
- Duryast, a village near Eai, which is now called
Darasiit. which he fought against Muhammad, together with Al-As his brother, in the 70th year of his age, in the month of March 624 A. D., Eamazan 2, A. PI. Abu-Lahab, ^jI, the uncle of Muhammad, also called 'Abdul-' Uzza, was the son of 'Abdul-Muttalib and one of the bitterest enemies of Muhammad and his doctrines. He died of grief within a week after the defeat of Abu-Suf- yan in the battle of Badr, which took place about the be- ginning of the year 624 A. D., 2 A. H. He was a man of wealth, of proud spirit and irritable temper. His son 'Utba was engaged, or according to some, maiTied to, Muhammad's third daughter Eukayya, but when Muham- mad appeared as a prophet, the contract was dissolved, and Eukayya married her lover 'Usman. Abu-Lahab was also allied to the rival line of Kuraish, having married Umm- Jamfl, sister of Abu-Sufyan. Abul-'Abbas, surnamed Al-Saffah, which see. Abul-'Abbas bin-Muhammad, li^-sr-* ^^j jj,Uxj| author of the Arabic work " Ma'rifat-us-Sahaba," and other books. He died in 1041 A. D., 432 A. H. Abul-'Abbas Ahmad bin-Muhammad, commonly called Ibn-'Ukda, was one of the greatest masters of the science of traditions, and was renowned for his diligence in collecting them, and the long and frequent journeys which he undertook for the purpose of obtaining inform- ation on the subject. Al-Darkutnf, the Sunni traditionist, is reported to have said that Ibn-'Ukda knew 300,000 tra- ditions of the Ahl-i-Bait and the Banu-Hashim. He died in A. D. 944, 333 A. H. Abul-'Abbas Fazl, bin-Ahmad, of Isfarain, was minister to Mahmud of Ghazni.] Abul-'Aina, lii«J( y}^ a Musalman lavi^yer celebrated for his wit. When Miisa, son of the khalifa 'Abdul-Malik, put to death one of Abul-'Aina's friends, and afterwards spread a report that he had escaped, Abul-'Aina said in the words of the Lawgiver of the Hebrews, " Moses smote him and he died." The sentence was reported to the prince, and Abul-'Aina was sununoned to appear. Instead of dreading the threats of the tyrant, he boldly replied in the words of the follo-^^dng verse in Exodus, " Wilt thou kill me to-day as thou killedst the other man yesterday 'i" The ingenuity of the expression disarmed tie anger of Musa, who loaded him with presents, Abu-Lais Tfasir Samarkandi, author of the work on jurisprudence in Arabic called " Fikh Abii-Lais," and the " Ghunyat-ul-Mubtadi." Abul-'Ala, ^i^hy), entitled Malik-ush-Shu' ara, or royal poet, of Ganja, flourished in the time of Maniichihr, ruler of Shirwan. The poets Falaki and Khakani were his pupils, and to the latter he gave his daughter in man-iage. Abul-'Ala Ahmadbin-'Abdullahal-Ma'arri,0ye*Jt <>*2>.t ^Ajf^jlj a celebrated Arabian philoso- pher, free-thinker and poet, born at Ma'arra in Syria on Friday the 26th December 973 A. D.,"lst Eabi' I, 363 A. H. 'Though he lost his sight m the 3rd year of his age by the small-pox, his poetry is animated and his descrip- tions are beautiful and striking. He died on Friday the 9th of May 1057 A. D., 1st Rabi" I, 449 A. H. He was the panegyrist of Al-kayim Billah, the khalifa of Baghdad, and has left a Diwan in Arabic. Vide Zeitschi-ift, D. M, G., xxix, p. 304. Abul-'Ala, er^^L;•^^l ^^1 J^'°, (^^i^')' Akbar^bad or Agra, Mir Abul-Wafa Hasani, was bom in the year 1582 A. D., 990 A. H. His grandfather Mir 'Abd-us-Salam came to India from Samarkand, and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and died after some years. His father Mir Abul-Wafa died at Fathpur Sikri, from which place his remains were conveyed to Dihli and buried close to the college situated near the Lai Darwaza. When Raja Iilan Singh was appointed governor of Bengal, Mi'r Abul-