Page:The Oriental Biographical Dictionary.djvu/33
Abu
Abu
Semedies, 18 books. On the means of preserving Health,
3 books. Canons on Physic, 14 books. On Astronomical
Observations, 1 book. On Mathematical Sciences. Of
Theorems, or Mathematical and Theological Demonstra-
tions, 1 book. On the Arabic language, 10 books. On the
Last Judgment. On the Origin of the Soul, and the
Eesurreotion of Bodies. Of the end we should propose to
ourselves in Harangues and Philosophical Arguments.
Demonstrations of the collateral lines in the sphere.
Abridgment of Euclid. On Finity and Infinity. On
Physics and Metaphysics. On Animals and Vegetables,
&c., Encyclopedia, 20 volumes.
Abu-Sufyan, 'ri;^ LX'. ^.U the son of Harb, the
grandson of Umayya, and great-grandson of 'Abdul-Shams.
He was an able and ambitious man, of great wealth and
influence, and one of the most persevering and powerful
opponents of Muhammad. He was the father of Mu'awiya,
the first khalifa of the house of Umayya, and one of the
heads of the tribe of Kuraish, to which Muhammad
also belonged. When Muhammad took up arms for the
propagation of his faith, Abii-Sufyan was made gene-
ralissimo of his enemies against him : and after the battle
of Badr, he stood very fair for the headship of that tribe.
But he was at last convinced (as it seems, by a signal
victory gained by Muhammad over his enemies), of the
truth of the prophet's pretensions, and was converted in
the 8th year of the Hijra, A. D. 629.
Abu-Sulaiman Daud, ij-*^}-^ bin-Abul-Fazl
bin-Muhammad Pakhr Binakiti, so called from having
been born at Binakit, or Finakit, a town in Transoxiana,
afterwards called Shahrukhiya. He is the author of the
" Tarikh-i-Binakiti." Its correct name in full. length is
" Eauzatu uH-l-albab fi Tawarikh-il-Akabir wal-Ansab,"
t. e. the garden of the learned in the histories of great men
and genealogies. It is chiefly an abridgment of the Jami'-
ur-Eashidi, and was compiled by the author only seven
years after that work in A. D. 1317, 707 A. H., and is dedi-
cated to Sultan Abu-Sa'id, the ninth Mughiil king of
Persia. The author was a poet as well as an historian,
and was appointed by Sultan Ghazan Khan, poet laureate
of his court. He died in or about the year 1330 A. D.,
731 A. H.
Vide Dowson, Elliot's Histy. of India, III, 55.]
Abu-Tahir, j^^^ y) , of Tortosa in Spain, author of the
" Darab-nama", an abridgement of Oriental Biography,
containing the Lives of Zuhak, of Darius, of Philip of
Macedon, and of Alexander the Great : also Memoirs of
Galen and other Greek Philosophers, &c.
Abu-Tahir Khatuni, (
Arabic characters), a poet who flour-
ished in the 12th or 13th centuries of our era. He is the
author of the History of the Saljuki kings, entitled "Ta-
rikh-us-Saljuki," and of another work, caUed " Manakib-
Tish-Shu'ara."
Abu-Talib, V-"^ ■was the father of 'All and the uncle of
Muhammad the prophet. He died 3 days before Khadija,
the first wife of Muhammad, in August, 619, A. D., aged
80 years.
Abu-Talib Husaini, author of the " Tuzuk-i-Timiiri."
This work contains an account of the first forty-seven
years of the life of Tamerlane, written by himself in Chagh-
tai Turkf, and translated into Persian by Abii-Talib, who
dedicated it to Shah Jahan. It has been translated into
English by Major Charles Stewart.
Vide Dowson, III, 389.]
Abu-Talib Kalim, j^^t'*^ f'h^ V^^^', whose poetical
name was Kalim, was a great poet of Hamadan in Persia,
and came to India, the first time in the reign of the emperor
Jahangir, and returned home in 1.619 A. D., 1028 A. H.
After some years he again visited India in the time of
6
Shah .Jahan, who employed him and conferred on him the
title of " Malik-ush-Shu'ara", or Poet Laureate. He was
twice weighed against gold and silver, and the amount
was given to him as a reward for his poetical talents. He
died at Labor on the 19th November, 1651, 15th Zil-liijja
1061 A. H. He is the author of a poem, called "Zafar-
nama-i-Shah Jahan," or the conquests of Shah Jahan, and
of a DiWiin in Persian.
Abu-Talib Khan, ij-^ (Mirza) the son
of Haji Muhammad Beg Khan, by descent a Turk, was
born at Lakhnau in the year A. D. 1752, 1165 A. H. He
was appointed by Mukhtar-ud-daula, the prime minister
of Nawab Asaf-ud-daula of Lakhnau, in 1775 A. D.,
'Amaldar of Itawa and several other districts situated be-
tween the rivers Jamima and Ganges. In this situation
he continued for two years ; and after the death of his
patron, and the appointment of Haidar Beg Khan to his
ofiice, he was superseded, and repaired to Lakhnau, and
was allowed by the Nawab 60,000 Es. per annum for his
support. After the expiration of one year. Colonel Alex-
ander Hanny, having been appointed Collector of Gorakh-
pur, requested the Nawab to talce him with him as an
assistant, in which situation he continued for three years.
He was afterwards employed by jMr. Middleton. the Eesi-
dent of Lakhnau, in reducing the rebel raja Balbhaddar
Singh, whom, during two years, he frequently defeated
and piirsued. At length being surprised in his camp,
the raja in endeavouring to make his escape, was killed.
Abu-Talib, after this falling in distress for some years,
embarked for Europe with Captain Da-v-id Eichardson, a
Scotchman, and left Calcutta in February, 1799, Eamazan
1213 A. H. He visited England and other parts of
Europe, and was well known in London under the title
of the Persian Prince. During his travels he wrote a
Journal in which he daily inserted every event, and com-
mitted to writing such reflections as occu.rred to him at
the moment. On his retimi to Calcutta in 1803, 1218
A. H., having revised and abridged his notes, he published
them under the title of " ]Iaasir-ut-Talibf fi Bilad-i-
Ifranji." This work was translated by Charles Stewart, and
published in London in the year 1814. Abu-Talib died
about the year 1806 A. D., 1221 A. H. He is also the
author of the " Khulasat-ul-Afkar."
Vide Dowson, VIII, 298.]
Abu-Talib Mirza, vide Shaista Khan.
Abu-Talib, V^'J=y(^i-i, (Shaikh) the father of Shaikh
Muhammad 'AH Hazin. He died at Isfahan in 1715,
1127 A. H., and was interred in the cemetery, called Mazar
Baba Eukn-uddin, close to the tomb of the learned
Maulana Hasan, Shaikh-ul-Islam of Gilan.
Abu-Tammam Habib ibn-Aus al-Taijts, (
Arabic characters), an Arabian poet. Having arrived in
the city of Hamadan, he was received with great distinc-
tion by Abul-Wafa bin-Salama. When about to depart,
a heavy fall of snow nrade the roads for a long time
impassable. Abul-Wafa conducted the poet to his library,
and placed it entu-ely at his disposal. Surroimded with
these literary treasures, Abu-Tammam forgot liis journey,
read the precious volumes with avidity, and devoted his
time to the composition of several works. The poetical
collection, entitled " Khamsa", was the principal fruit of
these researches, and attests the indefatigable attention
with which the learned writer had ransacked this rich
library. Amongst the other works that he wrote, one
is called " Fuhul-ush-Shu'ara". He was bom in A. D. 804,
188 A. H., at Jasim near Damascus, and died in A. D.
845, 231 A. H.
Abu-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi, i^-J^'^l V^iyt, vide
Mutanabbi.