IBN HAUKAL

ibn haukal, strictly ibn hauqal, a 10th century arabian geographer. nothing is known of his life. his work on geography, written in 977, is only a revision and extension of the _masalik ul-mamalik_ of al-istakhri, who wrote in 951. this itself was a revised edition of the _kitab ul-ashkal_ or _suwar ul-aqalim_ of abu zaid ul-balkhi, who wrote about 921. ibn haukal's work was published by m. j. de goeje (leiden, 1873). an anonymous epitome of the book was written in 1233. see m. j. de goeje, "die istahri-balhi frage," in the _zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen gesellschaft_, xxv. 42 sqq. ibn hazm [abu mahommed 'ali ibn ahmad ibn hazm] (994-1064), moslem theologian, was born in a suburb of cordova. he studied history, law and theology, and became a vizier as his father had been before him, but was deposed for heresy, and spent the rest of his life quietly in the country. in legal matters he belonged first to the shafi'ite school, but came to adopt the views of the zahirites, who admitted only the external sense of the koran and tradition, disallowing the use of analogy (_qiyas_) and _taqlid_ (appeal to the authority of an imam), and objecting altogether to the use of individual opinion (_ra'y_). every sentence of the koran was to be interpreted in a general and universal sense; the special application to the circumstances of the time it was written was denied. every word of the koran was to be taken in a literal sense, but that sense was to be learned from other uses in the koran itself, not from the meaning in other literature of the time. the special feature of ibn hazm's teaching was that he extended the application of these principles from the study of law to that of dogmatic theology. he thus found himself in opposition at one time to the mo'tazilites, at another to the ash'arites. he did not, however, succeed in forming a school. his chief work is the _kitab ul-milal wan-nihal_, or "book of sects" (published in cairo, 1899). for his teaching cf. i. goldziher, _die zahiriten_, pp. 116-172 (leipzig, (1884), and m. schreiner in the _journal of the german oriental society_, lii. 464-486. for a list of his other works see c. brockelmann's _geschichte der arabischen literatur_, vol. i. (weimar, 1898), p. 400. (g. w. t.) ibn hisham [abu mahommed 'abdulmalik ibn hisham ibn ayyub ul-himyari] (d. 834), arabian biographer, studied in kufa but lived afterwards in fostat (old cairo), where he gained a name as a grammarian and student of language and history. his chief work is his edition of ibn ishaq's (q.v.) _life of the apostle of god_, which has been edited by f. wustenfeld (gottingen, 1858-1860). an abridged german translation has been made by g. weil (stuttgart, 1864; cf. p. bronnle, _die commentatoren des ibn ishaq und ihre scholien_, halle, 1895). ibn hisham is said to have written a work explaining the difficult words which occur in poems on the life of the apostle, and another on the genealogies of the himyarites and their princes. (g. w. t.) ibn ishaq [mahommed ibn ishaq abu 'abdallah] (d. 768), arabic historian, lived in medina, where he interested himself to such an extent in the details of the prophet's life that he was attacked by those to whom his work seemed to have a rationalistic tendency. he consequently left medina in 733, and went to alexandria, then to kufa and hira, and finally to bagdad, where the caliph mansur provided him with the means of writing his great work. this was the _life of the apostle of god_, which is now lost and is known to us only in the recension of ibn hisham (q.v.). the work has been attacked by arabian writers (as in the _fihrist_) as untrustworthy, and it seems clear that he introduced forged verses (cf. _journal of the german oriental society_, xiv. 288 sqq.). it remains, however, one of the most important works of the age. (g. w. t.) ibn jubair [abu-l husain mahommed ibn ahmad ibn jubair] (1145-1217), arabian geographer, was born in valencia. at granada he studied the koran, tradition, law and literature, and later became secretary to the mohad governor of that city. during this time he composed many poems. in 1183 he left the court and travelled to alexandria, jerusalem, medina, mecca, damascus, mosul and bagdad, returning in 1185 by way of sicily. the _travels of ibn jubair_ were edited by w. wright (leiden, 1852); and a new edition of this text, revised by m. j. de goeje, was published by the gibb trustees (london, 1907). the part relating to sicily was published, with french translation and notes, by m. amari in the _journal asiatique_ (1845-1846) and a french translation alone of the same part by g. crolla in _museon_, vi. 123-132. (g. w. t.) ibn khaldun [abu zaid ibn mahommed ibn mahommed ibn khaldun] (1332-1406), arabic historian, was born at tunis. he studied the various branches of arabic learning with great success. in 1352 he obtained employment under the marinid sultan abu inan (faris i.) at fez. in the beginning of 1356, his integrity having been suspected, he was thrown into prison until the death of abu inan in 1358, when the vizier al-hasan ibn omar set him at liberty and reinstated him in his rank and offices. he here continued to render great service to abu salem (ibrahim iii.), abu inan's successor, but, having offended the prime minister, he obtained permission to emigrate to spain, where, at granada, he was received with great cordiality by ibn al ahmar, who had been greatly indebted to his good offices when an exile at the court of abu salem. the favours he received from the sovereign excited the jealousy of the vizier, and he was driven back to africa (1364), where he was received with great cordiality by the sultan of bougie, abu abdallah, who had been formerly his companion in prison. on the fall of abu abdallah ibn khaldun raised a large force amongst the desert arabs, and entered the service of the sultan of tlemcen. a few years later he was taken prisoner by abdalaziz ('abd ul 'aziz), who had defeated the sultan of tlemcen and seized the throne. he then entered a monastic establishment, and occupied himself with scholastic duties, until in 1370 he was sent for to tlemcen by the new sultan. after the death of 'abd ul 'aziz he resided at fez, enjoying the patronage and confidence of the regent. after some further vicissitudes in 1378 he entered the service of the sultan of his native town of tunis, where he devoted himself almost exclusively to his studies and wrote his history of the berbers. having received permission to make the pilgrimage to mecca, he reached cairo, where he was presented to the sultan, al-malik udh-dhahir barkuk, who insisted on his remaining there, and in the year 1384 made him grand cadi of the malikite rite for cairo. this office he filled with great prudence and probity, removing many abuses in the administration of justice in egypt. at this time the ship in which his wife and family, with all his property, were coming to join him, was wrecked, and every one on board lost. he endeavoured to find consolation in the completion of his history of the arabs of spain. at the same time he was removed from his office of cadi, which gave him more leisure for his work. three years later he made the pilgrimage to mecca, and on his return lived in retirement in the fayum until 1399, when he was again called upon to resume his functions as cadi. he was removed and reinstated in the office no fewer than five times. in 1400 he was sent to damascus, in connexion with the expedition intended to oppose timur or tamerlane. when timur had become master of the situation, ibn khaldun let himself down from the walls of the city by a rope, and presented himself before the conqueror, who permitted him to return to egypt. ibn khaldun died on the 16th of march 1406, at the age of sixty-four. the great work by which he is known is a "universal history," but it deals more particularly with the history of the arabs of spain and africa. its arabic title is _kitab ul'ibar, wa diwan el mubtada wa'l khabar, fi ayyam ul 'arab wa'l'ajam wa'l berber_; that is, "the book of examples and the collection of origins and information respecting the history of the arabs, foreigners and berbers." it consists of three books, an introduction and an autobiography. book i. treats of the influence of civilization upon man; book ii. of the history of the arabs and other peoples from the remotest antiquity until the author's own times; book iii. of the history of the berber tribes and of the kingdoms founded by that race in north africa. the introduction is an elaborate treatise on the science of history and the development of society, and the autobiography contains the history, not only of the author himself, but of his family and of the dynasties which ruled in fez, tunis and tlemcen during his lifetime. an edition of the arabic text has been printed at bulaq, (7 vols., 1867) and a part of the work has been translated by the late baron mcg. de slane under the title of _histoire des berberes_ (algiers, 1852-1856); it contains an admirable account of the author and analysis of his work. vol. i., the _muqaddama_ (preface), was published by m. quatremere (3 vols., paris, 1858), often republished in the east, and a french translation was made by mcg. de slane (3 vols., paris, 1862-1868). the parts of the history referring to the expeditions of the franks into moslem lands were edited by c. j. tornberg (upsala, 1840), and the parts treating of the banu-l ahmar kings of granada were translated into french by m. gaudefroy-demombynes in the _journal asiatique_, ser. 9, vol. xiii. the _autobiography_ of ibn khaldun was translated into french by de slane in the _journal asiatique_, ser. 4, vol. iii. for an english appreciation of the philosophical spirit of ibn khaldun see r. flint's _history of the philosophy of history_ (edinburgh, 1893), pp. 157-170. (e. h. p.; g. w. t.) ibn khallikan [abu-l 'abbas ahmad ibn khallikan] (1211-1282), arabian biographer, was born at arbela, the son of a professor reputed to be ascended from the barmecides of the court of harun al-rashid. when eighteen he went to aleppo, where he studied for six years, then to damascus, and in 1238 to alexandria and cairo. in 1252 he married and became chief cadi of syria in damascus in 1261. having held this office for ten years, he was professor in cairo until 1278, when he again took office in damascus for three years. in 1281 he accepted a professorship in the same city, but died in the following year. his great work is the _kitab wafayat ul-a'yan_, "the obituaries of eminent men." it contains in alphabetical order the lives of the most celebrated persons of moslem history and literature, except those of mahomet, the four caliphs and the companions of mahomet and their followers (the _tabiun_). the work is anecdotal and contains many brief extracts from the poetry of the writers. it was published by f. wustenfeld (gottingen, 1835-1843), in part by mcg. de slane (paris, 1838-1842), and also in cairo (1859 and 1882). an english translation by mcg. de slane was published for the oriental translation fund in 4 vols. (london, 1842-1871). thirteen extra biographies from a manuscript in amsterdam were published by pijnappel (amsterdam, 1845). a persian translation exists in manuscript, and various extracts from the work are known. several supplements to the book have been written, the best known being that of mahommed ibn shakir (d. 1362), published at cairo 1882. a collection of poems by ibn khallikan is also extant. (g. w. t.)