Ibn Sentence Examples

It originated with Mahommed ibn Tumart, a member of the Masmuda, a Berber tribe of the Atlas.

Ibn Tumart, who had been driven from several other towns for exhibitions of reforming zeal, now took refuge among his own people, the Masmuda, in the Atlas.

He then came forward as the lieutenant of the Mandi Ibn Tumart.

The Ibn Tibbon family thus rendered conspicuous services to European culture, and did much to further among Jews who did not understand Arabic the study of science and philosophy.

It was mainly accident which determined that from the 12th to the 17th century Avicenna should be the guide of medical study in European universities, and eclipse the names of Rhazes, Ali ibn al-Abbas and Avenzoar.

For Avicenna's life, see Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, translated by McG.

There is considerable reason to think, however, that the more frequent ports of call in the Straits of Malacca were situated in Sumatra, rather than on the shores of the Malay Peninsula, and two famous medieval travellers, Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta, both called and wintered at the former, and make scant mention of the latter.

Amongst his contemporaries were Istakhri, who travelled through all the Mahommedan countries and wrote his Book of Climates in 950, and Ibn Haukal, whose Book of Roads and Kingdoms, based on the work of Istakhri, was written in 976.

Ibn Batuta, the great Arab traveller, is separated by a wide space of time from his countrymen already mentioned, and he finds his proper place in a chronological notice after the days of Marco Polo, for he did not begin his wanderings until 1325, his career thus coinciding in time with the fabled journeyings of Sir John Mandeville.

Ibn Batuta went by land from Tangier to Cairo, then visited Syria, and performed the pilgrimages to Medina and Mecca.

Ibn Batuta made the voyage through the Malay Archipelago to China, and on his return he proceeded from Malabar to Bagdad and Damascus, ultimately reaching Fez, the capital of his native country, in November 1349.

Menahem's system of bi-literal and uni-literal roots was violently attacked by Dunash ibn Labrat, and as violently defended by the author's pupils.

His treatises on the verbs, written in Arabic, were translated into Hebrew by Moses Giqatilla (11th century), himself a considerable grammarian and commentator, and by Ibn Ezra.

His system was' adopted by Abu'l-walid ibn Jannah, of Saragossa (died early in the nth century), in his lexicon (Kitab al-usul, in Arabic) and other works.

There the most prominent figure was that of Samuel ibn Nagdela (or Nagrela), generally known as Samuel the Nagid or head of the Jewish settlement, who died in 1055.

Among others he was the patron of Solomon ibn Gabirol (q.v.), the poet and philosopher.

His relative Abraham ben Ezra, generally called simply Ibn Ezra,4 was still more distinguished.

The man, however, who shares with Ibn Gabirol the first place in Jewish poetry is Judah Ha-levi, of Toledo, who died in Jerusalem about 1140.

His greatest work is the commentary on the Pentateuch in opposition to Maimonides and Ibn Ezra.

In the first half of the 13th century, Abraham ibn Ilasdai, a vigorous supporter of Maimonides, translated (or adapted) a large number of philosophical works from Arabic, among them being the Sepher ha-tappuah, based on Aristotle's de Anima, and the Mozene Zedeq of Ghazzali on moral philosophy, of both of which the originals are lost.

Somewhat earlier in the 13th century lived Judah al-IIarizi, who belongs in spirit to the time of Ibn Gabirol and Judah ha-levi.

The fact that many of the most important works were written in Arabic, the vernacular of the Spanish Jews under the Moors, which was not understood in France, gave rise to a number of translations into Hebrew, chiefly by the family of Ibn Tibbon (or Tabbon).

The first of them, Judah ibn Tibbon, translated works of Bahya ibn Paqudah, Judah ha-levi, Seadiah, Abu'lwalid and Ibn Gabirol, besides writing works of his own.

His son Moses, who died about the end of the 13th century, translated the rest of Maimonides, much of Averroes, the lesser Canon of Avicenna, Euclid's Elements (from the Arabic version), Ibn al-Jazzar's Viaticum, medical works of IIunain ben Isaac (Johannitius) and Razi (Rhazes), besides works of less-known Arabic authors.

Both the 14th and 15th centuries in Spain were largely taken up with controversy, as by Isaac ibn Pulgar (about 1350), and Shem Tobh ibn Shaprut (about 1380), who translated St Matthew's gospel into Hebrew.

Another great historical movement, headed by a leader who proclaimed himself the mandi (Mahommed ibn Abdallah ibn Tumart), was that of the Almohades.

In 1881 Mahommed Ahmed ibn Seyyid Abdullah, a Dongolese, proclaimed himself al-mandi and founded in the eastern Sudan the short-lived empire overthrown by an AngloEgyptian force at the battle of Omdurman in 1898.

His later life was spent in various parts of the Moslem world, in Aleppo with Saif-ud-Daula (to whom he dedicated the Book of Songs), in Rai with the Buyid vizier Ibn `Abbad and elsewhere.

Astarabad owes its origin to Yazid ibn Mohallab, who occupied the province early in the 8th century for Suleiman, the seventh of the Omayyad caliphs (715-717), and was destroyed by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1384.

A development of ideals and a growth of spirituality can be traced which render the biblical writings with their series of prophecies a unique 1 This is philosophically handled by the Arabian historian Ibn Khaldun, whose Prolegomena is well worthy of attention; see De Slane, Not.

From Hasdai ibn Shaprut in the 10th century and Samuel the nagid in the 11th the line of Jewish scholar-statesmen continued till we reach Isaac Abrabanel in 1492, the date of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

But it is to Spain that we must look for the best of the medieval poets of the synagogue, greatest among them being Ibn Gabirol and Halevi.

On the Arab invasion this work was in great danger of perishing at the hands of the iconclastic caliph Omar and his generals, but it was fortunately preserved; and we find it in the 2nd century of the Hegira being paraphrased in Arabic by Abdallah ibn el Mokaffa, a learned Persian who had embraced Islam.

Other Guebres occupied themselves privately with the collection of these traditions; and, when a prince of Persian origin, Yakub ibn Laith, founder of the Saffarid dynasty, succeeded in throwing off his allegiance to the caliphate, he at once set about continuing the work of his illustrious predecessors.

Mahmud ibn Sabuktagin, the second of the dynasty (998-1030), continued to make himself still more independent of the caliphate than his predecessors, and, though a warrior and a fanatical Moslem, extended a generous patronage to Persian literature and learning, and even developed it at the expense of the Arabic institutions.

Ibn Haukal goes on to say that finally the Hamdanids took possession of the town, confiscated the estates of those who had emigrated, and compelled those who remained to substitute corn for their profitable fruit crops.

It is from the Second Crusade that William of Tyre, representing the attitude of the Franks of Jerusalem, begins to be a primary authority; while on the Mahommedan side a considerable authority emerges in Ibn Athir.

Side by side with Beha-ud-din's life of Saladin, Ibn Athir's work is the most considerable historical record written by the Arabs.

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.

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.

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 Autobiography of Ibn Khaldun was translated into French by de Slane in the Journal asiatique, ser.

The history, Tarikh Bulgar, said to have been written in the 12th century by an Arabian cadi of the city Bolgari, has not yet been discovered; but the Arabian historians, Ibn Foslan, Ibn Haukal, Abul Hamid Andalusi, Abu Abdallah Harnati, and several others, who had visited the kingdom, beginning with the 10th century, have left descriptions of it.

In 922, when they were converted to Islam, Ibn Foslan found them not quite nomadic, and already having some permanent settlements and houses in wood.

Ibn Dasta found amongst them agriculture besides cattle breeding.

The centre of the traffic in Morocco was Sidi Hamed ibn Musa, seven days' journey south of Mogador, where a great yearly fair was held.

Here are buried the seventh and ninth of the successors of Ali, recognized by Shi`as, namely Musa Ibn Ja`far el-Kazim, and his grandson, Mahommed Ibn Ali el-Jawad.

He was favoured by Ibn uz-Zaiyat, the vizier of the caliph Wathiq.

At an early age he entered into a close friendship both with Nizgm-ul-mulk and his schoolfellow IJassan ibn Sabbgh, who founded afterwards the terrible sect of the Assassins.

From this city as their base the Arabs, under Kotaiba (Qotaiba) ibn Moslim, early in the 8th century brought under subjection Balkh, Bokhara, Ferghana and Kashgaria, and penetrated into China as far as the province of Kan-suh.

Amasia has extensive orchards and fruit gardens still, as in Ibn Batuta's time, irrigated by water wheels turned by the current of the river; and there are steam flourmills.

To these must be added the Neoplatonically inspired Fons Vitae of the Jewish philosopher and poet Ibn Gabirol, or Avicebron.

A native of the city, Thabit ibn Kurra, in a passage from a Syriac work of his (now lost) quoted by Barhebraeus, 2 speaks of the paganism of IHarran as distinguished by its steadfast resistance to Christian propaganda.

The more important, besides Jacob of Edessa and Barhebraeus, are `Ananisho` of Hedhaiyabh, Uonain ibn Ishak, his pupil Bar 'Ali, Bar Saroshwai (early 10th century), Bar Bahlul (middle of 10th century), Elias of Tirhan (t1049), Elias bar Shinaya (above), John Bar Zo'bi (beginning of 13th century) and Jacob bar Shakko.

Syracuse has been a place of comparatively little importance since the year 878, when it was destroyed by the Saracens under Ibrahim ibn Ahmad.

Of these the earliest is Avenzoar or Abumeron, that is, Abu Merwan `Abd al-Malik Ibn Zuhr (beginning of 12th century), a member of a family which gave several distinguished members to the medical profession.

The name Hindu Kush is used by Ibn Batuta, who crossed (c. 1 33 2) from Anderab, and he gives the explanation of the name which, however doubtful, is still popular, as (Pers.) Hindu-Killer, "because of the number of Indian slaves who perished in passing" its snows.

Another work of Ibn Tufail, the Kitab Asrar ulIjikma ul-mashragiyya ("Secrets of Eastern Science;"), was published at Bulaq (1882); cf.

The name Kinsai, which appears in Wassaf as Khanzai, in Ibn Batuta as Khansa, in Odoric of Pordenone as Camsay, and elsewhere as Campsay and Cassay, is really a corruption of the Chinese King-sze, capital, the same word which is still applied to Peking.

Commissioned by Mehemet Ali to inform him about the situation in Nejd brought about by the rising power of Abdallah Ibn Rashid, Wallin left Cairo in April 1845, and crossing the pilgrim road at Ma`an, pushed on across the Syrian desert to the Wadi Sirhan and the Jauf oasis, where he halted during the hot summer months.

Following Wallin's route across the desert by Mean and Jauf, Palgrave and his companion, a Syrian Christian, reached Hail in July 1862; here they were hospitably entertained by the amir Talal, nephew of the founder of the Ibn Rashid dynasty, and after some stay passed on with his countenance through Kasim to southern Nejd.

Here the sheikh found some of his relations and the matrimonial alliance was soon arranged; but though the object of the journey had been attained, the Blunts were anxious to visit Hail and make the acquaintance of the amir Ibn Rashid, of whose might and generosity they daily heard from their hosts in Jauf.

The amir was away from his capital settling the affairs of his newly acquired territory; Nolde therefore, after a short halt at Hail, journeyed on to Ibn Rashid's camp somewhere in the neighbourhood of Shakra.

The town, which has risen with the fortunes of the Ibn Rashid family to be the capital of Upper Nejd, is at the mouth of the valley between the twin ranges, about 2 m.

Hanifa is its principal watercourse; its course is marked by an almost continuous series of palm groves and settlements, among which Deraiya the former, and Riad the present, capital of the Ibn Saud kingdom are the most extensive.

The amir Mahommed Ibn Rashid used to send down about one hundred young horses yearly.

The first certain prince of the Jafnid house was Harith ibn Jabala, who, according to the chronicle of John Malalas, conquered Mondhir (Mundhir) of Hira in 528.

Arabian tradition tells of their prince Jabala ibn Aiham who accepted Islam, after fighting against it, but finding it too democratic, returned to Christianity and exile in the Roman empire.

In 640 `Amr-ibn-el-Ass (Amr ibn al-`As) invaded Egypt and the following year took Alexandria and founded Fostat (which later became Cairo).

Muhajir, with the help of Ikrima, succeeded with difficulty, but thoroughly, in defeating Amr ibn Ma'dikarib and Qais ibn `Abd Yaghuth in Yemen and Ashath ibn Qais in Hadramut.

In 1624 a new dynasty arose in the interior, when Nasir ibn Murshid of the Yariba (Ya`aruba) tribe (originally from Yemen) was elected imam and established his capital at Rustak.

Its originator, Mahommed Ibn Abdul Wahhab, was born (1691) at Ayana in Nejd, and after studying in Basra and Damascus, and making the pilgrimage to Mecca returned to his native country and settled down at Huremala near Deraiya.

A rival state had, however, arisen, under Abdallah Ibn Rashid in Jebel Shammar.

Driven into exile owing to a feud between his family and the Ibn Ali, the leading family of the Shammar, Abdallah came to Riad in 1830, and was favourably received by the amir Turki.

He set himself to work to establish law and order throughout the state, to arrange its finances, and to encourage the settlement in Hail of artificers and merchants from abroad; the building of the citadel and palace commenced by Mehemet Ali, and continued by Abdallah Ibn Rashid, was completed by Taal.

His uncle Obed, to whom equally with Abdallah is due the foundation of the Ibn Rashid dynasty, laboured to extend the Shammar boundaries.

Warned by a hurried sign by Hamud that his life was in danger, Mahommed at once attacked Bandar, stabbed him and took possession of the citadel; a general massacre of all members of the house of Ibn Rashid followed, and next day Mahommed appeared with his cousin Hamud in the market-place of Hail, and announced his assumption of the amirship. A strong and capable ruler, he soon established his authority over all northern and western Nejd, and in 1872 the opportunity arrived for his intervention in the east.

Owing to the dissensions among the ruling family of Riad, the towns of eastern Nejd gradually reverted to their former condition of independence, but menaced in turn by the growing power of Hail, they formed a coalition under the leadership of Zamil, sheik of Aneza, and in the spring of 1891, Aneza, Bureda, Shakra, Ras and Riad assembled their contingents to contest with Ibn Rashid the supremacy in Nejd.

This victory placed the whole of northern and central Arabia under the supremacy of Mahommed Ibn Rashid, which he held undisputed during the rest of his life.

In the meantime Sheik Mubarak had found useful allies in the Muntafik Arabs from the lower Euphrates, and the Wahhabis of Riad; the latter under the amir Ibn Saud marched against Ibn Rashid, who at the instigation of the Porte had again threatened Kuwet (Koweit), compelled him to retire to his own territory and took possession of the towns of Bureda and Aneza.

Sheik Mubarak and his allies continued their advance, defeated Ibn Rashid in two engagements on the 22nd of July and the 26th of September 1904, and drove him back on his capital, Hail.

The Persian occupation, which followed that of the Portuguese, came to a end in the middle of the, 8th century, when Ahmad Ibn Said expelled the invaders and in 1759 established the Ghafari dynasty which still reigns in Oman.

While, however, these measures were in early use, they were not systematically analysed or their rules enunciated until the time of Khalil ibn Ahmad in the 8th century.

This is Umayya ibn Abi-s-Salt, a Meccan who did not accept Islam and died in 630.

C. aandberg's Primeurs arabes, 1, aeiden, 1886), and Jarwal ibn Aus, known as al-IIutai`a, a wandering poet whose keen satires led to his imprisonment by Omar (Poems, ed.

Qais ur-Rugayyat was the poet of `Abdallah ibn uz-Zubair (Abdallah ibn Zobair) and helped him until circumstances went against him, when he made his peace with the caliph.

One of the earliest of these poets, Muti' ibn Ayas, shows the new depth of personal feeling and refinement of expression.

On the other hand Ibn ul-Mo`tazz (son of the caliph) was the writer of brilliant occasional verse, free of all imitation.

Yet Abu-l-`Ala, ul-Ma'arri (q.v.) was original alike in his use of rhymes and in the philosophical nature of his poems. Ibn Farid is the greatest of the mystic poets, and Busiri (q.v.) wrote the most famous poem extant in praise of the Prophet.

In the 8th century Ibn Mofaddal compiled the collection named after him the Mofaddaliyat.

In the 10th century, however, it was revived, occurring almost simultaneously in the Sermons of Ibn Nubata (946-984) and the aetters of Abti Bakr ul-Khwarizmi.

Thus government, war, friendship, morality, piety, eloquence, are some of the titles under which Ibn Qutaiba groups his stories and verses in the `Uyun ul Akhbar.

It is told, however, that Moawiya summoned an old man named `Abid ibn Sharya from Yemen to Damascus to tell him all he knew about ancient history and that he induced him to write down his information.

The original work of Ibn Ishaq seems to be lost.

Waqidi had much more copious materials than Ibn Ishaq, but gives way much more to a popular and sometimes romancing style of treatment.

Nevertheless he sometimes helps us to recognize in Ibn Ishaq's narrative modifications of the genuine tradition made for a purpose, and the additional details he supplies set various events before us in a clearer light.

Apart from this his chief merits lie in his studies on the subject of the traditional authorities, the results of which are given by Ibn Sa`d, and in his chronology, which is often excellent.

And that Ibn Ishaq agrees with Wagidi in certain main dates is important evidence for the trustworthiness of the former also.

Ibn Muqaffa` translated the great Book of Persian Kings, and others followed his example.

Tabari and his contemporaries, senior and junior, such as Ibn Qutaiba, Ya`gubi, Dinawari, preserve to us a good part of the information about Persian history made known through such translations.'

Ya`qubi (Ibn Waeiih) wrote a short general history of much value (published by Houtsma, aeiden, 1883).

Ibn Khordadhbeh's historical works are lost.

Gottwaldt, St Petersburg, 1844); Ibn al-Qutiya wrote a History of Spain; Ibn Zulaq (d.

Ibn ul-Jauzi, who died in the same year, has been already mentioned.

Ibn `Adhari's History of Africa and Spain has been published by Dozy (2 vols., aeiden, 1848-1851), and the Qartas of Ibn abi Zar` by Tornberg (1843).

Of Ibn Kathir's History the greatest part is extant.

Fliigel has published Ibn Kotlubogha's Biographies of the Hanifite Jurists.

Ibn Khordadhbeh, in the middle of the 9th century, wrote a Book of Roads and Provinces to give an account of the highways, the posting-stations and the revenues of the provinces.

Khalil ibn Ahmad (718-791), an Arab from Oman, of the school of Basra, was the first to enunciate the laws of Arabic metre and the first to write a dictionary.

Other members of the school of Basra were Abu `Ubaida (q.v.), Asma`i (q.v.), Mubarrad (q.v.) and Ibn Duraid.

In the fourth century of Islam the two schools of Kufa and Basra declined in importance before the increasing power of Bagdad, where Ibn Qutaiba, Ibn Jinni (941-1002) and others carried on the work, but without the former rivalry of the older schools.

Ibn Ali Talib, anxious to perpetuate their severance from the orthodox church and the Byzantine empire, confirmed these privileges by charter and in 762 the patriarchate was removed to Bagdad.

This evidence is confirmed by (a) the canon of Theodore of Edessa (800) allowing metropolitans of China, India and other distant lands to send their reports to the catholikos every six years; (b) the edict of Wu Tsung destroying Buddhist monasteries and ordering 300 foreign priests to return to the secular life that the customs of the empire might be uniform; (c) two 9th-century Arab travellers, one of whom, Ibn Wahhab, discussed the contents of the Bible with the emperor; (d) the discovery in 1725 of a Syrian MS. containing hymns and a portion of the Old Testament.

These caves (called by the Arabs Kulat ibn Ma'an) are apparently natural, but were enlarged and fortified.

Their king Joseph, in answer to the inquiry of Hasdai Ibn Shaprut of Cordova (c. 958), stated that his people sprang from Thogarmah, grandson of Japhet, and the supposed ancestor of the other peoples of the Caucasus.

The official titles recorded by Ibn Fadlan are those in use amongst the Tatar nations of that age, whether Huns, Bulgarians, Turks or Mongols.

Some too amongst the medieval authorities (Ibn Haugal and Istakhri) note a resemblance between the speech in use amongst the Khazars and the Bulgarians; and the modern Magyar - a Ugrian language - can be traced back to a tribe which in the 9th century formed part of the Khazar kingdom.

When Ibn Fadlan visited Khazaria forty years later, Itil was even yet a great city, with baths and market-places and thirty mosques.

He was a physician, and Ibn Abi Usaibia, in his treatise on Arabian doctors, mentions him as the author of a medical work.

The ancient college (medressa) where many learned Arabs taught - of whom Ibn Khaldun, author of a History of the Berbers, may be mentioned - has entirely disappeared.

Besides the walls and towers, and the minaret of the mosque, little remains of Mansura, of which Ibn Khaldun has left a contemporary and graphic sketch.

In 1080 the Almoravide sovereign Yusef ibn Tashfin, after besieging and sacking Agadir, built a new town on the site of his camp. The new town, called Tagrart, became the commercial quarter, whilst Agadir remained the royal residence.

A curious passage on the subject, by Ibn Khaldun, an Arabian medieval savant, is quoted by Mr Thomas from the printed Extracts of MSS.

Removed from his office by Othman in 647, who replaced him by Ibn abi Sarh, he sided with Moawiya in the contest for the caliphate, and was largely responsible for the deposition of Ali and the establishment of the Omayyad dynasty.

According to Ibn Khaqan, a contemporary writer, he became a student of the exact sciences and was also a musician and a poet.

Ibn `Usaibi ` a gives a list of twenty-five of his works, but few of these remain.

Abubekr's successor was Mahommed III., Ahmed ibn Ibrahim el-Ghazi (1507-1543), surnamed Gran (Granye), the left-handed.

Bukhari [[[Mahommed Ahmed Ibn Seyyid Abdullah|Mahommed ibn]] Isma`il al-Bukhari] (810-872), Arabic author of the most generally accepted collection of traditions (hadith) from Mahomet, was born at Bokhara (Bukhdra), of an Iranian family, in A.H.

His theological position was conservative and anti-rationalistic; he enjoyed the friendship and respect of Ahmad Ibn IJanbal.

By the Arabs the name was changed to Kolambu, and the town was mentioned by Ibn Batuta in 1346 as the largest and finest in Serendib.

The consecration of Samuel has also its Arabic parallel in the dedication of an unborn child by its mother to the service of the Ka'ba (Ibn Hisham, p. 76; Azraki, p. 128).

The "spacious arches of stone and other vestiges of departed majesty," with which Ker Porter found it surrounded in 1818, were possibly remains of the college (medresseh) and monastery (zavieh) where Ibn Batuta found shelter during his visit to the locality.

Even rarer than these rare perceptions of the evidence of the quasi-historical books to their origin are such half-perceptions of the literary origin of the prophetical books as is betrayed by Ibn Ezra, who appears to question the Isaianic authorship of Is.

Buhturi [al-Walid ibn `Ubaid] (820-897), Arabian poet, was born at Manbij (Hierapolis) in Syria, between Aleppo and the Euphrates.

Other mosques of some note are those of Ibn Yusef, El Mansur and El Mo`izz; the chapel of Sidi Bel Abbas, in the extreme north of the city, possesses property of great value, and serves as an almshouse and asylum.

The hostile attitude of Khalaf ibn Ahmad, governor of Seistan, called Mahmud to that province for a short time.

In Doi I Mahmud, after a short campaign against the Afghans under Mahommed ibn Stir in the hill country of Ghur, marched again into the Punjab.

The biography of the poet Osema ibn Murkidh (1095-1188), edited by Derenbourg (Paris, 1886), gives an invaluable picture of Eastern life.

Later Arabian authorities are Ibn Khallikan (1211-1282) and AbuShama (born 1267).

Ibn Jubair, p. 237 sq., followed by Ibn Batuta, ii.

Darby in the following year; and Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Abdallah, al Dimashki, al `Ajmi, commonly called Ibn 'Arabshah, author of the Arabic `Ajaibu '1 Makhlnkat, translated by the Dutch Orientalist Golius in 1636.

Al-Mufaddal was a contemporary of IIammad ar-Rawiya and Khalaf al-Ahmar, the famous collectors of ancient Arab poetry and tradition, and was somewhat the junior of Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala, the first scholar who systematically set himself to preserve the poetic literature of the Arabs.

In 762 he took part in the rising led by Ibrahim ibn 'Abdallah ibn al-IIasan, the 'Alid, called "The Pure Soul," against the caliph al-Mansur, and after the defeat and death of Ibrahim was cast into prison.

AlMansur, however, pardoned him on the intercession of his fellowtribesman Musayyab ibn Zuhair of Dabba, and appointed him the instructor in literature of his son, afterwards the caliph al-Mandi.

The collection, in its present form, contains 126 pieces of verse, long and short; that is the number included in the recension of al-Anbari, who had the text from Abu `Ikrima of Dabba, who read it with Ibn al-A`rabi, the stepson and inheritor of the tradition of al-Mufaddal.

It is curious that this tradition is ascribed by al-Marzugi and his teacher Abu 'Ali al-Farisi to Abu `Ikrima of Dabba, who is represented by al-Anbari as the transmitter of the correct text from Ibn al-A`rabi.

There is no mention of it in al-Anbari's work, and it is in itself somewhat improbable, as in al-Asma`i's time the schools of Kufa and Basra were in sharp opposition one to the other, and Ibn al-A`rabi in particular was in the habit of censuring al-Asma`i's interpretations of the ancient poems. It is scarcely likely that he would have accepted his rival's additions to the work of his step-father, and have handed them on to Abu `Ikrima with his annotations.

An interesting feature of the work is the treatment in it of the two poets of Bakr ibn Wa'il, uncle and nephew, called al-Muraqqish, who are perhaps the most ancient in the collection.

This extraordinary man, associated by tradition with Omar Khayyam, the well-known mathematician and free-thinking poet, and with Hassan (ibn) Sabbah, afterwards the founder of the sect of the Assassins (q.v.), was a renowned author and statesman of the first rank, and immortalized his name by the foundation of several universities (the Nizamiyah at Bagdad), observatories, mosques, hospitals and other institutions of public utility.

His descendants, therefore, took the style of "Ibn Danishmand," often without their own name.

El Motamid went, however, considerably further in patronage of literature than his father, for he chose as his favourite and prime minister the poet Ibn Ammar.

In the end the vanity and featherheadedness of Ibn Ammar drove his master to kill him.

When Alphonso took Toledo in 1085, El Motamid called in Yusef ibn Tashfin, the Almoravide (see Spain, History, and Almoravides).

After the conquest by Amr ibn el-`Asi, inland Cyrenaica regained some importance, lying as it did on the direct route between Alexandria and Kairawan, and Barca became its chief place.

Mesopotamia fell partly under the power of Ahmad ibn Tulun of Egypt and his son; but before the end of the 9th century the Hamdanids, descendants of the Arab tribe of Taghlib,.

Thus in 1330 Ibn Batuta found a son of the amir of Mecca reigning in Suakin over the Beja, who were his mother's kin.

The undated book on moles and naevi by " Merlin Britannicus, " after the model of `Ali ibn Ragel, is of about the same date.

Jabiz held him to be the most learned scholar in all branches of human knowledge, and Ibn Hisbam accepted his interpretation even of passages in the Koran.

The titles of 105 of his works are mentioned in the Fihrist, and his Book of Days is the basis of parts of the history of Ibn al-Athir and of the Book of Songs (see Abulfaraj), but nothing of his (except a song) seems to exist now in an independent form.

See Life in Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, trans.

The special feature of Ibn Ilazm's teaching was that he extended the application of these principles from the study of law to that of dogmatic theology.

Tiaret (Berber for "station") was a town of note at the time of the Arab invasion of North Africa in the 7th century and is stated by Ibn Khaldun to have offered a stubborn resistance to Sidi-Okba.

In 761 it was taken by Abdurrahman ibn Rostem, the founder of the dynasty of the Beni Rustam (Rostem).

Their empire, which during the reign of Abdurrahman (761-784) and his son Abdul Wahab (784-823) extended over the greater part of the modern Algeria, was known as the Ibadite Empire from Abdallah ibn Ibad, the founder of the heretical sect to which Abdurrahman belonged.

Two years later Tiaret was captured by Massala ibn Habbus of the Miknasa dynasty of Morocco, and after his death in 924 two other princes of the same house maintained their independence, but in 933 the Fatimites again gained the mastery.

He composed an apologetic work under the title Sefer Ha-Berith ("Book of the Bond"), a fragment of which is extant, and translated into Hebrew the ethico-philosophical work of Balhya ibn Paquda ("Duties of the Heart").

Moses Kimhi also composed commentaries to the biblical books; those on Proverbs, Ezra and Nehemiah are in the great rabbinical bibles falsely ascribed to Abraham ibn Ezra.

The movement, recognized by Ibn Saud, Emir of Nejd, had taken definite shape after 1910; and in 1921 it still seemed likely to have far-reaching effects upon the attitude of the people of Central Arabia towards other Arabian communities and even to the outer world.

Among the more possible explanations is that the name is derived from that of Mahommed ibn Nusair, who was an Isma`ilite follower of the eleventh imam of the Shiites at the end of the 9th century.

But the manifestation of the 7th age is not a Mandi who is yet to come, but the historical person `Ali ibn abu Talib.

In the northern quarter stands the great mosque founded by Sidi Okba ibn Nafi, and containing his shrine and the tombs of many rulers of Tunisia.

Munk, who showed that selections made by Shem Tobh Palqera (or Falgera) from the Megor Hayyim (the Hebrew translation of an Arabic original) by Ibn Gabirol, corresponded to the Latin Fans Vitae of Avicebron.

The other important work of Ibn Gabirol is .141äh al-akhlaq (the improvement of character), a popular work in Arabic, translated into Hebrew (Tigqun middoth ha-nephesh) by Judah ibn Tibbon.

The collection of moral maxims, compiled in Arabic but best known (in the Hebrew translation of Judah ibn Tibbon) as Mibhar ha-peninim, is generally ascribed to Ibn Gabirol, though on less certain grounds.

From Panormus the amir or lord of Sicily, Mahommed ibn Abdallah, sent forth his plunderers throughout Sicily and even into southern Italy.

But in 875 the accession of Ibrahim ibn Ahmad in Africa changed the face of things.

The amir in Sicily, Ja`far ibn Ahmad, received strict orders to act vigorously against the eastern towns.

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.

About the year 1040 or a little earlier, one of their chiefs, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

By the good offices of the theologians of Kairawan, one of whom was from Fez, Yahya was provided with a missionary, `Abd-Allah ibn Yazin, a zealous partisan of the Malekis, one of the four orthodox sects of Islam.

Their first military leader, Yahya ibn Omar, gave them a good military organization.

They then came in contact with the Berghwata, a Berber people of central Morocco, who followed a heresy founded by Salah ibn Tarif 300 years previously.

The Berghwata made a fierce resistance, and it was in battle with them that `Abd-Allah ibn Yazin won the crown of martyrdom.

In 1061 Abu Bakr made a division of the power he had established, handing over the more settled parts to his cousin Yusef ibn Tashfin, as viceroy, resigning to him also his favourite wife Zainab, who had the reputation of a sorceress.

Ibn Tashfin, who was largely guided by Zainab, had in the meantime brought what is now known as Morocco to complete subjection, and in 1062 had founded the city of Marrakesh ("Morocco City").

The Caliph laid the duty on Zaid ibn Thabit, a native of Medina, then about twenty-two years of age, who had often acted as amanuensis to the Pro het in whose service Zaid s First p ?

The bravest of their warriors sometimes knew deplorably little about it; distinction on that field they cheerfully accorded to pious men like Ibn Mas`ud.

In particular we have some information about the codex of Ubay ibn Ka`b.

If the list which gives the order of its suras is correct, it must have contained substantially the same materials as our text; in that case Ubay ibn Ka`b must have used the original collection of Zaid.

The same is true of the codex of Ibn Mas`ud, of which we have also a catalogue.

The only man who appears to have seriously opposed the general introduction of Othman's text is Ibn Mas`ud.

Ibn 'Abbas, a cousin of Mahomet, and the chief source of the traditional exegesis of the Koran, has, on theological and other grounds, given currency to a number of falsehoods; and at least some of his pupils have emulated his example.

There are four other mosques within the citadel walls, the chief being that of Ibn Kalaun, built in A.D.

It continued the royal residence of his successors; but was sacked not long after the fall of the dynasty and rapidly decayed., A part of the present Cairo occupies its site and contains its great mosque, that of Ahmed Ibn Tulun.

He found a rival in Egypt in the person of Ibn al-Modabbir, the finance minister, who occupied an independent position, and who started the practice of surrounding himself with an army of his own slaves or freedmen; of these Ibn Tulun succeeded in depriving the finance minister, and they formed the nucleus of an army by which he eventually secured his own independence.

The disaffected in Egypt kept up communications with the Fatimites, against whom the Ikshid collected a vast army, which, however, had first to be employed in resisting an invasion of Egypt threatened by Ibn Raiq, an adventurer who had seized Syria; after an indecisive engagement at LajUn the Ikshid decided to make peace with Ibn Raiq, undertaking to pay him tribute.

The favor afterwards shown to Ibn Raiq at Bagdad nearly threw the Ikshid into the arms of the Fatimite caliph, with whom he carried on a friendly correspondence, one letter of which is preserved.

In 941, after the death of Ibn Raiq, the Ikshid took the opportunity of invading Syria, which the caliph permitted him to hold with the addition of the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, which the TUlunids had aspired to possess.

He is said at this time to have started (in imitation of Abmad Ibn Tulun) a variety of vexatious enactments similar to those afterwards associated with the name of Hgkim, e.g.

He occupied the post little more than three years, and on his death in 968 the aforementioned Alimad, called Abul-Fawgris, was appointed suc,cessor, under the tutelage of a vizier named Ibn Furt, who had long served under the Ikshidis.

The accession of this prince was followed by an incursion of the Carmathians into Syria, before whom the Ikshidi governor fled into Egypt, where he had for a time to undertake the management of affairs, and arrested Ibn Furt, who had proved himself incompetent.

Befoie his arrival the administration of affairs had again been committed to Ibn Furat, who, on hearing of the threatened invasion, at first proposed to treat with Jauhar for the peaceful surrender of the country; but though at first there was a prospect of this being carried out, the majority of the troops at Fostat preferred to make some resistance, and an advance was made to meet Jauhar in the neighborhood of Giza.

The new reign began by an armed struggle between two commanders for the post of vizier, which in January 1150 was decided in favor of the Amir Ibn Sallr.

The administration of Najm al-din is highly praised by Ibn Khallikan, who lived under it.

Among Egyptian mystics the most famous as authors are the poet Ibn al-Farid, d.

Of Egyptian miscellaneous writers two of the most celebrated are Ibn Daqiq al-id, d.

The haggadic passages of the Talmud were collected in the Eye of Jacob, a very popular compilation completed by Jakob ibn Habib in the 16th century.

Some authorities, however, hold that it commemorates the red flare of the torches by whose light the work of construction was carried on nightly for many years; others associate it with the name of the founder, Mahomet Ibn Al Ahmar; and others derive it from the Arabic Dar al Amra, " House of the Master."

A story of Mahommedan origin, which is probably no more historical than the oath of Santa Gadea, tells of how he allowed himself to be tricked by Ibn Ammar, the favourite of Al Motamid, the king of Seville.

They played chess for an extremely beautiful table and set of men, belonging to Ibn Ammar.

If Ibn Ammar gained he was to name the stake.

A tradition is extant to the effect that Singapore was an important trading centre in the 12th and 13th centuries, but neither Marco Polo nor Ibn Batuta, both of whom wintered in Sumatra on their way back to Europe from China, have left anything on record confirmatory of this.

The plural rabbanim was employed to describe the later Jewish scholars (so, for example, in the historian Ahraham Ibn Daud, 12th century).

The Emir of Nejd, 'Abd el 'Aziz ibn Saud, ejected them from the first-named districts; the war has put an end to their claims elsewhere in the Gulf.

Harith Ibn Hilliza Ul-Yashkuri, pre-Islamic Arabian poet of the tribe of Bakr, famous as the author of one of the poems generally received among the Mo 'allakat (q.v.).

The modern name, as above-mentioned, is Merj Ibn `Amir (" the meadow-land of the son of `Amir "); in ancient times it was known as the Valley of Jezreel, of which name Esdraelon is a Greek corruption; and by another name (Har-Magedon) derived from that of the important town of Megiddo - it is referred to symbolically in Rev. xvi.

The Tawahhid (The Unity of God), said to have been written in Moroccan Berber and believed to be the oldest African work in existence, except Egyptian and Ethiopic, was the work of the Muwahhadi leader, Ibn Tumart the Mandi, at a time when the officials of the Kairawan mosque were dismissed because they could not speak Berber.

Of some 289 works said to have been written by Ibn `Arabi 150 are mentioned in C. Brockelmann's Gesch.

Hasan and Ibn Abbas opened, each for himself, negotiations with Moawiya.

The probability is that Abdarrahman was ill when returning from the frontier, that Moawiya sent him his own medical man, the Christian doctor Ibn Othal, and that the rumour arose that the doctor had poisoned him.

In the month Ramadan this Omar was made governor of Medina and sent an army against Ibn Zobair.

This army was defeated, and from that time Ibn Zobair was supreme at Mecca.

Ibn Zobair profited greatly by the distress caused by Hosain's death.

Ibn Hanzala was made commander.

Nomair arrived before Mecca in September 683 and found Ibn Zobair ready to defend it.

It is said that on the news of the death of Yazid a conference took place between Hosain and Ibn Zobair, and that the former offered to proclaim the latter as caliph provided he would accompany him to Syria and proclaim a general amnesty.

Ibn Zobair refused haughtily, and Hosain, with a contemptuous criticism of his folly, ordered his army to break up for Syria.

Hitherto Ibn Zobair had confined himself to an appeal to the Moslems to renounce Yazid and to have a caliph elected by the council (shura) of the principal leading men.

Against the accusation of being a drinker of wine he himself protested in verses which he recited when he sent the army against Ibn Zobair.

Decisive is also the testimony of Ibn al-Hanafiya, who declared that all the accusations brought by the Medinians were false.

The amir of the Kalb, Ibn Balidal, persuaded probably by Obaidallah b.

Meanwhile Dahhak had declared himself openly for Ibn Zobair.

An army sent to the rescue by Ibn Zobair under the command of his brother Mus`ab was beaten in Palestine by `Amr Ashdaq.

Meanwhile Mokhtar (son of that Abu `Obaid the Thaqifite who had commanded the Arabs against the Persians in the unfortunate battle of the Bridge), a man of great talents and still greater ambition, after having supported Ibn Zobair in the siege of Mecca, had gone to Kufa, where he joined the Shiites, mostly Persians, and acquired great power.

He claimed that he was commissioned by Ali's son, Mahommed ibn al-Hanafiya, who after the death of Hosain was recognized by the Shiites as their Mandi.

Afterwards Ibn al-Hanafiya seems to have acknowledged him distinctly as his vicegerent.

Ibn Zobair's representative in Kuf a was compelled to flee, and all those who had participated in the battle of Kerbela were put to death.

Mokhtar was now at the zenith of power, but Ibn Zobair, determined to get rid at all costs of so dangerous an enemy, named his brother Mus`ab governor of Basra and ordered him to march against Kufa.

The troops of Basra had been, since the death of Yazid, at war with the Kharijites, who had supported Ibn Zobair during the siege of Mecca, but had deserted him later.

Ashtar, Mokhtar's governor of Mesopotamia, submitted and acknowledged the Caliphate of Ibn Zobair.

Ibn Zobair, however, was occupied at Mecca with the rebuilding of the Ka`ba, and Mus`ab was harassed not only by the Kharijites, but also by a noble freebooter, Obaidallah b.

Ashtar, the brave son of a brave father, who, after the fall of Mokhtar, had become a faithful supporter of Ibn Zobair.

Yusuf at the head of 2000 Syrians against Ibn Zobair in Mecca, and despatched a messenger toTariq b.'Amr, who 1 Formerly the capital of the homonymous province of Syria; it lies a day's march west from Haleb (Aleppo).

Ibn Zobair employed against him Abyssinians armed with Greek-fire-tubes, who, however, quitted him soon under the pressure of famine.

Mecca being thus left without defenders, Ibn Zobair saw that ruin was inevitable.

With Ibn Zobair perished the influence which the early companions of Mahomet had exercised over Islam.

Nomair, Ibn Zobair had rebuilt and enlarged the house of God.

Thus the protracted war against Ibn Zobair was brought to an end; hence this year (71) also is called the "year of union" (jama'a).

Not long after his arrival in Sijistan, Ibn Ash`ath, exasperated by the masterful tone of Hajjaj, the plebeian, towards himself, the high-born, decided to revolt.

The soldiers of Irak, who did not love the governor, and disliked the prospect of a long and difficult war far from home, eagerly accepted the proposition of returning to Irak, and even proclaimed the dethronement of Abdalmalik, in favour of Ibn Ash`ath.

Ibn Ash`ath drove him back to Basra, entered the city, and then turned his arms against Kufa, of which he took possession with aid from within.

Ibn Ash`ath encamped not far from him at Dair al-Jamajim with a far more numerous army.

Ibn Ash`ath fled to Basra, where he managed to collect fresh troops; but having been again beaten in a furious battle that took place at Maskin near the Dojail, he took refuge at Ahwaz, from which he was soon driven by the troops of Hajjaj under `Omara b.

Several of these were faqihs, students of Koranic science and law, and all these seconded Ibn Ash`ath with all their might.

Eutychius and others pretend that he desired to substitute Jerusalem for Mecca, because Ibn Zobair had occupied the latter place, and thus the pilgrimage to the Ka`ba had become difficult for the Syrians.

But the reputation of Omar attracted to the two holy cities a great number of the inhabitants of Irak, who had been deeply involved in the rebellion of Ibn Ash`ath.

To his unflagging constancy was due the suppression of the dangerous rebellion of Ibn Ash`ath.

Hajjaj was a sincere Moslem; this, however, did not prevent him from attacking Ibn Zobair in the Holy City, nor again from punishing rebels, though they bore the name of holy men.

A still more questionable measure of Ibn Hobaira was his ordering the successor of Said Harashi to extort large sums of money from several of the most respectable Khorasanians.

This very able man, who under Hajjaj had been prefect of Mecca, belonged properly neither to the Qaisites nor to the Yemenites, but as he took the place of Ibn Hobaira and dismissed his partisans from their posts, the former considered him as their adversary, the, latter as their benefactor.

Merwan immediately ordered Ibn Hobaira to stop his march and to wait for him at Durin, and marched with the main force against Suleiman, whom he utterly defeated at Khosaf in the district of Kinnesrin.

Ibn Omar did not acknowledge Merwan as caliph.

For the moment Merwan could do no more than send a new governor, Ibn Sa'id al Ilarashi.

This officer was supported only by the Qaisite troops, the Kalbites, who were numerically superior, maintaining Ibn Omar in his residence at Hira.

Ibn Omar and Ibn Sa`id al IIarashi tried to defend their province, but were completely defeated.

Jomhur was the first to pass over to the Khawarij; then Ibn Omar himself took the oath of allegiance.

Ibn Omar was rewarded with the government of eastern Irak, Khuzistan and Fars.

Ibn Omar was taken prisoner; Mansur b.

Jomhur fled to Ibn Moawiya.

Ibn Hobaira was at last free to send Ibn Dobara with an army to Mesopotamia.

Ilanzala defeated his army; Ibn Moawiya fled to Khorasan, where he met his death; the chief of the Kharijites, Shaiban Yashkori went to eastern Arabia; Suleiman b.

In vain he had entreated Merwan and Ibn Hobaira to send him troops before it should be too late.

Ibn Hobaira was overtaken and compelled to retire to Wasit.

Ibn Hobaira, who had been besieged in Wasit for eleven months, then consented to a capitulation, which was sanctioned by Abu'l-Abbas.

Immediately after the surrender, Ibn Hobaira and his principal officers were treacherously murdered.

At Kuf a a certain Ibn Tabataba placed an army in the field under Abul-Saraya, who had been a captain in the army of Harthama.

Sahl was defeated, and Abu`l-Saraya, no longer content to play a second part, poisoned his chief, Ibn Tabataba, and put in his place another of the family of Ali, Mahommed b.

The upper cadi Ibn abi Da`ud, the leader of the movement against orthodoxy, who had stood in great esteem with Mamun and had fulfilled his high office under the reigns of Motasim and Wathiq, had a stroke of paralysis in the year 848.

In the year 848-849 Ibn Ba`ith, who had rendered good service in the war against Babak, but had for some cause been arrested, fled from Samarra to Marand in Azerbaijan and revolted.

Not without great difficulty Bogha, the Turkish general, succeeded in taking the town and making Ibn Ba`ith prisoner.

He was compelled to send Wasif, the personal enemy of Ibn Khasib, to the frontier for a term of four years, and then to deprive his two brothers Motazz and Mowayyad, who were not agreeable to them, of their right of succession.

The Turkish soldiery, now the chief power in the state, chose, by the advice of Ibn Khasib, in succession to Montasir, his cousin Ahmad, who took the title of al-Mosta`in billala (" he who looks for help to God").

The party which had placed Mosta`in on the throne, led by Ibn Khasib and Otamish, were soon overpowered by Wasif and Bogha.

Ibn Khasib was banished to Crete, Otamish murdered.

Motamid's flight was stopped by his vizier Ibn Makhlad, and the caliph himself was reconducted to Samarra as a prisoner in the year 882.

The vizier Ibn Moqla tried to maintain his authority at least in Irak and Mesopotamia, but without success.

In this extremity the caliph bade Ibn Raiq, who had made himself master of Basra and Wasit, and had command of money and men, to come to his help. He created for him the office of Amir al-Omara, "Amir of the Amirs," which nearly corresponds to that of Mayor of the Palace among the Franks.'

At the time of his accession the Amir al-Omara was the Turkish general Bajkam, in whose favour Ibn Raiq had been obliged to retire.

Ibn Raiq came back and reinstated himself as Amir al-Omara.

This prince, still more than his predecessors, was a mere puppet in the hands of Tuzun, who died a few months later, and his successor Ibn Shirzad.

Not long before that event the wellknown Spanish traveller Ibn Jubair visited the empire of Saladin, and came to Bagdad in 580, where he saw the caliph himself.

Ibn Batuta saw him when he visited India, and says that he was very avaricious.

For life of Asma`i, see Ibn Khallik5n, Biographical Dictionary, translated from the Arabic by McG.

Ibn Batesta notices two destructive pestilences in the 14th century, and Ferishta one in 1443, which he calls ta'un, and describes as very unusual in India.

In the sultan's service Ibn Batuta remained eight years; but his good fortune stimulated his natural extravagance, and his debts soon amounted to four or five times his salary.

The mission party was to embark in Chinese junks (the word used) and smaller vessels, but that carrying the other envoys and the presents, which started before Ibn Batuta was ready, was wrecked totally; the vessel that he had engaged went off with his property, and he was left on the beach of Calicut.

Ibn Batuta died in 1378, aged seventy-three.

Ibn Batuta's travels have only been known in Europe during the 19th century; at first merely by Arabic abridgments in the Gotha and Cambridge libraries.

Under these teachers he became familiar with the Talmud and, what was probably more important for his own development, with the philosophical writings of Ibn Ezra and Maimonides, Levi ben Gerson, Hasdai Crescas, and other representatives of Jewish medieval thought, who aim at combining the traditional theology with ideas got from Aristotle and his Neoplatonic commentators.

They had gained their success largely by the aid of the Persians, who began, thenceforward to recover their lost sense of nationality; according to the Spanish author Ibn.

German translations of Ibn Yamin were published by 0.

This church was visited by Ibn Batuta in A.D.

When Mahommed ibn `Abdallah, the 'Alid, rose in A.D.

It is said that he retired from all active, public life and even neglected plain, public duties, replying to reproaches, "Not every one can speak in his own excuse" (Ibn Qutaiba, Ma 'arif, 250).

Alphonso, who became count of Portugal in 1128, was one of the warrior heroes of medieval romance; his exploits were sung by troubadours throughout south-western Europe, and even in Africa " ibn Errik " - the son of Henry - was known and feared.

Mukdishu is mentioned by Marco Polo and described by Ibn Batuta as an "immense" city.

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.

In r 106 he was tempted to go to the West, where the Moravid (Almoravid) reformation was being led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, with whom he had been in correspondence earlier.

It seems certain that he did suffer imprisonment and beating for this reason, at the hands of an earlier governor of Kufa under the Omayyads (Ibn Qutaiba, Ma`arif, p. 248).

In the 8th century it was conquered, after a struggle of 25 years, by the Arab chieftain Kotaiba ibn Moslim, from West Turkestan, who imposed Islam upon the people.

In the time of Ibn Jubair the gates still stood though the walls were ruined, but now the gates have only left their names to quarters of the town.

Since the fall of Ibn Zubair the political position of Mecca 4 For details as to the ancient quarters of Mecca, where the several families or septs lived apart, see Azraqi, 455 pp. seq., and compare Ya`qubi, ed.

The minor sacred places are described at length by Azraqi and Ibn Jubair.

In Ibn Jubair's time large supplies were brought from the Yemen mountains.

By him the dignity of sherif was deprived of much of its weight, and in 1827 a change of dynasty was effected by the appointment of Ibn `Aun.

The Ka`ba has been rebuilt more than once since Mahomet purged it of idols and adopted it as the chief sanctuary of Islam, but the old form has been preserved, except in secondary details;2 so that the "Ancient House," as it is titled, is still essentially a heathen temple, adapted to the worship of Islam by the clumsy fiction that it was built by Abraham and Ishmael by divine revelation as a temple of pure monotheism, and that it was only temporarily perverted to idol worship from the time when `Amr ibn Lohai introduced the statue of Hobal from Syria' till the victory of Islam.

Little change, however, seems to have been made since the time of Ibn Jubair, who describes the floor and walls as overlaid with richly variegated marbles, and the upper half of the walls as plated with silver thickly gilt, while the roof was veiled with coloured silk.