Bensalem Himmich - The Polymath

Almohads (al-Muwahhidun) :the religious movement founded by Ibn Tumart that, after his death in 524/1130, became the ruling dynasty in North Africa and from 541/1146 included parts of al-Andalus as well.

‘Amr ibn al-‘As (d. c. 43/663):one of the most renowned commanders of Muslim armies during the early days of Islam, who was in charge of the conquest of Egypt. Legend has it that when a pigeon landed on his tent in the FUSTAT area to the south of modern Cairo, he took it as a portent and ordered the construction of the mosque that still carries his name on that site.

‘Antara and Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan:these are two heroic figures whose exploits are the subject of lengthy popular sagas, traditionally performed in public by storytellers.

‘Ashura’ Day:tenth day of Muharram, a day of fasting for Muslims, this day has particular significance in the Shi‘i calendar, being the day in 60/680 when Muhammad’s grandson, al-Husayn, was slain at the Battle of Karbala.

atabeg :regent or tutor to a prince of the ruling family, a term that came into use when the Saljuq sultans took over civilian and military control of Baghdad in the eleventh century. If the ward of the atabeg died young, the regent was entitled to marry the ward’s mother and thus become a ruler in his own right.

Atabeg Altunbugha al-Jubani (d. 797/1395):a close friend of IBN KHALDUN, he was a holder of a number of high offices during the reign of SULTAN BARQUQ. Following the failure of the rebellion led by YALBUGHA AL-NASIRI and MINTASH, BARQUQ appointed al-Jubani as governor of Syria. It was al-Jubani who interceded with the sultan to get IBN KHALDUN restored to favor after he had signed the legal opinion authorizing SULTAN BARQUQ’S deposition.

‘Ayn Jalut (‘Goliath’s Spring’):location of a battle in 658/1260 at which a large Mamluk army crushed a smaller force of Mongols, thus halting their advance to the south and west.

Aytamish:commander-in-chief of the army in Cairo, he was appointed special guardian of the young Sultan Faraj following SULTAN BARQUQ’S death. The appointment was vigorously opposed by TANAM, the viceroy of Damascus.

Bab al-Jabiya and Bab al-Saghir:the Jabiya gate was in the western portion of the city walls of Damascus. Bab al-Saghir (the ‘Small Gate’) was in the southern portion of the walls.

Bab al-Jayrun:a gate in the eastern wall of Damascus, close to the Umawi mosque.

al-Bakri and Yusuf ibn Tashufin:not a great deal is known about al-Bakri who appears to have lived in the thirteenth century and to have been a biographer, writing a life of the Prophet Muhammad among other works. Yusuf ibn Tashufin (d. 500/1106) was one of the illustrious leaders of the Murabitun, the Berber dynasty known in English as the Almoravids, who ruled over North Africa and Spain until they in turn were placed by the ALMOHADS.

Battle of Arak:in 591/1195, the forces of the Castilian king, Alfonso VIII, were defeated by the Muslims under the command of Yusuf ibn Mansur.

Battle of al-‘Iqab:a battle fought in al-Andalus in 608/1212 (also known as Las Navas de Tolosa), in which the Muslims were defeated by a Christian force led by Alfonso VIII of Castile.

Battle of Tarif:the sultan, ABU AL-HASAN, after securing a naval vie tory in the Straits of Gibraltar, invaded Spanish territory. Following a defeat at Tarif (also known as Rio Salado) in 740/1340, he was forced to retreat back across the strait to Morocco.

Bayazid I (d. 804/1403):the Ottoman sultan who made major inroads into Europe (including a victory at the Battle of Kosovo). However, following his defeat by Timur Lang, he was imprisoned and executed.

Baybars Convent:built by Sultan Baybars (704/1305), this con vent (khanqa) had been established as a religious endowment (waqf) for Sufis. It was clearly a source of considerable revenue for IBN KHALDUN, something he missed greatly when he was dismissed from his post following his involvement in the judicial justification of SULTAN BARQUQ’S deposition (see ATABEG ALTUNBUGHA AL-JUBANI).

Bayn al-Qasrayn:literally, ‘between the two palaces,’ one of the principal thoroughfares of Old Cairo, made famous more recently as the title of the first volume of Naguib Mahfouz’s renowned trilogy of novels about Cairo between 1916 and 1944 (the English translation is entitled Palace Walk) .

beautiful names (al-asma’ al-husna) :in the Qur’an, God is described using ninety-nine separate epithets, termed ‘the beautiful names.’ It is very common for Muslims to name their children ‘ Abd al- followed by one of these epithets. Ibn Khaldun himself is named ‘Abd al-Rahman — Servant of the Merciful.

Beginning and Ending (al-Bidaya wa-l-nihaya) of Ibn al-Kathir; Goal of Desire (Nihayat al-‘arab) by al-Nuwayri; History (Tarikh) of Abu al-Fida’:three important works by scholars of IBN KHALDUN’S period. Ibn al-Kathir (d. 774/1373) was one of the most famous historians of the Mamluk period; al-Nuwayri’s (d. 732/1332) work is a literary compendium on a large variety of topics; Abu al-Fida (d. 732/1331) was an Ayyubi amir and also a historian.

al-Bukhari and Muslim and the Sahihan :al-Bukhari (d. 258/870) and Muslim (d. 261/875) are the compilers of the two most authoritative collections of accounts of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith), known as sahih (‘authentic’).

Burhan al-Din ibn Muflih (d. 804/1401):The chief judge of the Hanbali school of law in Damascus (other sources name him Taqi al-Din, not Burhan al-Din). He was later appointed chief spokesman of the deputation (of which IBN KHALDUN was also a member) that went to meet Timur Lang on behalf of the citizens of Damascus.

Castle of Ibn Salama:this castle gives its name to a town in the Oran region of present-day Algeria. IBN KHALDUN stayed there from 778/1375 until 780/1378.

City of Brass, Sijilmasa:The story of the City of Brass (Madinat al-nuhas) is a separate Middle Eastern narrative tradition that was added to the Arabian Nights at some point following its translation into French in the early eighteenth century. Sijilmasa, in the easternmost section of modern Morocco, was an important town on the trans-Saharan trade route.

dawadar :Originally the title given to the carrier of the ruler’s inkwell, this position became during Mamluk times one of considerable authority. Among the functions performed by amirs who held this position were the selection of members of military expeditions and the supervision of tax collection.

Dawadar Yashbak al-Sha‘bani:under SULTAN BARQUQ, Yashbak had served as state treasurer and had also been appointed one of Sultan Faraj’s guardians. After suppressing the revolt of TANAM, the viceroy of Syria, Yashbak was appointed dawadar , or military chief, of Egypt in 803/1400.

The Diwan of Topic and Predicate (Diwan al-mubtada’ wa-l-khabar) :this is the second part of the title of IBN KHALDUN’S work of history, Kitab al-‘ibar (‘Book on the Lessons of History’).

escape after hardship:this is a particular theme (al-faraj ba ‘da al-shidda) that was popular as an organizing matrix for varieties of anecdotal narrative in the pre-modern heritage of Arabic literature.

al-Farabi (d. 339/950):renowned philosopher, known as ‘the second teacher’ (Aristotle being the first).