1 Introduction¹

The so-called audience certificates (Arabic samāʿāt) are a phenomenon that is peculiar to Arabic manuscript culture. In a script that, at times, is barely legible, these certificates minutely document place, time, authorizing scholar, and auditory of text readings. The aim of these paratexts is primarily to attest: 1) the participation of either auditors, which entitles them to further transmission, or non-scholars to record their presence as a pious work; and 2) the correctness of the text transmitted in the manuscript.²

This article exploits the certificates in the manuscript Ms. orient. A 627 from the Gotha Research Library and edits them critically.³ A previous article was devoted to the intricate sequence of these certificates—in fact, two errors occurred in this regard when the manuscript was rebound at an unknown place and unknown time—and to identifying the scribes’ hands of the pairs of certificates belonging to part 6 and part 8 of the Iʿtilāl al-qulūb.⁴ Facsimile copies of the six pages (fol. 13b to 15b and fol. 37b) have been included.⁵

To date, only a small number of audience certificates have been edited, mostly as padding in text editions from the Arab world. A notable exception is the edition of the certificates contained in the manuscript Or. 580 of Leiden University Library by Jan Just Witkam;⁶ another deviation is an edition of eight certificates from a copy of a work by al-Saḫāwī (d. 643/1245).⁷ A number of transferred certificates (see below) have recently been edited by Said Aljoumani.⁸ The edition presented here is an attempt to make the characteristics of the certificates’ content visible by means of layout, i.e. by marking the different functions (attending master, reader, writer, date) using coloured script and by separating the single auditors using indents. While, as a general practice for editing larger corpora of samāʿāt, this may result in higher printing costs due to the need for more space and for colour print, such interventions in the original layout will not impact the expense of future online editions.

The analysis of the certificates dating from 5th/6th-century Baghdad (11th/12th century CE) exemplifies the role of a chamberlain (ḥājib) at the Caliph’s court in the transmission of knowledge. A number of questions are addressed: What exactly was put on record? What was the social composition of the different reading communities that he presided over? How does the sequence of attendants mentioned change? How many attendants only attended one session and how common was partial attendance? What is the possible role of the three certificates that were transferred from another manuscript?

As for the transmitted work, Iʿtilāl al-qulūb, by Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-Ḫarāʾiṭī (d. 327/938), I take the liberty of quoting from my prior article:

His work […] ‘The Sickness of Hearts’ contains love stories, love poetry and Prophetic traditions as well as sayings of pious early Muslims, grouped in more than 50 unnumbered chapters; the author tries to give guidance to Muslims on how to cope with the temptations of passionate love. There are just three manuscripts extant now besides the Gotha codex. Two of them (at the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and Ulu Cami in Bursa) are fragmentary or abridged versions; only the Rabat manuscript (The National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco, al-Khizāna al-ʿāmma) seems to be complete. Such a small number of surviving manuscripts implies that the work, once important, fell into oblivion at some point. But as a source of major thematic inspiration, it became of primary importance for Ibn al-Jawzī’s famous work ‘The Censure of Passion’ (Dhamm al-hawā). Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 1201) has the same chapter headings as al-Kharāʾiṭī in 15 cases, but does not mention him as his model, and he quotes much of the latter’s material as well.

2 The Attending Master Ibn al-ʿAllāf

Ibn al-ʿAllāf’s full name is Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. Yaʿqūb al-Baġdādī b. al-ʿAllāf. Exactly what functions he had as caliphal chamberlain⁹ are unknown. The title had become a military rank long before Ibn al-ʿAllāf’s lifetime,¹⁰ but given that he left no traces beyond his capacity as transmitter of pious knowledge, it can be assumed that his role was confined to regulating access to the caliph and organizing ceremonies. Perhaps he was only a minor official among a greater number of chamberlains; he may even have retained his title after serving only for a brief period. There are some shorter notes on him in the biographical literature.¹¹ From these, we learn the following facts: He was born in Muḥarram 406¹² the son of a preacher (wāʿiẓ) and reciter (muqriʾ), and died on 23 Muḥarram 505/1 August 1111. There are seventeen pupils mentioned in al-Ḏahabī’s Siyar, but only two of them align with persons mentioned in our certificates.¹³ In al-Ṣafadī’s monumental biographical dictionary, he is mentioned as a transmitter on almost two dozen occasions.¹⁴ This implies that a good part of his almost century-long life was spent transmitting pious knowledge.

What was the political situation in Baghdad during the chamberlain’s activity, as documented in the Gotha certificates? The sessions presided over by him span from III (= Rabīʿ I) 486 until I (= Muḥarram) 501; they thus coincide, more or less, with the first fourteen years of the quarter-century reign of caliph al-Mustaẓhir (r. I [= Muḥarram] 487 until IV [= Rabīʿ II] 512). The period until 498 was tumultuous: “Throughout the years after the rise of Barkyaruq [i. e. after 487, T.S.], Baghdad had become a beacon of sorts for would-be sultans. Although the opportunity had arisen for the caliph to play a role in these negotiations, it is clear from the sources that al-Mustazhir was unable to make good use of this opportunity. The majority of the time the caliph acted as a spectator to the battles going on around him.”¹⁵ After 498, Muḥammad b. Malikšāh finally managed to establish himself as sultan of the Great Saljuqs and the situation in Baghdad calmed down:

For his part, al-Mustazhir settled in his role as caliph in Baghdad, apparently at ease with Muhammad [b. Malikšāh, T.S.]. Both rulers went through a series of wazirs, often appointing them, removing them from office, and then reappointing them when a better candidate could not be found. There were occasional riots between the Sunni and Shiʿite confessions throughout the final years of Muhammad and al-Mustazhir’s reigns [i.e. until 511, T.S.], but […] these fitnas had become part of the urban landscape; as quickly as they would appear, the fighting would settle down with little intervention of others needed to quell the disturbance. The scenario in Baghdad and its environs, although far from idyllic, was a vast improvement over the previous years in terms of tensions over control over the city.¹⁶

Considering especially the unrest in the period until 498, it is surprising that the sessions were generally held at regular intervals, as the following section will show.

3 Dates and Venues

As shown in the aforementioned previous article (Seidensticker 2015), it is possible to reconstruct the original sequence of certificates. Table 1 provides the dates as detailed in the certificates.

The table shows that our manuscript bears witness to seven different reading circles supervised by the chamberlain. In one instance, the certificate for part 6 (as counterpart to #7) was either never transferred to the Gotha manuscript or is now lost. While the interval of one month between the reading of #11 and #6 does not necessarily indicate a reduced reading rate (part 7 had to be read between them), the two-month span between #9 and #3 indicates an interruption; that is to say, it is not compatible with the assumption of a rhythm of one session per week.¹⁷

A closer look reveals that the pair 11 & 6 could be more complicated. In the last two lines of #11 we read: “The writer of the auditors’ names, ʿUmar b. Ẓufar b. Aḥmad, heard it [i.e. part 8] at another date than this.”¹⁸ Does this mean that ʿUmar wrote down the certificate at some point after the session took place? Andreas Görke has adduced one such example from Baghdad.¹⁹ In the last line of #6 it is stated that “the writer of the auditors’ names, ʿUmar b. Ẓufar b. Aḥmad, heard it [i.e. part 8] with another group than this”.²⁰ This suggests that he recorded the names but did not attend the actual reading session. I see no easy solution that combines these two remarks but they probably have their origin in one and the same irregularity in the two sessions.

The venues of the reading sessions are mentioned in just two pairs. Pair 10 & 4 took place in the eastern side of Baghdad/Madīnat al-salām, “The Glory of the Caliphate”, “[in?] the Mosque of the Most Exalted al-Muẓaffar—may God assist him”.²² Something like fī or bi- “in” has to be inserted before masjid. I was unable to find a mention of a mosque named after some notable al-Muẓaffar in Baghdad.

In pair 11 & 6, the majlis of ʿAlī b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad is mentioned as a venue. As the long title shows, he was a man of some prominence, son of an even more eminent man who held the position of a wazīr. ʿIzzaldawla Abū l-Maʿālī ʿAlī held important offices in the caliphal administration a long time after the sessions’ date and died in Rajab 523 (on him, cf. section 6 below). Where exactly the sessions were held is as unclear as is the case for all the other certificates.

We can put on record that the venues are indicated in a minority of cases and that the dates are mentioned in a rather vague fashion. Dates and weekdays are only given in #3, #4, and #10. This is in accordance with observations made by Görke and Hirschler. With reference to certificates from Baghdad from the period between 472 and 491, Görke states that “[t]he certificates of audition usually record the month and the year in which the lecture took place. In about a fourth of the certificates, exact dates appear including the day of the week.”²³ Only four certificates among the 100 he has analysed mention a place.²⁴ Konrad Hirschler states that only since the mid-6th/12th century and the shift of samāʿ activity to Syria, did the certificates start “to include more detailed information on the exact place of the reading, the day of the week and occasionally even the time. By contrast, earlier certificates, such as those for a fifth/eleventh-century reading under al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī in Tyre (Ṣūr), had been inchoate.”²⁵

4 The Readers

The readers’ names are given in all the certificates. In most cases, they are mentioned immediately after the attending master, Ibn al-ʿAllāf. #5 and #13, however, mention them towards the end, before the date; #12 is an exception insofar as the reader is mentioned towards the end but is separated from the date by names of persons with partial attendance or supplementary information on persons who heard “the whole text” (al-jamīʿ).

1. A major role was played by ʿAlī b. Aḥmad b. Funūn,²⁶ who read no less than sessions 8 & 2, 10 & 4, and 12 & 5. A short biography in Ibn al-Najjār’s Ḏayl Taʾrīḫ Baġdād tells us that he was learned in belles-lettres (adab), heard some logic and philosophy, travelled to Damascus in 484 where he heard law with a member of the Maqdisī family, and then travelled to Egypt where he died as a young man.²⁷ A date for his death is not given, but, of course, it must have been after Ṣafar 501, the date of the latest session he read.

The remaining readers only read one pair or, in the case of #7, one session:

In sum, the chamberlain had a favourite reader (no. 1) who was learned in a wider range of subjects. Among the remaining readers, no. 2 cannot be identified in the bibliographical literature with certainty, but it is possible that he was of high social rank. No. 3 was a famous reader of Ḥanbalite affiliation, no. 4 was well-known as the “Teacher of Baghdad” and a Ḥanafī with Muʿtazilite inclinations; no. 5 was a famous learned man and collector of books. We can conclude that besides a talent for clear and audible reading, an above-average status played a role in being selected as reader.

5 The Writers

Writers are mentioned in four pairs (8 & 2, 9 & 3, 10 & 4, and 11 & 6). They are called kātib al-samāʿ “writer of certificate” in the first two pairs and muṯbit al-asmāʾ “the person who puts down the names” in the second two pairs. As a difference in function is not discernible, I consider these two designations synonymous. The writers are always mentioned at the end of the certificates, in close proximity to the dates: immediately before them in #2, #9, #10, #4, and #11, separated from it by persons with only partial attendance in #8 and #3, and immediately after the date in #6.

Two different persons were entrusted with this duty within pair 9 & 3. The first (of #9), Abū l-Qāsim ʿUbaydallāh b. ʿAlī al-Muḫarrimī, is probably identical to a person bearing this name who is mentioned in two biographical works. He was a Ḥanbalite preacher in a mosque on the Farāšā road³⁴ in Baghdad and died 27 Rajab 527.³⁵ The reader of #3 is Saʿdallāh b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Bazzāz. This man was born prior to 420, came to Baghdad in 464, and died in Rajab 514. He was a transmitter of whom nothing more than the names of five of his teachers are known.³⁶ As both persons were present at both sessions, the change of the writer’s role shows that this function was not allotted to one and the same person in every listening community.³⁷

The writer of 8 & 2 is Ibn al-ʿUkbarī (Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Wāsiṭī). He was born in al-Wāsiṭ, came to Baghdad for the first time in 474, died in his hometown in 497 and was famous as a reciter of the Qurʾan (muqriʾ).³⁸

The writer of pair 10 & 4, al-Ḥusayn b. Naṣr b. Muḥammad b. Ḫamīs al-Mawṣilī, is the author of a Ṣūfī work titled Manāqib al-abrār wa-maḥāsin al-aḫyār fī ṭabaqāt al-ṣūfiyya.³⁹ He died in 552.⁴⁰

ʿUmar b. Ẓufar b. Aḥmad is the notary in pair 11 & 6. He was born in 461, died in 542, and was a muqriʾ “reciter of the Qurʾan”.⁴¹

A Ḥanbalī preacher, a transmitter of pious knowledge, a Ṣūfī author, and two reciters of the Qurʾan: Clearly, the role of the writer was allotted to religiously educated or even prominent persons.

6 The Attendants’ Social Rank

Among the six pairs of sessions and the single session referring to part 8 (#7), there are some differences discernible with respect to the social composition of the audience. The honorary titles that accompany many of the attendants’ names in the certificates do not assist us greatly in determining their social rank. Frequent titles in pair 11 & 6 in fact correspond to an unusually large number of worldly dignitaries, but this class is more or less absent in the rest. A more important question is who has left traces in the historico-bibliographical literature; in what follows, this group is called “scholarly prominent”. This kind of prominence can vary between a single mention as transmitter of religious knowledge and a highly prominent status held by such persons as the famous author al-Sarrāj (d. 500/1106). To detect them, we must look further than the honorary titles in the certificates. For example, in pair 9 & 3, everybody is called šayḫ, although several individuals clearly had no scholarly ambitions. Pair 10 & 4 differs within itself: Although in both certificates the reader is called šayḫ and the person following him bears the title šarīf, in #10 the remaining persons are enumerated without titles while in #4 all persons following the šarīf are summarily called mašāyiḫ sāda. In pair 12 & 5 and in #7, titles are completely missing with the exception of the first person of #12. This is not necessarily surprising in transferred certificates where the usual considerations of politeness did not work. Thus, in order to determine who was an ‘ordinary’ person without scholarly merit and who had higher ambitions, we must consult the corpus of historico-bibliographical literature.

The most important difference within the certificates concerns the presence of worldly dignitaries: While generally such mentions are unusual, we encounter five of them in 11 & 6. The main difference between the remaining pairs and certificate #7 is the share of scholarly prominent attendants, which varies between 30.8 per cent and 66.6 per cent.

Starting with worldly dignitaries: Their number is surprisingly low, taking the chamberlain’s office into consideration. The only mentions are of a higher official and son of a vizier; his brother, son of the same vizier and a pious donator; a deputy judge; one other chamberlain; one judge, and a later vizier. Five of these six⁴² are part of the audience of pair 11 & 6.

1. ʿIzzaldawla Abū l-Makārim ʿAlī b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad was born in 483, the son of a later vizier.⁴³ He was entrusted with high positions almost two decades after the readings’ date (501): In Rajab 519, under the reign of the caliph al-Mustaršid (r. 512–529), he became chief of the caliph’s palace (tawallā ustāḏiyyat dār al-ḫilāfa al-muʿaẓẓama), and in Ḏū l-qaʿda, in the same year, he became the deputy of the person responsible for the Mesopotamian rural area and estates (?) of the caliphal chancellery (ustunība bi-l-dīwān al-ʿazīz li-iṣlāḥ al-sawād wa-l-ʿimārāt). He died in Friday 9 Rajab 523.⁴⁴

2. At some point in his long life, this man’s brother, Faḫraldawla Abū l-Muẓaffar al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh, was offered the vizier’s office. He declined the position, preferring instead a life detached from the world and the outward habits and clothing of the Ṣūfīs. He became famous as a great donor and built a madrasa for the Šāfiʿite jurists in East Baghdad, a Ṣūfī ribāṭ, a Friday mosque in West Baghdad and a ribāṭ for women. Al-Ḏahabī tells us that he was born “after 490”; if this is correct, he was about ten years old when the sessions 11 & 6 took place. Most biographers mention that he listened to Ibn al-Allāf’s lessons. He died in 20 Šawwāl 578. A large funeral prayer was held in the palace mosque and he was buried in the Friday mosque that he founded.⁴⁵

3. Abū Saʿd al-Mubārak b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Muḫarrimī was born in Rajab 446. He became a successful teacher of Ḥanbalite fiqh and had his own madrasa built at Bāb al-Azaj in Baghdad. His library was famous. He became a deputy judge (nāba fī l-qaḍāʾ) but was convinced to resign from this office in 511; Ibn Kaṯīr implies that this was done with the help of much money (wa-ṣūdira bi-amwāl jazīla). His madrasa was later enlarged by and named after his famous pupil ʿAbdalqādir al-Jīlī/al-Jīlānī. When he died in 12 Muḥarram 513, there were many prayers held for him, two of them in the palace mosque. His eminent rank of Ḥanbalī jurisprudent is evidenced by the fact that he was buried near the grave of Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal.⁴⁶

4. Bātakīn⁴⁷ b. Bādir⁴⁸ is called al-ḥājib in the certificates, which means that Ibn al-ʿAllāf had a colleague as his guest. This man is not mentioned in the historical sources.

5. Abū l-Riḍā Jalālaldīn Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Ṣadaqa was born into a politically prominent family in 478 (al-Ḏahabī gives the less plausible date of 498). He was appointed vizier by the caliph al-Rāšid (r. 529–530). Under al-Muqtafī (r. 530–555) he was employed with other offices. His samāʿ from Ibn al-ʿAllāf is mentioned in the sources, also as transmitter. He died 14 Šaʿbān 556.⁴⁹

The “scholarly prominent” persons from 11 & 6 are:

This analysis conveys the impression that Ibn al-ʿAllāf carefully composed this circle from members of political high society and some scholarly experts (two readers and one expert on grammar and language), putting a Ḥanafī reader side by side with a Ḥanbalī judge. The other six persons (40 per cent) remain socially anonymous, except for the fact that al-Mubārak b. ʿAbdalwahhāb b. Manṣūr was a silk trader (qazzāz).

Among the remaining certificates, which almost completely lack mention of prominent persons, pair 13 & 1 contains the least important scholarly names: four out of thirteen.

1. Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Faḍl b. Muḥammad b. Dallāl al-Šaybānī is only mentioned by al-Ḏahabī as a former inhabitant of the village Bājisrā; he gives the names of two persons from whom he transmitted and of one of his pupils. He died in Šaʿbān 541, aged 81 years.⁵²

2. Abū Saʿd Saʿīd b. Muḥammad b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib is again only mentioned as transmitter of knowledge; one teacher and one pupil are named, and no date of his death or birth is given.⁵³

3. Abū Naṣr Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. al-Faraj al-Dīnawarī al-Ib(a)rī is mentioned not for his own achievements, but rather as the father of his famous daughter Šahda/Šuhda (d. 574), the musnidat al-ʿIrāq.⁵⁴ He died in 507.⁵⁵

4. Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-Iskāf is briefly mentioned as muqriʾ ḥanafī, transmitter and an inhabitant of the Maʾmūniyya quarter⁵⁶ in Baghdad; again, no death date is given.⁵⁷

This circle comprises a majority of scholarly laymen, with just four persons (30.7 per cent) with a limited scholarly reputation. Among the non-scholars, we find a secretary (kātib, ʿAlī b. al-Muʾammil b. Muslim) and a tailor (ḫayyāṭ, Aḥmad b. Fāris), while the remaining persons are socially anonymous.

Pair 12 & 5 is placed on the opposite side of the continuum. Ten of the fifteen persons mentioned (66.6 per cent) can be considered as (somehow) scholarly important as they can be identified in external sources:

1. Abū l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalqādir b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf is called “the ascetic traditionalist” (al-muḥaddiṯ al-zāhid) and is said to have travelled extensively, making it as far as the Maghreb. Ibn al-Jawzī gives the names of two of his teachers. He was born in 412 and died in 492.⁵⁸

2. His son Abū l-Faraj ʿAbdalḫāliq b. Aḥmad accompanied his father in session #12. Al-Ḏahabī calls him “the Traditionalist of Baghdad” (muḥaddiṯ Baġdād) together with a certain Ibn Nāṣir. Ibn al-Jawzī remarks that he was highly productive in transmitting knowledge samāʿan wa-kitābatan. He adds: huwa min bayt al-naql, which probably means that he was member of a family famous for transmitting religious knowledge. This is confirmed in our certificates: Not only is his father mentioned in #12, but also his son ʿAbdalḥaqq in #7. He was born in 464 and died 13 or 14 Muḥarram 548.⁵⁹

3. Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalbāqī al-Daqqāq “Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba”, born in the 430s, was so important in the eyes of al-Ḏahabī that he devoted several pages to him in two of his works, the Taḏkirat al-ḥuffāẓ and the Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ. He, too, was called the “Teacher of Baghdad” (mufīd Baġdād), as was the fourth reader mentioned above in section 4, and he travelled to Damascus and Jerusalem. His superb recitation of Prophetic tradition is particularly famous and, as a result, al-Ḏahabī calls him muqriʾ al-muḥaddiṯīn bi-Baġdād. He also mentions an anecdote, related by one Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAṭṭāf, about Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba being a sort of miracle healer. The personal acquaintance between this Ibn ʿAṭṭāf and Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba is confirmed by the fact that they appear together in our pair 12 & 5. (On Ibn ʿAṭṭāf, who also had a scholarly reputation, see below.) Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba died in 2 Rabīʿ I 489, which is three months after the two sessions took place.⁶⁰

4. Three teachers and three pupils of Ẓāhir b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Bazzāz al-Masāmīri⁶¹ are mentioned by al-Ḏahabī. Ẓāhir died in Ḏū l-qaʿda 541.⁶²

5. Yaltakīn b. al-Sadīd Ṭāyūq is clearly of Turkish lineage.⁶³ We only know of him as a transmitter from a short note in a manuscript of the first part of al-Madāʾinī’s K. al-Taʿāzī.⁶⁴

6. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Funūn was already introduced in section 4 above as reader no. 1.

7. Abū Muḥammad Hibatallāh b. Abī Ġālib Muḥammad b. Abī Yāsir al-Ḫayyāṭ was secretary (kātib) in Baghdad. Al-Ṣafadī mentions three of his teachers; he died in Ramaḍān 531.⁶⁵

8. Abū l-Faḍl Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAṭṭāf al-Mawṣilī is said to have written two books, al-Muʿjam and al-Ṭibb al-nabawī that are unknown to modern bibliographers. He immigrated to Baghdad and later made trips to Kufa, Āmul, and Hamaḏān. Al-Ḏahabī mentions three of his teachers and three of his pupils. He died in Šawwāl 534 at the age of seventy.⁶⁶

9. Abū l-Qāsim (or Abū l-Faḍl) Barakāt b. al-Faḍl b. Muḥammad al-Fāriqī, stemming from Mayyāfāriqīn, came to Baghdad twice. Six of his teachers are mentioned by Ibn al-Dubayṯī. He also taught in Damascus. Born in 427, he died in Ṣūr on Tuesday 16 Ḏū l-qaʿda 505.⁶⁷

10. Abū l-Faḍāʾil ʿAbdallāh b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalbāqī al-Daqqāq (son of person 3 above and also called “Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba”) is credited with a good knowledge of ḥadīṯ and adab, and several of his teachers are mentioned by al-Ṣafadī, who adds that, according to some people, ʿAbdallāh conducted his life in a less than laudable manner. He died in 526.⁶⁸

Of the fifteen persons who are united in this pair, ten somehow made their way into the biographical literature. One of them is called a “pious transmitter of ḥadīṯ”, two are famous as readers, one was a secretary, and the younger Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba was credited with a good knowledge of ḥadīṯ and adab, although his behaviour was called into question. In contrast with pair 13 & 1 with just 30.8 per cent of scholarly participation, this pair consists of an impressive two thirds majority of “lower middle-class scholars”, while the rest remains socially anonymous.

A final pair that deserves more detailed presentation is pair 8 & 2. In this case, a number of the “scholarly prominent” persons go beyond the level of simply being mentioned as a transmitter and teacher of others in external sources:

1. Jaʿfar b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn, widely known as al-Sarrāj, was a Ḥanbalī traditionist and author of the famous Maṣāriʿ al-ʿuššāq “The Battlegrounds of the Lovers”. He lived from 417/1027 to 500/1106 and was born and based in Baghdad. This means that he was already 70 (qamarī) years old when the sessions took place. “He travelled to Mecca, Egypt, and, a number of times, the coastal towns of Syria. […] Titles of two kinds of his writings are mentioned in the sources, one being the versifications of works on fiḳh and religious matters […]. Other titles apparently concern works of a moralising adab type […].”⁶⁹

2. ʿAlī b. Hibatallāh b. ʿAbdalsalām is given the surname al-Kātib al-Baġdādī and lived from 452 to 6 Rajab 539. He taught in Baghdad and al-Wāsiṭ. His elevated rank is implied by Ibn al-Jawzī’s mention of the presence of many prominent persons at his funeral and by the fact that he is frequently recorded as a pupil or teacher in al-Ṣafadī.⁷⁰

3. Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. al-Mubārak was commonly called Ibn al-Fāʿūs. He was famous as a Ḥanbalite ascetic (zāhid), reciter of the Qurʾan (muqriʾ) and reciter of ḥadīṯ. When he died on 19 Šawwāl 521 in Baghdad, the city fell into disarray (inqalabat Baġdād bi-mawtihi). The funeral prayer was held in the palace mosque, all the markets in Baghdad were closed, and he was buried near the grave of Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (as was al-Mubārak b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn from the certificates 11 & 6, mentioned above).⁷¹

4. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh Ibn al-ʿĀlima (458–530), a reciter of the Qurʾan, was not as prominent as these men but at least deemed worthy of short biographical entries by Ibn al-Jawzī and al-Ṣafadī.⁷²

Leaving aside the judge ʿAlī b. Salāma b. ʿUbaydallāh al-Karḫī, this circle encompassed a number of personalities of slightly higher scholarly distinction than those previously discussed and those remaining.

In the remaining pairs 9 & 3 and 10 & 4 and the solitary certificate #7, the share of “scholars” is 62.5 per cent (5 of 8), 61.5 per cent (8 of 13), and 35 per cent (7 of 20) respectively. The documentation based on short biographies will not be continued here; the reader is pointed towards short references in the index that will allow the above results to be checked.⁷³

That women and slaves attended reading sessions is a well-known phenomenon. Interestingly, in the certificates studied here, we only encounter them in #7. The first female attendant mentioned is Zaynab bt. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Maymūn al-Dabbās; her father is briefly mentioned by Ibn al-Dubayṯī and he died in Jumādā II 520.⁷⁴ The second woman seems to bear the name Mustazīd, although I was unable to find this as a proper name anywhere. She was set free by a certain Abū l-Bahāʾ al-Mawṣilī as she is called his ʿatāqa, which is probably a misspelling of ʿatīqa “freedwoman”. In line with common practice, both women are mentioned almost at the end of the certificate.⁷⁵

As for the slaves, two of them are mentioned as fatā of ʿAbdalḥaqq b. ʿAbdalḫāliq b. Aḥmad, who was only five years old when the session took place.⁷⁶ Perhaps these two, Rayḥān⁷⁷ al-Miṣrī and Masʿūd al-Bijāwī, had to accompany him to the session’s venue. They took with them their friend (ṣāḥib) Karam. As previously mentioned, the presence of slaves in reading sessions is widely documented.⁷⁸

Konrad Hirschler has proposed a fruitful distinction between scholarly and popular sessions. The percentage of scholars in his examples of scholarly sessions is between 50 and 60; in the popular sessions the share of scholars is between 25–30 per cent.⁷⁹ Taking this distinction as a basis, we can consider the chamberlain’s sessions 9 & 3 (62.5 per cent), 10 & 4 (61.5 per cent), 11 & 6 (53.3 per cent), and 12 & 5 (66.6 per cent) as being scholarly and sessions 13 & 1 (30.8 per cent), 8 & 2 (35.3 per cent), and #7 (35 per cent) as sessions with a more popular audience.

7 The Sequence of Mentioning and Social Rank

Konrad Hirschler has argued that, in general, the sequence in the certificates of the names of attendants’ of greater audiences seems to be related to their actual seating positions during the reading sessions.⁸⁰ A clear hint that this is, in fact, the case is given in pair 10 & 4, where the chamberlain’s son Abū Ṭāhir Muḥammad is not mentioned next to his father but in position 10 (from 13) and in position 11 (from 12), respectively. In this section, two phenomena will be examined: 1) the change of position within the pairs; and 2) the interdependence between social rank and position in the certificates.

In the following figures 1 to 6, a change of position is indicated by lines connecting all persons who attended both sessions of a pair; they are marked additionally in bold. The readers and writers are marked by (R) and (W). In general, there is a tendency to analogous sequence in the pairs, but this is more visible in pairs 8 & 2, 11 & 6 and 10 & 4 than in the remaining ones.

The first five persons in figure 1 are in identical positions; person 11 in #2 is mentioned later in #8 because of his partial attendance; consequently, only person 10 in #8 moves upwards in #2 to become person 6.

The first six persons in figure 2 are in identical positions; person 7 in #11 has moved downwards to become person 12 in #6; person 13 has moved upwards to become person 7.

The first three persons in figure 3 are in identical positions; the fact that persons 7 and 9 from #4 are mentioned at the end of #10 is due to their partial attendance. Consequently, for no obvious reason, only person 4 of #10 has moved downwards to become person 10 in #4; and person 8 has moved upwards to become person 5.

While the number of seemingly unmotivated place changes in these certificates does not exceed two and cases of partial attendance are mentioned at the end (of #8 and #10), things are less well-structured in the remaining certificates, as shown below in figures 4 to 6.

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Figure 1

Seating order in pair 8 & 2

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Figure 2

Seating order in pair 11 & 6

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Leaving the unusual position of the reader in #13 aside (figure 4), just one person (#13: 1 = #1: 2) is mentioned in the same position in both certificates. As can be seen from the (more or less) parallel lines, three pairs of attendants are mentioned in the same internal order: 3 and 4 (in #13) = 10 and 11 (in #1), who are father and son; 5 and 6 (in #13) = 7 and 8 (in #1), who are brothers; and 9 and 10 (in #13) = 5 and 6 (in #1). Nonetheless, the high degree of irregularity can only be partly explained by partial attendance: just once (#13 person 11) is partial attendance noted at the end, which explains the shift of person 12 in #13 downwards from position 1 in #1. In the two other cases of partial attendance (#13 person 9, #1 person 9), this cannot have led to a shift because these persons’ position is clearly not at the end. The pair shows more change than stability.

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Figure 3

Seating order in pair 10 & 4

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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In figure 5, only persons 1 and 4 are in the same seating positions in both certificates. Person 5 in #9 moved to the end of #3 for obvious reasons (i.e. partial attendance). The movement of person 2 in #9 (downwards to 5 in #3) and of persons 7 and 8 (upwards to 3 and 2) seems to be arbitrary. But seating order probably became less important in small circles like this one that only had 8 and 6 attendants.

We find persons 2 and 7 in identical positions in figure 6, and person 6 of #12 is found in an analogous position in #5. In #12, four persons move upwards (9, 10, 11, 12) while just one person moves downwards (8). This reveals more change than stability in this pair.

Hirschler states that the sequences in these certificates reflect seating order, and seating order is closely related to social hierarchy.⁸¹ It is worth examining whether social graduation of single reading communities was a reason for more stability in the sequences in the pairs. Apparently, this was not always the case: two of the three pairs with a quite stable sequence, 10&4 and 11&6, show a mixed audience with respect to scholarly or other social prominence. Only in pair 8 & 2 are prominent personalities clearly mentioned at the beginning. For example, this distribution of people in #2 is evidenced by external sources (++), with prominence visible in the certificate (+) and without any known distinction (-) (leaving aside the notary who is as usual mentioned in the last position): 1: ++ / 2: ++ / 3: ++ / 4: ++ / 5: + (qāḍī) / 6: - / 7: - / 8: ++ / 9: - / 10: - / 11: - / 12: - / 13: - / 14: - (a blind baker, ḫabbāz ḍarīr). This means that the widely differing degrees of stability in the sequence of mentioning or seating can be explained only in the case of one pair.

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Figure 4

Seating order in pair 13 & 1

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Figure 5

Seating order in pair 9 & 3

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Besides pair 8 & 2, social graduation as a factor determining seating order becomes manifest only in the solitary certificate #7. Here, the distribution is as follows: 1: ++ / 2: ++ / 3: slave of 2 / 4: slave of 2 / 5: friend of 4 / 6: - (merchant) / 7: ++ / 8: ++ / 9: - / 10: - / 11: - / 12: ++ / 13: ++ / 14: - (a bee-keeper or honey-trader, ʿassāl) / 15: - (a cane-trader, qaṣabānī) / 16: - / 17: - (female) / 18: - / 19: - (a freedwoman) / 20: ++. The surprising position of a quite prominent man, al-Asʿad b. Yaldarak al-Jibrīlī,⁸² at the very end may be due to the fact that, originally, he was the writer and this information was omitted when the certificate was transferred from another manuscript.

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Figure 6

Seating order in pair 12 & 5

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In sum, social considerations played no notable role in the certificates or in seating order except for pair 8 & 2 and #7.

8 Who Heard How Much?

As can be seen in the figures in the previous section, the number of participants who did not attend both sessions is limited, i.e. usually between one and two, with the exception of #2, where four persons had not attended the first session. Another exception is pair 12 & 5 where four (out of 12) and three (out of 11) attendants were absent at the counterpiece session. We cannot know whether this had any consequences for the absentees, although it is likely, as can be seen from the two instances of partial attendance within one session.

Partial attendance was recorded meticulously: sometimes by giving the chapters (bāb) within the larger units (juzʾ) that were heard (#13 twice, #12); sometimes by giving the number of leaves that were heard (#3, #10); sometimes in a vague manner (#8: something, baʿḍahu); and in one instance (#1) the indication of the section heard is illegible. Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. al-Faraj missed some text in #13, but an additional note in the margin (#13a) states that this was repeated for him⁸³—obviously to entitle him to further transmission. Al-Faḍl b. Nāfiʿ b. Muḥriz and Jaʿfar b. Nāṣir b. al-Furāt missed something in #8, but it is added that the chamberlain gave dispensation for what had escaped them⁸⁴—again, for further transmission. In this case, we do not know what the grounds for this dispensation were.

9 The Certificates Transferred from the Copy of Abū Naṣr al-Iṣbahānī (#12, 7 and 5)

At the beginning of certificate #7, it is stated that it refers to the session read from Abū Naṣr al-Iṣbahānī’s copy (on him, cf. section 4 above, reader no. 5). At the end of the certificate, ʿAbdalḫāliq b. Aḥmad b. ʿUmar states that he transferred this certificate, clearly from that copy. At the end of certificate #12, written in the same handwriting, he calls himself “Ibn Yūsuf”. Certificate #5 is written in the same handwriting as #7 and 12;⁸⁵ although there is no indication of a transfer, this certificate might also have been transferred by ʿAbdalḫāliq.

As argued earlier on the basis of the eulogy raḥimahu llāhu following the chamberlain’s name, all three certificates were transferred after the latter’s death in 505;⁸⁶ clearly, this must have happened before ʿAbdalḫāliq’s death in 548. He attended #12 together with his father Aḥmad (died 492); he attended #5 alone, and his son ʿAbdalḥaqq attended #7 alone.

What was the purpose of these transfers? Said Aljoumani has recently shed some light on transferred certificates in general and presented a taxonomy of them.⁸⁷ ʿAbdalḫāliq’s transfers can be subsumed under his categories 2.a and 2.b: later users or owners of a manuscript who thus recorded their right of further transmission. Whether ʿAbdalḫāliq simply used or actually owned the manuscript now in the possession of Gotha Research Library is unclear. In any case, he or his later quite famous son ʿAbdalḥaqq were the beneficiaries. The transferred certificates also provide additional information on the chamberlain’s activity in teaching the Iʿtilāl al-qulūb, which may be a purpose in its own right.

In the two editions based on the Rabat manuscript of the Iʿtilāl al-qulūb, the chain of transmitters for the first and second part mentions ʿAbdalḫāliq as a pupil of the chamberlain, but dates the session on which the transmission of al-Ḫarāʾiṭī’s book is based to Rabīʿ I 489.⁸⁸ This shows that ʿAbdalḫāliq heard the book at least three times: in 488 (12 & 7); in 489 (attested to in the Rabat manuscript); and in 499 (#7).

10 Conclusion

Ibn al-ʿAllāf was more a scholar than a political figure—nothing is known about his activity as a chamberlain from external sources. Three shorter biographies and countless single mentions bear witness to an above-average importance as transmitter of religious knowledge. The certificates reveal what this activity actually looked like, i.e. how he composed his reading communities. Persons of worldly importance were not his favourite clientele, but when, as in the case of pair 11 & 6, he made up his mind to teach such people, he managed to put some scholars of elevated rank at their side. The average size of the groups he gathered around him was twelve. In comparison with the Baghdad certificates analysed by Andreas Görke, where numbers of ten to 25 were the rule,⁸⁹ the chamberlain seems to have preferred smaller communities. As certificates 13 & 1, 8 & 2, and #7 show, he was also engaged in teaching non-scholarly parts of society, but his heart beat for persons with scholarly ambitions. How ethical his decisions were to allow absentees to transmit a text is not wholly clear but the additional note #13a shows that absence normally implied follow-up sessions. Social hierarchy may have been of minor importance for him; social graduation in seating order becomes visible in only two certificates (8 & 2 and #7). Female attendants and slaves, on the other hand, appear in only one certificate (#7). Although I was unable to find out the affiliations to the Sunnī law schools of more than roughly ten per cent of the attendants, the Ḥanbalī maḏhab seems to have dominated. I was able to identify six of them, while there were only two Ḥanafī and two Šāfiʿi attendants. The dominance of Ḥanbalism confirms Görke’s results (which, nota bene, refer to readings of a juridical text without direct maḏhab affiliation).⁹⁰ Remarkably, in pair 11 & 6, one Ḥanbalite, one Ḥanafite, and one Šāfiʿite attendant listened side by side,⁹¹ although “the lines of conflict in Baghdad were […] between Ḥanbalīs on the one side and Shāfiʿīs and Ḥanafīs on the other side”.⁹² However, the text read under the chamberlain’s supervision was not part of the juridical curriculum. We must bear in mind that all observations made in this article refer to readings of al-Ḫarāʾiṭī’s Iʿtilāl al-qulūb, a work of importance for what has been called love theory and which will have been read not least for his entertainment value.

12 Index of Persons

Name elements in square brackets are supplemented from external sources. Nisbas or designations of profession have not been indexed. In those cases where a person is mentioned in the article, I indicate the footnote(s) with the biographical references. The numbers before and after the slash give the number of the certificate and the line.

ʿAbdalbāqī b. al-Ḥasan b. Aḥmad al-Baṣrī, Abū Muḥammad 2/7

ʿAbdalḫāliq b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalqādir b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf, [Abū l-Faraj] 5/2, 7/10, 12/3, 12/11, footnote 59

ʿAbdalḥaqq b. ʿAbdalḫāliq b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalqādir b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf, Abū l-Ḥusayn 7/2, footnote 76

ʿAbdallāh b. Abī Bakr b. Abī Bakr, Abū l-Faḍāʾil 12/4

ʿAbdallāh b. Masʿūd b. al-Muḥassin al-Bayāḍī, Abū l-Faḍl 4/2, 10/2

Only his father is mentioned in external sources, see Muḥammad Ṣādiq Muḥammad (al-Karbāsī): Muʿjam al-šuʿarāʾ al-nāẓimīn fī l-Ḥusayn, vol. III, London 2011, 110 footnote 1: al-Šarīf al-Bayāḍī: huwa Masʿūd b. ʿAbdalʿazīz b. al-Muḥassin b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbdalrazzāq, Abū Jaʿfar (399–468h), šāʿir hāšimī min ahl Baġdād, wulida wa-tuwuffiya fīhā, wa-summiya al-Bayāḍ[ī] nisbatan ilā libs al-bayāḍ, āṯāruhū: dīwān šiʿrihi. Cf. also al-Ṣafadī Wāfī XXV 501–506.

ʿAbdallāh b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalbāqī al-Daqqāq [Ibn al-Ḫāḍiba], Abū l-Faḍāʾil 5/1, footnote 68

ʿAbdallāh b. Muḥammad b. Mahdī, Abū Ġālib 8/6

ʿAbdallāh b. Ṭāhir b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḫayyāṭ, Abū l-Muẓaffar 7/8

ʿAbdalraḥmān b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Bunān al-Zaʿfarānī, Abū l-Qāsim 7/3.

Educator (muʾaddib) and transmitter, died 15 Rabīʿ II 518, cf. Ibn al-Dubayṯī Ḏayl IV 5 no. 1777.

ʿAbdalraḥmān b. al-Mubārak b. al-Mubārak al-Jaṣṣāṣ, Abū l-Ġanāʾim 7/4

ʿAbdalraḥmān b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. al-Uḫuwwa al-Bayyiʿ, Abū l-Fatḥ 7/3

Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalqādir b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf, Abū l-Ḥusayn 12/3, footnote 58

Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥamza b. Ṣadaqa (?) 5/3, 12/9

Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbdūn al-Bazzāz, Abū Saʿd 3/5, 9/6

Muqriʾ, died Rabīʿ II 514: Ibn al-Dubayṯī Ḏayl II 299 no. 766; Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVII 188 no. 3888.

Aḥmad b. Fāris al-Ḫayyāṭ 13/8

Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh b. al-ʿĀlima al-Iskāf, [Abū l-Faḍl] 2/6, 8/5, footnote 72

Aḥmad b. al-Mubārak b. Muḥammad al-Ḫabbāz al-Ḍarīr, Abū Ḥarb 2/9

Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Wāsiṭī b. al-ʿUkbarī, [Abū l-Ḥasan] 2/9, 8/7, footnote 38

Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib al-Baġdādī, Abū l-Ḥusayn 4/4, 10/6

Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿUṣfūr al-Wāsiṭī, Abū Saʿd 2/8

[Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbdallāh] al-Iṣbahānī, Abū Naṣr 7/1, footnotes 32 and 33

Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. al-Faraj al-Dīnawarī al-Ibrī, Abū Naṣr 1/5, 13/6, 13a/1, footnote 55

ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Ḫayyāṭ al-Baġdādī, Abū l-Ḥasan 4/4, 10/4

Mentioned in al-Ṣafadī Wāfī XXVIII 167 as father of two teachers of Ibn al-Najjār al-Wāʿiẓ (died 597).

ʿAlī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Funūn al-Baġlī al-Baġdādī, Abū l-Ḥasan 2/2, 4/2, 5/4, 8/2, 10/2, 12/6, footnotes 26 and 27

ʿAlī b. Hibatallāh b. ʿAbdalsalām, Abū l-Ḥasan 2/3, 8/3, footnote 70

ʿAlī b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Muṭṭalib, Abū l-Makārim 6/2, 11/1, footnote 44

ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-Iskāf, Abū l-Ḥasan 1/7, footnote 57

ʿAlī b. al-Muʾammil b. Muslim al-Kātib, Abū l-Qāsim 1/3, 13/5

ʿAlī b. al-Mubārak, Abū l-Ḥasan 2/4, 8/4, footnote 71

ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī [b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. Yaʿqūb al-Baġdādī] b. al-ʿAllāf, Abū l-Ḥasan 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1, 6/5, 7/1, 8/1, 8/9, 9/2, 10/1, 11/5, 12/1, 13/1, 13b/5, footnotes 11 and 14

ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbdūn al-Bazzāz, Abū l-Ḥasan 9/5

ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. Abī ʿUmar al-Bazzāz, Abū l-Ḥasan 3/3

According to Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVIII 99 no. 4194, he was born in [4]70 and died Šaʿbān 549. He was a respected transmitter, wa-kāna min ahl al-sunna wa-l-ṣidq ʿalā ṭarīq al-salaf.

ʿAlī b. Salāma b. ʿUbaydallāh al-Karḫī, Abū l-Ḥasan 2/4, 8/4

b. al-ʿĀlima → Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh

b. al-ʿAllāf → ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī

al-Asʿad b. Yaldarak b. Abī l-Liqāʾ al-Jibrīlī, [Abū Aḥmad] 7/9, footnote 82

b. ʿAṭṭāf → Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAṭṭāf al-Mawṣilī

Abū l-Bahāʾ al-Mawṣilī, manumitter 7/8

Bahāʾ al-Šaraf b. Jaʿfar b. ʿAbdalṣamad b. al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh → [al-Ḥasan] b. Jaʿfar b. ʿAbdalṣamad

Abū Bakr b. Sinān b. Manṣūr b. Abī l-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Qaṣabānī 7/7

Barakāt b. al-Faḍl b. Muḥammad al-Fāriqī, [Abū l-Qāsim or Abū l-Faḏl] 5/2, 12/9, footnote 67

Bātakīn b. Bādir 6/10, 11/8, footnotes 47 and 48

al-Faḍl b. Nāfiʿ b. Muḥriz al-Šajarī 2/7, 8/8

Faraj b. Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Ḫurāsānī, Abū ʿAlī 7/6

Transmitter and poet, died 14 Jumādā II 546: al-Ṣafadī Wāfī XXIII 744 no. 510; al-Ḏahābī Taʾrīḫ XXXVII 253 no. 340. Both sources mention that he learned from Ibn al-ʿAllāf. In Ibn ʿImādaldīn Ḫarīda II 186–194 a lot of his poetry is presented (Ḫarīdat al-qaṣr wa-jarīdat al-ʿaṣr taʾlīf ʿImādaldīn al-Iṣbahānī al-Kātib, vol. 2, ed. Muḥammad Bahjat al-Aṯarī, Baghdad 1964).

Fayrūz b. ʿAbdallāh al-Mawṣilī, Abū l-Barakāt 4/3, 10/3

al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Yūsuf al-Muḥawwalī, Abū ʿAlī 6/9, 11/9, footnote 50

al-Ḥasan b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Muṭṭalib, Abū l-Muẓaffar 6/4, 11/5, footnote 45

[al-Ḥasan] b. Jaʿfar b. ʿAbdalṣamad b. al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh, [Abū ʿAlī] Bahāʾ al-Šaraf 7/5

Descendent of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 232–247/847–861), born 477, died Jumādā II 554. Described as muqriʾ and adīb, he composed a book Surʿat al-jawāb wa-mudāʿabat al-aḥbāb and collected biographical information on the caliphs al-Mustaršid (r. 512–529/1118–1135) and al-Muqtafī (r. 530–555/1136–1160): al-Ḏahabī Taʾrīḫ XXXVIII 145 no. 127; Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVIII 137 no. 4231; Ibn Rajab Ḏayl II 71–76 no. 130 (all sources mention his hearing from Ibn al-ʿAllāf).

Ibn al-Haybā → al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad

Hazārasb b. ʿIwaḍ b. al-Ḥasan al-Harawī, [Abū l-Ḫayr] 4/5, 10/6

Diligent traditionarian who took up residence in Baghdad and supported needy scholars, died Rabīʿ I 515: Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVII 202 no. 3908; Ibn al-ʿImād Šaḏarāt VI 78; Ibn al-Aṯīr Kāmil IX 212; al-Ṣafadī Wāfī XXVII 342 no. 307.

Hibatallāh b. ʿAlī b. ʿAbdalbāqī 12/4

Hibatallāh b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. Ayyūb al-Bazzāz, Abū l-Maʿālī 9/4

Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan 1/2, 13/8, footnote 28

Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib, Abū l-Qāsim 1/9, 13/3

Hibatallāh b. (Abī Ġālib) Muḥammad b. Abī Yāsir al-Ḫayyāṭ, Abū Muḥammad 5/3, 12/7, 12/10, footnote 65

al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. al-Haybā, Abū ʿAbdallāh 1/4, 13/4

al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. Ḫusraw al-Balḫī, Abū ʿAbdallāh 6/6, 11/6, footnote 31

al-Ḥusayn b. Naṣr b. Muḥammad b. Ḫamīs al-Mawṣilī, [Abū ʿAbdallāh] 4/5, 10/5, footnote 40

al-Iṣbahānī, Abū Naṣr → [Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbdallāh al-Iṣbahānī]

Jaʿfar b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Sarrāj, Abū Muḥammad 2/2, 8/3, footnote 69

Jaʿfar b. Nāṣir b. al-Furāt 8/8

Jāmiʿ b. Abī Saʿd al-Naqīb, Abū l-ʿIzz 1/6, 13/7

Karam 7/3

Abū Manṣūr b. Sinān [Šaybān?] b. Manṣūr b. Abī l-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī al-Qaṣabānī 7/6

Masʿūd al-Bijāwī [?] 7/2

Masʿūd b. Ḫamīs al-ʿAssāl 7/6

al-Mubārak b. ʿAbdalwahhāb b. Manṣūr al-Qazzāz, Abū Naṣr 6/11, 11/10

al-Mubārak b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Qaṣabānī, Abū Naṣr 9/6

al-Mubārak b. ʿAlī b. al-Manāṭiqī al-Faraḍī [?], Abū Ġālib 2/6, 8/5

al-Mubārak b. ʿAlī [b. al-Ḥusayn] al-Muḫarrimī, Abū Saʿd 6/7, 11/7, footnote 46

al-Mubārak b. Jaʿfar b. Muslim al-Hāšimī, Abū l-Karam 3/3, 9/7

Traditionarian and faqīh, died Ḏū l-ḥijja 518 aged 40: Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVII 227 no. 3935.

al-Mubārak b. al-Mubārak al-Jaṣṣāṣ, Abū l-Karam 7/4, 7/6

Ibn al-Dubayṯī Ḏayl V 31 Nr. 2610 mentions a certain al-Mubārak b. al-Mubārak b. Zayd, Abū l-Karam b. al-Ṭabaqī al-muqriʾ al-Kūfī who settled in Baghdad. As he says that he heard from [Ibn] al-ʿAllāf he is probably the man mentioned in the certificate. Died Rabīʿ II 563.

Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbdalbāqī al-Daqqāq, [Abū Bakr b. al-Ḫāḍiba] 12/5, footnote 60

Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, Abū al-Ṣalt [?] 7/5

Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Ṣadaqa, Abū l-Riḍā 6/8, footnote 49

Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbdalmalik, Abū l-Barakāt 2/4, 8/7

Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Rabaʿī 5/2

al-Ṣafadī Wāfī XX 510: Šaraf al-Dawla b. Ṣadaqa al-Kātib (died 552!) heard from Muḥammad’s father ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Rabaʿī and from Ibn al-ʿAllāf.

Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-ʿAllāf, Abū Ṭāhir 4/5, 10/5

A son of the chamberlain, who, according to al-Ḏahabī Siyar XIX 243 (in Ibn al-ʿAllāf’s biography), later transmitted from his father.

Muḥammad b. al-Faḍl b. Muḥammad b. Dallāl al-Šaybānī, Abū Bakr 1/3, 13/2

Cf. his son Muḥammad in 13/2.

Muḥammad b. Abī l-Fatḥ al-Hakkārī, Abū ʿAbdallāh 4/5, 10/3

Muḥammad b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib, Abū l-Ġanāʾim 1/10, 13/3

Muḥammad b. al-Mubārak b. ʿAlī al-Muḫarrimī, Abū l-Maʿālī 6/7, 11/7

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad [b. Muḥammad] b. ʿAṭṭāf al-Mawṣilī, [Abū l-Faḍl] 5/4, 12/9, footnote 66

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Faḍl b. Muḥammad b. Dallāl al-Šaybānī, Abū Manṣūr 13/2, footnote 52

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib, Abū l-Fatḥ 1/6, 13/4

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ, Abū ʿAbdallāh 2/5

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayr al-Qaṣrī, Abū l-Faraj 6/10, footnote 51

Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib, Abū l-Faḍl 4/4, 10/4

Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVII 98 no. 3761: al-Ṣabbāġ, born Ḏū l-ḥijja 420, died 1. Rabīʿ I 499, short mention as transmitter.

Muḥammad b. ʿUbaydallāh [b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad] b. Kādiš al-ʿUkbarī, Abū Yāsir 3/2, 9/2, footnote 30

Mustazīd [?] bint ʿAbdallāh (ʿatīqat [?] Abī l-Bahāʾ al-Mawṣilī) 7/8

Abū Naṣr al-Iṣbahānī → [Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbdallāh]

Abū l-Qāsim b. Abī Ġālib al-Masāmīrī → [Ẓāhir b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad]

Rayḥān al-Miṣrī [?] 7/2

Saʿd b. ʿAbdallāh (mawlā al-Ḫummī) 7/4

Saʿdallāh b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. Ayyūb al-Bazzāz, Abū Muḥammad 3/4, 9/4, footnote 36

Saʿīd b. Muḥammad b. Hibatallāh b. Muḥammad b. al-Ṭayyib, [Abū Saʿd] 1/6, 13/4, footnote 53

Saʿīd b. Muḥammad b. al-Razzāz al-Baġdādī, Abū Manṣūr 4/3, 10/3

Ibn al-Jawzī Muntaẓam XVIII 40 no. 4106: Saʿīd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Manṣūr b. al-Razzāz, Šāfiʿite faqīh, born [4]62, learned fiqh with Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī and others, taught at the Niẓāmiyya madrasa and became head of the Šāfiʿite school in the capital. He died 11 Ḏū l-qaʿda 539.

al-Sarrāj → Jaʿfar b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan

Ṣadīq [?] b. ʿUṯmān al-Barbarī [?] al-Dībājī 4/3, 10/4

ʿUbaydallāh b. ʿAlī al-Muḫarrimī, Abū l-Qāsim 3/2, 9/8, footnote 35

b. al-ʿUkbarī → Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad

ʿUmar b. Ẓufar b. Aḥmad, [Abū Ḥafṣ] 6/12, 11/11, footnote 41

ʿUṯmān b. Abī ??? al-??? al-Wāsiṭī, Abū ʿAmr 2/8, 8/6

Yaḥyā b. ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl, Abū l-Qāsim 6/8

Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. Ḫusraw al-Balḫī, Abū l-Qāsim 6/6, 11/7

Yaltakīn b. al-Sadīd Ṭāyūq 5/3, 12/6, footnote 64

Yūsuf b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Yūsuf al-Muḥawwalī 6/10, 11/9

[Ẓāhir b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad,] Abū l-Qāsim b. Abī Ġālib al-Masāmīrī [al-Bazzāz] 5/2, 12/5, footnote 62

Zaynab bint Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Maymūn al-Dabbās 7/7

On her father, see footnote 74

13 Arabic Text

This is not an attempt to produce a diplomatic edition that seeks to reproduce the original orthography. Its purpose is to clarify the ambiguities of the certificates that often omit diacritical points and, at times, are almost or completely illegible. Habits of individual scribes are not regarded as pertinent for this; for these, the reader is referred to the pictures of the manuscript. Nevertheless, defective writings, such as ‮المبرك‬‎ or ‮القاض‬‎ have been left unchanged. On the other hand, in addition to the dots on tāʾ marbūṭa and to medial hamzas as in ‮الرئيس‬‎ I also added hamzas without a carrying letter as in ‮قراءة‬‎ or ‮الجزء‬‎ as a careful approximation to modern orthography. The rare vowel signs, sukūns, and šaddas of the original were ignored as they are sometimes difficult to relate to the letters and are normally used with names that are easy to vocalise anyway.

• Letters in square brackets indicate letters or words that have been added by me;

• … marks (three) illegible letters;

• _ _ _ marks (three) illegible words;

• crossed-out text is crossed out in the ms.;

• text^? marks doubtful readings.

• Red colour of script marks the attending master, green colour the reader, blue colour the writer, and brown colour the date.

‮‭1‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ قرا هذا الجزء على الحاجب الجليل ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف ‭(2)‬ رضى الله عنه هبة الله بن محمد بن على بن الحسن فسمعه‬‎

• ‮الرئيس الاجل ‭(3)‬ ابو بكر محمد بن الفضل بن محمد بن دلال الشيبانى‬‎

• ‮وابو القسم علي بن المؤمل بن مسلم الكاتب ‭(4)‬‬‎

• ‮والشيخ ابو عبد الله الحسين بن محمد بن احمد المعروف بابن الهيبى‬‎

• ‮والشيخ ابو نصر ‭(5)‬ احمد بن عمر بن الفرج الابرى‬‎

• ‮وابو العز جامع بن ابى سعد النقيب ‭(6)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو الفتح محمد‬‎

• ‮وسعيد ابنا ابى الغنائم محمد بن هبة الله بن محمد بن الطيب ‭(7)‬‬‎

• ‮وسمع من ………. ابو الحسن على بن الحسين بن الحسن الاسكاف ‭(8)‬ الى آخر الجزء‬‎

‮وذلك في ربيع الاول سنة ست وثمنين و اربع مائة ‭(9)‬‬‎

• ‮وسمع جميعه ايضا الشيخ الجليل السيد ابو القسم هبة الله بن ‭(10)‬ محمد بن الطيب‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو الغنائم محمد في التاريخ المذكور‬‎

‮‭2‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع الجزء على الحاجب الاجل السيد ابى الحسن على بن مجمد بن على بن العلاف المقرى رضى الله عنه ‭(2)‬ بقراءة الشيخ ابى الحسن علىى بن احمد بن محمد بن فنون نفعه الله بالعلم‬‎

• ‮الشيخ الامام السيد ابو محمد جعفر بن احمد بن ‭(3)‬ الحسين السراج القارى‬‎

• ‮والرئيس الأجل ابو الحسن على بن هبة الله بن عبد السلم‬‎

• ‮والشيخ الجليل المقرى ‭(4)‬ ابو الحسن على بن المبرك‬‎

• ‮والقاض ابو الحسن على بن سلامة بن عبيد الله الكرخى‬‎

• ‮والرئيس الجليل ابو ‭(5)‬ البركات محمد بن على بن الحسن بن عبد الملك‬‎

• ‮والرئيس ابو عبد الله محمد بن محمد بن صالح‬‎

• ‮والشيوخ ‭(6)‬ ابو الفضل احمد بن الحسن بن هبة الله بن العالمة الاسكاف‬‎

• ‮وابو غالب المبرك بن على بن المناطقى ‭(7)‬ الفرضى‬‎

• ‮وابو محمد عبد الباقى بن الحسن بن احمد البصرى‬‎

• ‮والشريف الفضل بن نافع بن محرز الشجرى ‭(8)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو عمرو عثمن بن أبي النحا^؟ العزيز^؟ الواسطى‬‎

• ‮والشيخ ابو سعد احمد بن محمد بن عصفور الواسطى ‭(9)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو حرب احمد بن المبرك بن محمد الخباز الضرير‬‎

‮وكاتب السماع احمد بن محمد بن الحسن بن محمد ‭(10)‬ الواسطى المعروف بابن العكبرى‬‎

‮وذلك في ربيع الاول من سنة سبع وثمانين واربع مائة‬‎

‮‭3‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع الجزء على الحاجب الاجل ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف رضى الله عنه ‭(2)‬ بقراءة الشيخ ابى ياسر محمد بن عبيد الله بن كادش العكبرى‬‎

• ‮الشيوخ الشيخ ابو القسم عبيد الله ‭(3)‬ بن على المخرمى‬‎

• ‮وابو الكرم المبارك بن جعفر بن مسلم الهاشمى‬‎

• ‮وابو الحسن على ‭(4)‬ بن محمد بن ابى عمر البزاز‬‎

‮وكاتب السماع سعد الله بن على بن الحسين بن ايوب البزاز ‭(5)‬‬‎

• ‮وسمع من اوله خمسة عشر ورقة ابو سعد احمد بن على بن محمد بن الحسن بن عبدون البزاز ‭(6)‬‬‎

‮وذلك يوم الاربعاء سادس شهر رمضان من سنة سبع وثمانين واربع مائة‬‎

‮‭4‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميعه مع ما قبله من الاجزاء على الحاجب الجليل ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف المقرى ايده الله ‭(2)‬ بقراءة الشيخ ابى الحسن على بن احمد بن فنون البغلى البغدادى‬‎

• ‮المشايخ السادة الشريف ابو الفضل عبد الله بن مسعود بن المحسن البياضى ‭(3)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو منصور سعيد بن محمد بن الرزاز البغدادى‬‎

• ‮وابو البركات فيروز بن عبد الله الموصلى‬‎

• ‮وابو بكر صديق^؟ بن عثمان البربرى^؟ الديباجى ‭(4)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو الفضل محمد بن محمد بن الطيب‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو الحسين احمد‬‎

• ‮وابو الحسن على بن احمد الخياط البغداديون‬‎

• ‮و هزارسب بن عوض بن الحسن الهروى ‭(5)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو عبد الله محمد بن ابي الفتح الهكارى‬‎

• ‮وولد الحاجب ابو طاهر محمد‬‎

‮ومثبت الاسماء الحسين بن نصر بن محمد بن خميس الموصلى ‭(6)‬‬‎

‮وذلك في يوم الاربعاء _ _ _ شوال سنة تسعين واربع مائة‬‎

‮بمدينة السلام جانبها الشرقى فخر الخلافة مسجد الاجل المظفر ايده ا[لله]‬‎

‮‭5‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميعه على الحاجب ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف‬‎

• ‮ابو الفضائل عبد الله بن محمد بن احمد بن عبد الباقى الدقاق ‭(2)‬‬‎

• ‮وعبد الخالق بن احمد بن عبد القادر بن محمد بن يوسف‬‎

• ‮وبركات بن الفضل الفارقى‬‎

• ‮ومحمد بن علي بن الحسين الربعى‬‎

• ‮وابو القسم بن ابى ‭(3)‬ غالب المساميرى‬‎

• ‮وهبة الله بن ابي غالب بن ابى ياسر الخياط‬‎

• ‮ويلتكين بن السديد طايوق‬‎

• ‮واحمد بن على بن حمزة بن صدقة^؟‬‎

• ‮وأبو سعيد ‭(4)‬ _ _ _ _ _‬‎

• ‮ومحمد بن محمد بن عطاف الموصلى‬‎

‮بقراءة على بن احمد بن محمد بن فنون‬‎

‮فى ذى الحجة سنة ثمان وثمانين واربع مائة‬‎

‮‭6‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع هذا الجزء بمجلس‬‎

• ‮مولانا السيد الاجل عز الدولة سيد ‭(2)‬ الرؤساء ابى المكارم على بن مولانا مجد الدين شرف الاسلام نصير الامام ‭(3)‬ ظهير الدولة بهاء الملة زعيم الامة فخر الوزراء ابى المعالى هبة الله بن محمد بن على ‭(4)‬ بن المطلب ادام الله سلطانه‬‎

• ‮وسمع معه اخوه المولى ابو المظفر الحسن ‭(5)‬‬‎

‮على الحاجب الاجل ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف المقرى ‭(6)‬ بقراءة الشيخ ابي عبد الله الحسين بن محمد بن خسرو البلخى‬‎

‮وسمع ولده ابو القسم يحيى ‭(7)‬‬‎

• ‮والقاضى الاجل جمال القضاة ابو سعد المبرك بن على المخرمى‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو المعالي ‭(8)‬ محمد‬‎

• ‮والاجل زعيم الرؤساء ابو الرضا محمد بن احمد بن صدقة‬‎

• ‮والرئيس الاجل ابو القسم ‭(9)‬ يحيى بن على بن اسمعيل‬‎

• ‮والشيخ الاديب ابو على الحسن بن على بن يوسف المحولى‬‎

• ‮وولده ‭(10)‬ يوسف‬‎

• ‮وابو الفرج محمد بن محمد بن الطير القصرى‬‎

• ‮والحاجب باتكين بن بادر^؟ ‭(11)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو نصر المبارك بن عبد الوهاب بن منصور القزاز‬‎

‮وذلك في صفر ‭(12)‬ من سنة احدى وخمسمائة‬‎

• ‮وقد سمعه مع غير هذه الطبقة مثبت الاسماء عمر بن ظفر بن احمد‬‎

‮‭7‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميعه من نسخة ابى نصر الاصبهانى على الحاجب ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف رحمهما الله بقراءة أبي نصر ‭(2)‬‬‎

• ‮ابو الحسين عبد الحق بن عبد الخالق بن احمد بن عبد القادر بن محمد بن يوسف‬‎

• ‮وفتياه ريحان المصرى^؟‬‎

• ‮ومسعود البجاوى^؟ ‭(3)‬‬‎

• ‮وصاحبه كرم‬‎

• ‮وابو الفتح عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن احمد بن على بن الاخوة البيع‬‎

• ‮وابو القسم عبد الرحمن بن احمد بن محمد بن بنان ‭(4)‬ الزعفرانى‬‎

• ‮وابو الكرم المبارك بن المبارك الجصاص‬‎

• ‮وابنه ابو الغنائم عبد الرحمن‬‎

• ‮وسعد بن عبد الله ‭(5)‬ مولى الخمى^؟‬‎

• ‮والر … ان ابو الصلت^؟ محمد بن احمد بن محمد‬‎

• ‮وبهاء الشرف بن جعفر بن عبد الصمد بن المتوكل على الله ‭(6)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو على فرج بن احمد بن على الخراساني‬‎

• ‮وابو الكرم المبارك‬‎

• ‮ومسعود بن خميس العسال‬‎

• ‮وابو منصور بن ‭(7)‬ سنان^؟ بن منصور بن ابى الحسن بن علي القصبانى‬‎

• ‮واخوه ابو بكر‬‎

• ‮وزينب بنت محمد بن علي بن ميمون الدباس ‭(8)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو المظفر عبد الله بن طاهر بن على بن الخياط‬‎

• ‮ومستزيد^؟ بنت عبد الله عتاقة أبى البهاء ‭(9)‬ الموصلى‬‎

• ‮والاسعد بن يلدرك بن ابى اللقاء الجبريلى‬‎

‮في رجب سنة تسع وتسعين واربع مائة ‭(10)‬‬‎

‮نقله عبد الخالق بن احمد بن عبد القادر بن محمد بن يوسف صلاة^؟ الله _ على رسوله سيدنا^؟ محمد النبى^؟ وسلم^؟ تسليما^؟ ه‬‎

‮‭8‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع الجزء السادس من كتاب اعتلال القلوب على الحاجب الاجل السيد ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن ‭(2)‬ على بن العلاف رضى الله عنه بقراءة الشيخ ابى الحسن على بن احمد بن محمد بن فنون نفعه الله بالعلم‬‎

• ‮الشيخ ‭(3)‬ الامام العالم ابو محمد جعفر بن احمد بن الحسين السراج المقرى‬‎

• ‮والرئيس الاجل ابو الحسن على بن هبة الله بن ‭(4)‬ عبد السلم‬‎

• ‮والشيخ الجليل المقرى ابو الحسن على بن المبرك‬‎

• ‮والقاضى ابو الحسن على بن سلامة بن عبيد الله ‭(5)‬ الكرخى‬‎

• ‮والشيوخ ابو الفضل احمد بن الحسن بن هبة الله بن العالمة‬‎

• ‮وابو غالب المبرك بن على بن المناطقى الفرضى^؟ ‭(6)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو غالب عبد الله بن محمد بن مهدى‬‎

• ‮وابو عمرو عثمن بن ابي النحا^؟ العزيز^؟ الواسطى‬‎

• ‮والرئيس الجليل ‭(7)‬ ابو البركات محمد بن على بن الحسن بن عبد الملك‬‎

‮وكاتب السماع احمد بن محمد بن الحسن بن محمد الواسطى ‭(8)‬ المعروف بابن العكبرى‬‎

• ‮وسمع بعضه الشريف الفضل بن نافع الشجرى‬‎

• ‮وجعفر بن ناصر بن الفرات ‭(9)‬ واجاز لهما ما فاتهما الحاجب الاجل ابو الحسن‬‎

‮وذلك في ربيع الاول من سنة سبع وثمنين واربعمائة‬‎

‮‭9‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع الجزء السادس من كتاب اعتلال القلوب على الحاجب الاجل السيد ‭(2)‬ ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف رضى الله عنه بقراءة الشيخ ابى ياسر ‭(3)‬ محمد بن عبيد الله بن كادش العكبرى‬‎

• ‮الشيوخ ولدا الشيخ ابى ‭(4)‬ الحسن على بن الحسين ابن ايوب البزاز ابو محمد سعد الله‬‎

• ‮وابو المعالى ‭(5)‬ هبة الله بن على بن ايوب‬‎

• ‮وابو الحسن على بن محمد بن الحسن بن ‭(6)‬ عبدون البزاز‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو سعد احمد‬‎

• ‮وابو نصر المبارك بن احمد ‭(7)‬ بن محمد بن القصبانى‬‎

• ‮وابو الكرم المبارك بن جعفر بن مسلم الهاشمى ‭(8)‬‬‎

‮وكاتب السماع ابو القسم عبيد الله بن على المخرمى‬‎

‮وذلك ‭(9)‬ في رجب من سنة سبع وثمانين واربعمائة‬‎

‮‭10‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع هذا الجزء مع ما قبله من الاجزاء على الحاجب الجليل ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف المقرى ايده الله ‭(2)‬ بقراءة الشيخ ابى الحسن على بن احمد بن فنون البغلى البغدادى المشايخ السادة‬‎

• ‮الشريف ابو الفضل عبد الله بن مسعود بن المحسن البياضى ‭(3)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو منصور سعيد بن محمد بن الرزاز البغدادى‬‎

• ‮وابو عبد الله محمد بن ابي الفتح الهكارى‬‎

• ‮وابو البركات فيروز بن عبد الله الموصلى ‭(4)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو الفضل محمد بن محمد بن الطيب‬‎

• ‮وابو الحسن على بن احمد الخياط البغدادى _‬‎

• ‮وابو بكر صديق^؟ بن عثمان البربرى^؟ الديباجى‬‎

• ‮و_ بن على بن الحسن ‭(5)‬‬‎

• ‮وولد الحاجب ابو طاهر محمد‬‎

‮ومثبت الاسماء الحسين بن نصر بن محمد بن خميس الموصلى‬‎

‮وذلك في يوم الثلثاء تاسع عشر شوال سنة تسعين واربع مائة ‭(6)‬‬‎

• ‮سمع من آخره خمسة اوراق هزارسب بن عوض بن الحسن الهروى‬‎

• ‮وكذلك سمع ابو الحسين احمد بن محمد بن الطيب البغدادى ‭(7)‬‬‎

‮في تاريخ السماع ببغداد جانبها الشرقي فخر الخلافة مسجد الاجل المظفر ايده الله ه‬‎

‮‭11‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع هذا الجزء بمجلس‬‎

• ‮المولى السيد الاجل عز الدولة ‭(2)‬ سيد الرؤساء ابى المكارم على بن مولانا مجد الدين شرف الاسلام ‭(3)‬ نصير الامام ظهير الدولة بهاء الملة زعيم الامة فخر الوزراء ابى المعالى ‭(4)‬ هبة الله بن محمد بن على بن المطلب صفى امير المؤمنين ادام الله ايامه‬‎

• ‮وسمع ‭(5)‬ معه اخوه المولى ابو المظفر الحسن على الحاجب ابى الحسن على بن محمد ‭(6)‬ بن على بن العلاف المقرى بقراءة الشيخ ابى عبد الله الحسين بن محمد بن خسرو ‭(7)‬ البلخى‬‎

• ‮وسمع ولده ابو القسم يحيى‬‎

• ‮والقاضي الاجل جمال القضاة ابو سعد ‭(8)‬ المبارك بن على المخرمى‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو المعالى محمد‬‎

• ‮والحاجب باتكين بن بادر^؟ ‭(9)‬‬‎

• ‮والشيخ الاديب ابو على الحسن بن على بن يوسف المحولى‬‎

• ‮وولده يوسف ‭(10)‬‬‎

• ‮وابو نصر المبارك بن عبد الوهاب بن منصور القزاز‬‎

• ‮وولده سمعه ‭(11)‬‬‎

‮مثبت الاسماء بغير هذا التاريخ عمر بن ظفر بن احمد‬‎

‮في محرم سنة ‭(12)‬ احدى وخمسمائة‬‎

• ‮(‭written vertically in the right margin‬) والاجل زعيم الرؤساء ابو الرضا محمد بن احمد بن صدقة‬‎

‮‭12‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ سمع جميع هذا الجزء وهو السادس من اعتلال القلوب ‭(2)‬ على الحاجب ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف رحمه الله‬‎

• ‮الشيخ ‭(3)‬ ابو الحسين احمد بن عبد القادر بن محمد بن يوسف‬‎

• ‮وولده عبد الخالق‬‎

• ‮و_ _ ‭(4)‬ هبة الله بن على بن عبد الباقى‬‎

• ‮وابو الفضائل عبد الله ولد الشيخ ابى بكر بن ‭(5)‬ ابى بكر‬‎

• ‮[و]محمد بن احمد بن عبد الباقى الدقاق‬‎

• ‮وصاحبه ابو القسم بن ابى غالب ‭(6)‬ المساميرى‬‎

• ‮ويلتكين بن السديد طايوق‬‎

‮بقراءة ابى الخير على ‭(7)‬ بن احمد بن محمد بن فنون‬‎

• ‮وسمع من باب احتيال اهل الهوى ابو محمد ‭(8)‬ هبة الله بن محمد الفارقى ابى غالب بن ابى ياسر الخياط‬‎

• ‮وسمع الجميع ‭(9)‬ محمد بن محمد بن عطاف‬‎

• ‮وبركات بن الفضل بن محمد الفارقى‬‎

• ‮وابو محمد احمد بن ‭(10)‬ على بن حمزة بن صدقة‬‎

• ‮وكمل سماع ابى محمد هبة الله بن ابى غالب ‭(11)‬‬‎

‮وذلك فى ذى الحجة سنة ثمان وثمنين واربع مائة نقله ابن يوسف‬‎

‮‭13‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ بلغ سماعا من اوله الى اخره على الحاجب الجليل ابى الحسن على بن محمد بن على بن العلاف رضى الله عنه ‭(2)‬ وسمع ابي السادة‬‎

• ‮ابو بكر محمد بن الفضل بن محمد بن دلال الشيبانى‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو منصور ‭(3)‬ محمد‬‎

• ‮والشيخ الجليل ابو القسم هبة الله بن محمد بن الطيب‬‎

• ‮وولده ابو الغنائم محمد ‭(4)‬‬‎

• ‮وولداه محمد‬‎

• ‮وسعيد‬‎

• ‮والشيخ ابو عبد الله الحسين بن محمد بن احمد المعروف ‭(5)‬ بابن الهيبى‬‎

• ‮وابو القسم على بن المؤمل بن مسلم الكاتب‬‎

• ‮وسمع من ‭(6)‬ باب الادلال والتجنى _ ابو نصر احمد بن عمر بن الفرج الابرى‬‎

• ‮وسمع جميعه ‭(7)‬ ابو العز جامع بن ابى سعد النقيب‬‎

• ‮وسمع ايضا _ من باب التجنى والادلال ‭(8)‬ احمد بن فارس الخياط‬‎

‮بقراءة هبة الله بن محمد بن على بن الحسن‬‎

‮وذلك ‭(9)‬ في ربيع الاول من سنة ست وثمنين واربع مائة‬‎

‮‭a‬‭13‬‬‎

‮‭(1)‬ واعيد لابى نصر احمد بن الفرج بن عمر ‭(2)‬ الدينورى الابرى ما فاته ‭(3)‬ وعمل له جميع الكتاب سماعا ‭(4)‬ وللجماعة _‬‎

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Figure 7

Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 627, fol. 13b. This page shows the end of the text of part 8 of al-Ḫarāʾiṭī’s Iʿtilāl al-qulūb in lines 1–11. In lines 12–15, the beginning of the following part (part 9) is given to ensure correct connection; the text is indented. Two lines with religious formulae follow. The five last lines contain the beginning of certificate #1.

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Figure 8

Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 627, fol. 14a. The first five lines contain the rest of certificate #1, followed by certificates #2 to #5 that are delimited against each other by lines or frames, as usual also on the following pages. The certificate at the bottom, #5, was transferred from another manuscript (see above, section 9).

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Figure 9

Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 627, fol. 14b. This page contains certificates #6 and #7. The lower certificate, #7, was again transferred from another manuscript.

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Figure 10

Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 627, fol. 15a. This page contains certificates #8 to #10.

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Figure 11

Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 627, fol. 15b. This page contains certificates #11 and #12. The lower one, #12, was again transferred from another manuscript.

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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Figure 12

Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 627, fol. 37b. This page shows the end of the text of part 6 of al-Ḫarāʾiṭī’s Iʿtilāl al-qulūb in the first fourteen lines. In line 15 the following chapter (Bāb Faḍīlat ḥifẓ al-sirr wa-ḏamm iḏāʿatihi) is mentioned, again to ensure correct connection. Line 16 contains a religious formula. The five last lines contain certificate #13. In the outer (= right) margin, a follow-up session is mentioned (= certificate #13a). The remark in the inner (= left) margin is a collation note (a similar note can be found in the margin of fol. 23b).

Citation: Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 11, 1 (2020) ; 10.1163/1878464X-01101004

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