ABĀN B. ʿABD-AL-ḤAMĪD B. LĀHEQ, called LĀHEQĪ, late 2nd/8th century poet. He was of a Persian family, originally from Fasā,…

ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN B. MOḤAMMAD AL-SARAḴSĪ, ABŪ BAKR, a Hanafite jurist (d. 439/1047). Though originally from Saraḵs, he grew up in Baghdad,…

ABŪ ʿALĪ FĀRESĪ, ḤASAN B. AḤMAD B. ʿABD-AL-ḠAFFĀR (288-377/900-87), grammarian at the court of the Buyid ʿAżod-al-dawla (d. 366/977). He…

ABU’L-ʿAMAYṮAL ʿABDALLĀH B. ḴOLAYD (or ḴĀLED or ḴOWAYLED) B. SAʿD, Tahirid court poet. Abu’l-ʿAmayṯal boasted of being a client of…

ABŪ BAKR MOḤAMMAD B. AL-YAMĀN AL-SAMARQANDĪ (d. 268/881), a Hanafite jurist about whose life the available sources furnish no information….

ADAB AL-KABĪR, AL-, an Arabic work by Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ dealing largely with Persian manners and court etiquette. Although published many…

ADAB AL-ṢAḠĪR, AL-, an Arabic book of wisdom and advice, based on Middle Persian works. Recent discoveries tend to confirm…

AʿMĀ, ABU’L-ʿABBĀS SĀʾEB B. FARRŪḴ, 1st-2nd/7th-8th century poet from Azarbaijan who wrote in Arabic. His father must have been a…

AYYOHA’L-WALAD, a short treatise by Abū Ḥāmed Moḥammad Ḡazālī Ṭūsī (fl. 450-505/1058-1111), originally composed in Persian, but, except for one…

BARMAKIDS or Barāmeka, a well-known fam­ily of secretaries and viziers during the time of the early ʿAbbasids, stemming from the…

EBN ṬABĀṬABĀ, ABU’L-ḤASAN MOḤAMMAD b. Aḥmad b. Moḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Ebrāhīm Eṣfahānī (d. 322/933), poet and critic. An ʿAlawid…

EBN MOSTAWFĪ, ABU’L-BARAKĀT ŠARAF-AL-DĪN MOBĀRAK b. Aḥmad b. Mobārak Erbelī (564-637/1168-1239), historian of Erbel. Both his father and his uncle,…

EBN AL-ʿAMĪD, cognomen of two famous viziers of the 4th/10th century: Abu’l-Fażl and his son Abu’l-Fatḥ. The father of the…

BŪRĀN, (Middle Pers. Bōrān) also called Ḵadīja (192-271/807-84), wife of al-Maʾmūn and daughter of Ḥasan b. Sahl, was probably so…