al-Wazir al-Maghribi
- Died
- 418 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi (370–418 AH / 980–1027 CE) was an Arab-Persian administrator, man of letters, and poet who served as vizier under several regional dynasties in Egypt, Iraq, and the Jazira . He is known for his political career as well as his writings on governance and genealogy, such as his administrative treatise al-Siyasa .
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is given as al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf, and his ancestry was traced back to Sasanian Persian rulers, including Bahram Gur and Yazdegerd . The family bore the title al-Kamil Dhu al-Jalalatayn . His ancestor was nicknamed al-Maghribi because he frequented the Maghrib bureau (Diwan al-Maghrib) in Baghdad . His mother was Fatima, the daughter of the Shi'i scholar Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Nu'mani .
Al-Maghribi was born in Dhu al-Hijjah 370 AH in Cairo, though another account states he was born in Aleppo . His father and grandfather served the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla before moving to Egypt, where al-Maghribi grew up and was appointed to manage the bureau of the Levant (Diwan al-Sham) under the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah .
Political Career and Travels
In 400 AH, al-Hakim arrested and executed al-Maghribi's father Ali, his uncle Muhammad, and his brothers . Al-Maghribi went into hiding and escaped Egypt to the Levant, seeking refuge with the Tayyi' tribal leader Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij ibn al-Jarrah, whom he praised and urged to rebel against al-Hakim .
After this failed, he traveled through the Balqa to Iraq . In Baghdad, the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir bi-llah regarded him with suspicion owing to his arrival from Egypt, so he moved to Mosul and became secretary and vizier to the Uqaylid emir Qirwash ibn al-Muqallad .
He was subsequently appointed vizier in Baghdad for the Buyid ruler Musharrif al-Dawla in 414 AH, serving for ten months and several days before stepping down amid political instability . He returned to Qirwash, but when the caliph ordered Qirwash to expel him, al-Maghribi fled to Diyar Bakr and entered the service of the Marwanid ruler Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwan, acting as his vizier in Mayyafariqin for the remainder of his life .
Scholarly Activity and Standing
Biographers describe al-Maghribi as an astute statesman, an accomplished epistolary writer (mutarassil), a skilled poet, and an authority on Arabic philology, grammar, and accounting . He transmitted hadith from the Egyptian vizier Abu al-Fadl Ja'far ibn al-Fadl ibn al-Furat (Ibn Hinzaba) and heard from Abu Dharr al-Harawi . Among those who transmitted from him were his son Abu Yahya Abd al-Hamid and Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Tayyib al-Fariqi . The poet and philosopher Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri corresponded with him and addressed his Risalat al-Manih to him .
In addition to his administrative treatise al-Siyasa, his scholarly output included al-Inas bi-Ilm al-Ansab, a work on Arab tribal genealogy, and Adab al-Khawas, a collection of tribal lore and literary traditions .
Death
Al-Maghribi died in Mayyafariqin in 418 AH (1027 CE) . In accordance with his final instructions, his bier was carried to al-Kufa, where he was buried near the shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib .
Answer updated
List of Works
This concise Arabic treatise on governance and political ethics offers guidance primarily intended for rulers and dignitaries occupied with public affairs. It explores political administration across three domains: self-governance, management of the inner circle and officials, and leadership of the general populace.
This specialized treatise examines Arab tribal genealogy, belonging to the genre of al-muʾtalif wa-al-mukhtalif. It focuses on genealogical names and tribal designations that share identical or similar written orthography but differ in vocalization and pronunciation, building upon earlier genealogical compilations.
This compilation of Arab tribal literature, genealogy, and historical lore gathers selected examples of tribal eloquence, rhetoric, traditions, genealogies, and battle days. The text also includes biographical accounts, narratives, and lore related to the pre-Islamic poet Imru' al-Qays.