al-Yazidi
- Died
- 310 AH
- Born in
- -
Muhammad ibn al-Abbas al-Yazidi (228–310 AH / 842–922 CE) was a Baghdad-based scholar of Arabic philology, literature, and historical transmissions, best known for his literary compilation Amali al-Yazidi (The Dictations of al-Yazidi) .
Lineage and Background
His full genealogy is Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn al-Abbas ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Mubarak al-Adawi al-Yazidi . The family's affiliation with the nisba al-Adawi stemmed from their clientage to Banu 'Adi ibn Abd Manat, while al-Yazidi originated with his great-grandfather Yahya ibn al-Mubarak al-Yazidi, who had been attached to Yazid ibn Mansur al-Himyari—the maternal uncle of the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi—to tutor his children . The Yazidis formed an influential scholarly household in Baghdad spanning several generations of grammarians, philologists, and Quran readers, and Muhammad ibn al-Abbas was recognized as the last of his family in Baghdad to transmit scholarly knowledge .
Education and Career
Calculated from his age at death, he was born in mid-Rabi' al-Awwal 228 AH (842 CE), although an alternative report transmitted by al-Farghani dates his birth to mid-Rabi' al-Awwal 230 AH . He was trained within his family circle, receiving reports from his uncles Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Yazidi, al-Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Yazidi, and Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Yazidi . He also studied under prominent contemporary scholars outside his family, including the grammarian Abu al-Abbas Tha'lab, the philologist Abu al-Fadl al-Riyashi, and the genealogist al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar .
In his later years, the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir bi-Llah summoned him to court to educate his sons, an assignment he held for an extended period . A broad circle of students and scholars transmitted from him, including Abu Bakr al-Suli, Abu Ubayd Allah al-Askari, Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam al-Mu'addib, and Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Sayf .
Scholarly Standing
Biographers characterized him as an accomplished man of letters, grammarian, and prolific transmitter of poetry and historical lore who was regarded as truthful and reliable in narration . Beyond his teaching and transmissions, he documented his family's heritage and literary output in Akhbar al-Yazidiyyin (Chronicles of the Yazidis) and recorded dynastic history in Manaqib Bani al-Abbas (Virtues of the Banu al-Abbas) .
Death
He died early on Sunday night, with twelve nights remaining in Jumada al-Akhira 310 AH (October 922 CE)—though an isolated report places his death in 313 AH—at the age of eighty-two years and three months, during the caliphate of al-Muqtadir bi-Llah .
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List of Works
Amali al-Yazidi (The Dictations of al-Yazidi) is an early classical Arabic literary and philological compilation belonging to the genre of literary dictation sessions. It gathers a broad variety of poetry, metered verse, historical reports, and literary anecdotes transmitted through a scholarly lineage. Complete poems, short fragments, and rajaz verses span multiple eras—from pre-Islamic to Abbasid—with elegies forming the majority of the recorded verse alongside themes such as praise, satire, wine, wisdom, and nobility.