al-Dibaj li Abi Ubayda
- Author died
- 209 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Khānjī
al-Dibaj (Arabic: كتاب الديباج, The Brocade) is an early Arabic historical and literary work by the philologist and genealogist Abu Ubayda Mamar ibn al-Muthanna (d. ca. 209 AH / 824 CE; other reports give 206, 208, 210, 211, or 213 AH) . The book compiles concise accounts of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabs, their battle days (ayyam al-Arab), and prominent figures categorized according to notable traits and virtues .
Scope, Content, and Title
Despite its compact size, al-Dibaj contains rare historical reports, chains of transmission, and unique poetic verses regarding Arab tribes and personalities . Its entries group figures by specific characteristics across the Jahiliyya and early Islamic periods, including the most generous individuals (such as Hatim al-Ta'i, Ka'b ibn Mama, and Haram ibn Sinan), the wisest men, the shrewd and cunning (duhat), the loyal (awfiya'), and tribal divisions such as the jamarat of the Arabs .
According to a report transmitted by Abu Ubayd Allah al-Marzubani from Thalab, Abu Ubayda was the first to organize accounts of pre-Islamic and Islamic figures according to categories such as generosity and horsemanship in a work that people came to call al-Dibaj .
Reception and Transmission
al-Dibaj circulated early among scholars in the Islamic East and was transmitted through Abu Ubayda's student Abu Muhammad al-Tawwazi to al-Mubarrad . The grammarian Abu Uthman al-Mazini (d. 249 AH) composed a work under the same title offering differing accounts from those of his teacher, while another student, Muhammad ibn Salih ibn al-Nattah (d. 252 AH), authored a formal rebuttal against it .
The book reached al-Andalus through the traveler Sa'id ibn Jabir al-Ishbili (d. 325 AH), who received it from Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sulayman al-Akhfash in the East; this line of transmission was later documented by Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili in his bibliographical catalog . al-Dibaj was cited and referenced by numerous classical scholars, including al-Mubarrad in al-Kamil, al-Masudi in al-Tanbih wa-l-Ishraf, Abu Hamid al-Kharzanji al-Bushti in al-Takmila, Sulayman ibn Banin al-Misri in Lubab al-Albab, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in al-Isaba . It is also listed in the major bio-bibliographical works of Ibn al-Nadim, al-Qifti, Yaqut al-Hamawi, Ibn Khallikan, al-Suyuti, and Katip Celebi .
Modern Identification and Edition
Having long been regarded as lost, the text was identified from an untitled manuscript held in the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Cairo, which was originally registered only as an anonymous literary work attributed to Abu Ubayda . Its authenticity as al-Dibaj was established through internal chains of transmission and extensive textual concordances with quotations preserved across classical Arabic literature; it was subsequently edited and published by Abd al-Rahman ibn Sulayman al-Uthaymin .
Answer updated