al-Hulla al-Sayra
- Author died
- 658 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Ma'arif
al-Hulla al-Sayra (The Striped Robe) is a biographical and literary history compiled by the Andalusian historian and man of letters Ibn al-Abbar (595–658 AH / 1199–1260 CE), focusing on the lives and poetry of Muslim rulers, princes, ministers, and state dignitaries .
Composition and Purpose
Ibn al-Abbar began composing the book in Tunis after settling there following his departure from Valencia . He opened the work by discussing the verses composed by the Hafsid ruler Sultan Abu Zakariyya Yahya and his crown prince Abu Yahya . Ibn al-Abbar conceived the work to celebrate the poetic talent of the sultan and his son and to demonstrate that composing verse was an established tradition among prominent caliphs, sultans, and princes . The biographer Ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-Marrakushi recorded its title as al-Hulla al-Sayra fi Shi'r al-Umara' (The Striped Robe on the Poetry of Princes) .
Scope and Contents
The collection covers biographies of rulers, ministers, scribes, and notables from al-Andalus, the Maghrib, and other regions of the Islamic world, spanning from the 1st century AH down to the early 7th century AH . It includes biographical entries and poetic excerpts for early historical figures, Abbasid caliphs, Umayyad rulers and amirs of al-Andalus, and the monarchs and statesmen of the Taifa kingdoms and subsequent dynasties . The book also contains a closing chapter devoted to notables and dignitaries from whom no poetry was recorded .
Method and Style
After using rhymed prose (saj') in the opening preface, Ibn al-Abbar adopted an unadorned, eloquent, and direct prose style throughout the main body of the work . He applied a critical approach to historical reports, cross-examining narrations and rectifying errors in names and chronological dates . Modern historians consider the work an indispensable primary source for political, social, and literary history, particularly for the Taifa era and the 6th and 7th centuries AH .
Manuscripts and Editions
A complete manuscript of the work is preserved in the Escorial Library (MS 1654, consisting of 197 folios) . An initial partial edition was prepared by the Orientalist Reinhart Dozy and published in Leiden in 1847 (and 1851), omitting several entries, parts of which were later included in Dozy's Historia Abbadidarum and August Müller's Beiträge . A full critical edition in two volumes was edited by Husayn Mu'nis and published in Cairo in 1963–1964 and in Beirut in 1962 .
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