al-Ruznamaja
- Author died
- 385 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Nahḍah
Al-Ruznamaja (The Daily Journal) is an epistolary travel diary written by the Buyid vizier and man of letters al-Sahib ibn Abbad (326–385 AH / 938–995 CE) during his journey to Baghdad and addressed to his teacher and patron Abu al-Fadl Ibn al-Amid .
Background and Purpose
The work was composed as a series of personal dispatches sent by Ibn Abbad from Baghdad to Ibn al-Amid . In these reports, Ibn Abbad recorded his daily observations, his literary and social interactions with the political elite and scholars of Iraq, and his attendance at salons and musical gatherings .
Contents and Encounters
The text consists of distinct episodic entries detailing various encounters and events:
- Court and Social Gatherings: Ibn Abbad describes his reception by the Buyid vizier al-Muhallabi (Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Muhammad), who hosted him at his gatherings . He depicts the wit of the judge Ibn Quri'a, the boastful declamations of the Banu al-Munajjim poets—particularly Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Harun ibn al-Munajjim—and the performances of musicians such as the tanbur player Abu al-Hasan ibn Tarkhan and singers like Husn al-Ukbarawiyya . He also records leisure outings in al-Yasiriyya, Ukbara, and gardens overlooking the Tigris .
- Scholarly Debates: The author recounts attending the study circle of the grammarian Abu Sa'id al-Sirafi, where he engaged in debates regarding lexicography in al-Jamhara, poetic meters and the permissibility of initial syllable suppression (al-khazm), and grammatical rules concerning the diptotic status of sahar in al-Mubarrad's al-Muqtadab . He notes transcribing from Sirafi and obtaining his commentary on Sibawayh's Kitab .
- Other Notable Figures: Ibn Abbad mentions attending sessions of the scholar of readings Abu Bakr ibn Miqsam, the jurist and traditionist Abu Bakr ibn Kamil, and the Sufi preacher Ibn Sam'un, whom he attempted to baffle by posing an invented philosophical question on "the sanctity of knowledge prior to presumption" (qudsiyyakuniyyat al-ilm) . He also records verses by the mendicant poet al-Ahnaf al-Ukbari and remarks regarding the singer Lahza al-Tuluniyya .
Modern Publication
The extant portions of al-Ruznamaja were compiled and edited by Muhammad Hasan Al Yasin and published in Baghdad in 1377 AH (1958 CE), with a subsequent edition appearing in 1385 AH (1965 CE) .
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