Amali Ibn al-Muzara
- Author died
- 304 AH
- Editions
- Amali Ibn al-Muzara
Amali Ibn al-Muzara (Arabic: أمالي ابن المزرع, also known as Amali Yamut ibn al-Muzarra') is a short collection of literary dictations (amālī), historical anecdotes (akhbār), and poetic lore compiled from the transmissions of the Basran scholar Yamut ibn al-Muzarra' (d. 304 AH / 916–917 CE).
Author and Transmission
The book originates from Abu Bakr Yamut ibn al-Muzarra' al-'Abdi al-Basri, a scholar of literature and anecdotes who was a nephew of the renowned author al-Jahiz. Because his given name Yamūt ("he dies") was considered an ill omen when visiting the sick, he adopted the name Muhammad, though his original name remained predominant. He arrived in Baghdad in 301 AH as an elderly scholar and later moved to the Levant. Accounts place his death in Damascus in 304 AH during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir, while another report states that he died in Tiberias in 303 AH. The text of his dictations was preserved and transmitted through a chain of narrators that includes the Egyptian traditionist Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Rashiq al-Askari.
Contents and Scope
The work belongs to the amālī genre of Arabic adab literature, gathering narratives, witty exchanges (mulaḥ), and poetic verses received from prominent scholars and philologists. Its contents feature transmissions from authorities such as Abu Uthman al-Mazini, Abu Hatim al-Sijistani, al-Riyashi, Abu Haffan, and his uncle al-Jahiz.
Among the topics covered in the dictations are:
- Literary and Poetic Criticism: Dictations recording critical evaluations of poetic diction and cohesion attributed to al-Jahiz.
- Poet Biographies and Anecdotes: Accounts regarding earlier and contemporary poets, such as al-Farazdaq, al-Sayyid al-Himyari, Abu Dulama, and Marwan ibn Abi Hafsa.
- Historical and Court Lore: Stories involving early caliphs and judges, including al-Mansur, al-Ma'mun, al-Mu'tasim, and the Basran judge Sawwar ibn Abd Allah.
Publication
The text was published in Beirut by Mu'assasat al-Risalah in 1986 as part of the Silsilat Nawadir al-Rasa'il series. It has also been printed alongside al-Fawa'id wa-al-Akhbar by Ibn Durayd.
Answer updated