Asma Khayl al-Arab wa Ansabuha wa Dhikr Fursaniha
- Author died
- 430 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-ʿAṣmāʾ
Asma Khayl al-Arab wa Ansabuha wa Dhikr Fursaniha (The Names, Genealogies, and Riders of the Horses of the Arabs) is a specialized biographical and genealogical dictionary of Arabian horses compiled by the philologist and genealogist al-Aswad al-Ghandajani (d. c. 430 AH / 1038 CE) .
Composition and Patronage
Al-Ghandajani compiled the treatise for his patron, the vizier Abu Mansur Bahram ibn Manafinnah (also recorded as Ibn Manafih), who served the Buyid ruler Abu Kalijar in Shiraz . In his preface, the author explains that his material drew directly from the teachings of his master Abu al-Nada, incorporating tribal battle lore (Ayyam al-Arab), genealogies, and tribal poetic collections (dawawin) that he had studied under him or received via direct dictation .
Structure and Scope
Unlike many earlier hippological works that grouped horses thematically or by tribe, al-Ghandajani arranged the entries in strict alphabetical order according to the Arabic alphabet to facilitate lookup . The text opens under the letter alif with the entry for al-Abjar, the steed of Antarah ibn Shaddad .
The scope of the work encompasses notable Arabian stallions (fuhul) and broodmares (hujur) whose lineages spread throughout Arabia, recording their initial possessors, transfers of ownership, and subsequent lineages celebrated in pre-Islamic times and under Islam, alongside solitary horses noted in historical and poetic lore . Al-Ghandajani documented a total of 575 individual horses, making it significantly larger than earlier monographs on the subject—such as those by Ibn al-Kalbi, Abu Ubaydah, al-Asma'i, Ibn al-A'rabi, and Muhammad ibn Habib—as well as the extensive horse section in al-Mukhassas by Ibn Sidah, which listed 218 horses .
Modern Editions
The work was published in Damascus by the Arab Academy of Damascus in 1986 under the general title Kitab al-Khayl . It was also edited and published by Muhammad Ali Sultani, who appended an extensive supplement of 262 horses sourced from other classical Arabic lexicons and literature, bringing the total number of horses covered in that edition to 837 .
Answer updated