Asma Khayl al-Arab wa Fursaniha
- Author died
- 231 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir
Asma Khayl al-Arab wa Fursaniha (The Names of Arab Horses and Their Knights) is a treatise on notable Arabian horses, their riders, and tribal lineages by the Kufan philologist and genealogist Ibn al-Arabi al-Lughawi (d. 231 AH / 845–846 CE) .
Subject and Content
The work belongs to the early tradition of Arabic monographs dedicated to horses and their genealogies alongside works by Ibn al-Kalbi, Abu Ubayda Ma'mar ibn al-Muthanna, and al-Asma'i . It documents the names of famed horses in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras, grouping them under their owners' tribes—such as Quraysh and Ghatafan ibn Sa'd .
For each entry, the book identifies the rider or owner, reports historical battle encounters (such as the battle of Badr or the Day of al-Sarh), and adduces poetic verses celebrating the mounts . Among early Islamic figures, it mentions the horses of companions such as Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, al-Miqdad ibn Amr, Ukashah ibn Mihsan, and Abu Dharr al-Ghifari .
Transmission and Attribution
It has been suggested that this treatise may correspond to the Kitab Nasab al-Khayl listed among Ibn al-A'rabi's writings . The surviving text represents a later redaction whose attribution to Ibn al-A'rabi relies on a note recorded by Abu Mansur al-Jawaliqi on the title page . Its sparse chains of transmission show the author narrating from contemporary authorities such as Ya'qub ibn Muhammad al-Zuhri (d. 213 AH / 828–829 CE) , and vocalizations were transmitted in the hand of his student Abu al-Abbas Tha'lab .
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of the text are preserved in European and Middle Eastern libraries, including a copy transcribed by Abu Mansur al-Jawaliqi dated 450 AH at El Escorial (MS 1/1700), as well as copies at the Veliuddin Efendi Library (MS 3178) and the Atif Efendi Library (MS 2/2003, dated 1100 AH) .
The text has been published in several modern editions:
- First edited and printed in Leiden in 1928 alongside Ibn al-Kalbi's Nasab al-Khayl .
- Published in Baghdad in the journal of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences (Majallat al-Majma' al-Ilmi) in 1984 .
- Issued in Cairo in 1404 AH / 1984 CE .
- Edited by Nuri Hammudi al-Qaysi and Hatim Salih al-Damin, published in Baghdad (1405 AH / 1985 CE) and in Beirut by Alam al-Kutub (1407 AH / 1987 CE) .
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