Jadhwat al-Muqtabis fi Dhikr Wulat al-Andalus
- Author died
- 488 AH
- Editions
- al-Dār al-Miṣrīyah lil-Ta’līf wa-al-Nashr
Jadhwat al-Muqtabis fi Dhikr Wulat al-Andalus (The Firebrand of the Borrower on the Governors of al-Andalus) is a biographical dictionary and historical compendium by the Andalusian scholar Abu Abd Allah al-Humaydi (d. 488 AH / 1095 CE), recording the rulers, scholars, and literati of Islamic Spain .
Context of Composition and Sources
Al-Humaydi composed the work in Baghdad in a single volume . In his preface, he stated that after arriving in Baghdad, he was prompted to compile the book by an esteemed benefactor whose favors he acknowledged, though he did not mention him by name . Abu Talib noted that this requester was Amir Abu Nasr Ibn Makula, who commissioned the collection on Andalusian scholars to assist his own work on onomastics, al-Ikmal fi Raf' al-Irtiyab .
Al-Humaydi noted in his introduction that he drew primarily upon his own memory alongside books available to him in the East . A substantial portion of the material and transmissions in the work was derived directly from his teacher Ibn Hazm .
Structure and Content
The work opens with an introductory historical survey of al-Andalus, recounting its conquest in 92 AH under Tariq ibn Ziyad and Musa ibn Nusayr, the subsequent governors, and the virtues of the Maghrib and al-Andalus, as well as the members of the Successors (Tabi'un) who entered the peninsula for jihad . It also chronicles the reigns of the Umayyad amirs and caliphs of Cordoba .
Following the historical prelude, the main body consists of biographical entries organized alphabetically by given name . Al-Humaydi explained that because precise dates of death could not always be established to arrange the subjects chronologically or by generations (tabaqat), he opted for an alphabetical arrangement within each letter and linked individuals whose death dates were unknown to the reigns of the rulers under whom they lived . The biographical notices cover hadith transmitters, jurists, scholars of literature, poets, statesmen, and notable figures who lived in al-Andalus or traveled into or out of it .
Reception and Editions
The work became a foundational reference for later Maghribi and Andalusian biographical literature. Ibn Bashkuwal utilized it extensively for his biographical continuation Kitab al-Sila, referring to it as Kitab Ulama al-Andalus (The Book of the Scholars of al-Andalus) . Later historians such as Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi and Yaqut al-Hamawi also cited and evaluated its reports . A manuscript supplement attributed to Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli exists under the title Jadhwat al-Muqtabis fi Tarikh Ulama al-Andalus .
The book was edited by Muhammad ibn Tawit al-Tanji and published in Cairo (1952–1953 CE / 1371–1372 AH), and has seen subsequent reprints in Cairo and Beirut .
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