Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and LiteratureArbuthnot, F. F.
History
Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and Literature
Arbuthnot, F. F.
Arabian Peninsula -- History; Arabic literature -- History and criticism
Fadhl, the son of Yahya, was more liberal but less eloquent than his
brother Jaafar. Harun esteemed the two brothers so highly that he
entrusted his son Muhammad to the care of Fadhl, and his son Mamun to
the care of Jaafar. Afterwards he made Jaafar his vizier, and sent
Fadhl to be Governor of Khurasan. There Fadhl built mosques,
reservoirs of water and caravanserais, augmented the army, and
attracted numbers of emigrants to the country, whereby he gained the
approval of Harun, who ordered his poets to sing his praises. After
the execution of Jaafar, Harun took Yahya, with his son Fadhl and all
the Barmekides, to Rakka, giving Yahya the option to go where he
liked; but he preferred to be imprisoned with his son in Rakka. There
Fadhl died in A.D. 809, and when Harun was informed of his death, he
said: 'My own is not far,' and died a few months afterwards in Tus,
the modern Mashad. The death of Fadhl, as a generous patron, was
bewailed by several poets, such as Abul Hojna, Otbi, Abu Nuwas, and
others. Fadhl was also notable for his filial piety, and when the use
of cold water injured the health of his father whilst they were in
prison, he used to warm the water by placing a pot of it on his own
stomach.
Jaafar (the brother of Fadhl and a son of Yahya), who was slain A.D.
802, is to be mentioned here, not for his tragic fate, which is well
known, but rather for his literary attainments, especially his oratory
and his style, in both of which he excelled. From his long biography,
written by Ibn Khallikan, there will be given here only some extracts
relating to science and literature. He was a great master of speech,
and expressed his thoughts with much elegance. In one night he
endorsed more than a thousand petitions addressed to the Khalif with
his decisions, all of which were in perfect concordance with the law.
His instructor in jurisprudence had been Abu Yusuf the Hanifite, whom
his father Yahya had appointed to teach him. The favour enjoyed by
Jaafar with Harun-ar-Rashid was so great that this Khalif caused one
robe to be made with two separate collars, which they both wore at the
same time. Ibn Khallikan narrates the traditions relating to the fall
of Jaafar and his family; the one refers to his amours with Abbasa,
the sister of Harun, and to the birth of a child; the other to the
escape of a member of Ali's family entrusted to Jaafar's guardianship
by Harun. The true cause was probably the Khalifs envy of the power,
wealth, and generosity of the Barmekides, along with the backbitings
of their enemies. Jaafar was slain at Al-Omr in the district of
Al-Anbar, his head and the trunk of his body were set up opposite to
each other on the two sides of the bridge of Baghdad, and his death
was lamented by various poets.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account