al-Mufaddal ad-Dabbi | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | c. 780–787 |
| Occupation | Philologist, Poet |
| Language | Arabic |
| Nationality | Arab |
| Notable works | Mufaddaliyat |
Al-Mufaddal ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'la ibn 'Amir ibn Salim ibn ar-Rammal ad-Dabbi, commonly known asal-Mufaḍḍal aḍ-Ḍabbī (Arabic:المُفَضَّل الضَّبِي), diedc. 780–787, was an Arabic philologist of theKufan school.[1] Al-Mufaddal was a contemporary ofHammad ar-Rawiya andKhalaf al-Ahmar, the famous collectors of early andpre-Islamic Arabic poetry and tradition, and was somewhat the junior ofAbu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala', the first scholar who systematically set himself to preserve the poetic literature of the Arabs. He died about fifty years beforeAbu ʿUbaidah andal-Asma'i, to whose labours posterity is largely indebted for the arrangement, elucidation and criticism of ancient Arabian verse; and his anthology was put together between fifty and sixty years before the compilation byAbu Tammam of theHamasah.
The exact year of al-Mufaddal's birth is not known, though his father was an authority on theMuslim conquest of Persia and it is thought that al-Mufaddal was born in that region.[1]
Al-Mufaddal lived for many years under the caliphs of theUmayyad line until their overthrow by theAbbasid Revolution in 750. In 762 he took part in the rising led byIbrahim Ibn Abdallah, the Alid, called "The Pure Soul", against the caliphal-Mansur, and after the defeat and death of Ibrahim was cast into prison.[1] Al-Mansur, however, pardoned him on the intercession of his fellow tribesman Musayyab ibn Zuhair of Dabba, and appointed him the instructor in literature of his son, afterwards the caliphal-Mahdi.[1] It was for this prince that, at al-Mansur's instigation, al-Mufaddal compiled theMufaddaliyat.
Al-Mufaddal's exact date of death has proved difficult to determine. TheEncyclopedia of Arabic Literature states that he died some time around the year 780,[2] though the longer window between 781 and 787 has been claimed as well.[3]
Al-Mufaddal was a careful and trustworthy collector both of texts and traditions, and is praised by all authorities on Arabian history and literature as in this respect greatly the superior ofHammad andKhalaf, who are accused (especially the latter) of unscrupulous fabrication of poems in the style of the ancients.[1] He was a native ofKufa, the northernmost of the two great military colonies founded in 638 by thecaliphUmar for the control of the wideMesopotamian plain. In Kufa andBasra were gathered representatives of all theArabian tribes who formed the fighting force of the Islamic Empire, and from these al-Mufaddal was able to collect and record the compositions of the poets who had celebrated the fortunes and exploits of their forefathers. He, no doubt, like al-Asma'i and Abu Ubaida, also himself visited the areas occupied by the tribes for their camping grounds in the neighbouring desert; and adjacent to Kufah was al-Hira (modern al-Kufah), the ancient capital of theLakhmids kings, whose court was the most celebrated centre in pre-Islamic Arabia, where, in the century before the preaching of the Prophet, poets from the whole of the northern half of the peninsula were wont to assemble. There is indeed a tradition that a written collection (diwan) existed in the family ofNu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, the last Lakhmid king, containing a number of poems by thefuhul, or most eminent poets of the pagan time, and especially by those who had praised the princes of the house, and that this collection passed into the possession of theUmayyad caliphs of the house ofMarwan; to this, if the tradition is to be believed, al-Mufaddal probably had access.
After his death, al-Mufaddal's students were responsible for compiling and publishing his famous anthology on his behalf.[3]
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