Dhu al-Wizaratayn Ibn Abi al-Khisal | |
|---|---|
| إبن أبي الخصال | |
| Born | c. 1072 Las Gorgillitas |
| Died | c. 1146 |
| Academic work | |
| Era | Almoravid,Islamic Golden Age inal-Andalus |
| Main interests | History,poetry,hadith |
| Notable works | Dhil al-Ghimamah (ظل الغمامة) |
Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥāmmad ibn Masʿūd ibn Ṭayyīb ibn Faraj ibn Khālaṣa (orKhāliṣa)al-Ghāfiqīash-Sheqūrī (Arabic:أبو عبدالله محمد بن مسعود بن الطيّب بن فرج بن خلاصة الغافقي الشقوري) (d. 540AH) (d. 1146 AD) better known asIbn 'Abī'l-Khisāl (إبن أبي الخصال), was a prominentAndalusī secretary, historian, muhaddith (scholar ofḥadīth) andpoet.[1] He is referred to asDhū al-Wizāratayn (ذو الوزارتين; lit. 'holder of two ministerial responsibilities'), an honorific given to senior ministers in medieval Islamic world.[1]
Ibn 'Abī al-Khisāl was most likely born in 1072 in the village of Las Gorgollitas nearSegura de la Sierra, where he spent his early years.[1][2] Hisnisba al-Ghāfiqī shows his ethnic association to theArab tribe ofGhāfiq[1] which settled in'Andalus after accompanying the army ofMūsā ibn Nusayr (d. 716) that crossed to Iberia.[3] Whileash-Sheqūrī indicates his geographical affiliation to the region ofSierra de Segura (inArabic:شقورة,romanized: shaqura), within modern dayJaén province. After working in theTaīfa courts, he moved to the city ofCórdoba, which at the time was under the rule of theAlmoravids dynasty. As aKātib (كاتب; lit. 'Secretary') Ibn 'Abī al-Khisāl worked in the court of the Almoravid governor of Cordoba, Muhāmmad ibn al-Hājj (c. 1090–1106), alongside'Abū Muhāmmad ibn as-Sīd (1052–1127), a renowned contemporaryKātib.[4] Later in his life, Ibn 'Abī al-Khisāl was appointed as a secretary along with his brother 'Abū Marwān in the court of the Almoravid'Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn (r. 1106–1143) atMarrakesh, the capital city of the Almoravids.[4] Ibn 'Abī al-Khisāl would become the most celebratedKātib among his contemporaries, and was considered the heir to the Andalusi tradition of ornateinsha', while also being a respected scholar ofHadīth,[4] earning him the honorific titleDhū'l-wizāratayn, however, no sources specify the exact nature of these two offices.[1] His death occurred in 1146 AD in Cordoba.[2]
According to the historianal-Zirikli, Abi'l-Khisal works includes:[2]