The History of al-Tabari Vol. 10: The Conquest of Arabia

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The
History of al-Tabari
The Conquest of Arabia
TRANSLATED BY FRED M. DONNER
The Conquest of Arabia
Volume X
Translated by Fred M. Donner
Volume X of al-Tabari's massive chronicle is devoted to two main
subjects. The first is the selection of Abu Bakr as the first caliph or
successor to the Prophet Muhammad following the Prophets death in
632 C.E. This section of the History reveals some of the inner
divisions that existed within the early Muslim community and sheds
light on the interests and motivations of various parties in the debates
that led up to Abu Bakr's acclamation as caliph.
The second main subject of Volume X is the riddah or "apostasy"
-actually a series of rebellions against Muslim domination by various
tribes in Arabia that wished to break their ties with Medina following
the Prophet's death. The History offers one of the more extensive
collections of accounts about this early sequence of events to be found
in the Arabic historical literature. It provides richly detailed in-
formation on the rebellions themselves and on the efforts made by
Abu Bakr and his Muslim supporters to quell them. It also tells us
much about relationships among the tribes of Arabia, local
topography, military practice, and the key personnel, organization,
and structure of the early Islamic state.
The successful suppression of the riddah marked the transformation
of the Muslim state from a small faith community of importance only
in West Arabia to a much more powerful political entity,embracing all
of the Arabian peninsula and poised to unleash a wave of conquests
that would shortly engulf the entire Near East and North Africa. The
riddah erais, thus,crucial to understanding the eventual appearance of
Islam as a major actor on the stage of world history.
SUNYSeries in Near Eastern Studies
Said Amir Arjomand, Editor
P R E S S
State University of ISBN 0-7914-1072-2
New York Press
www sunypress.edu
THE HISTORY OF AL -TABAPJ
AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION
VOLUME X
The Conquest of Arabia
THE RIDDAH WARS
A.D.632-633/A.H. 11
e
The History of al-Tabari
Editorial Board
Ihsan Abbas, University of Jordan, Amman
C. E. Bosworth, The University of Manchester
Franz Rosenthal, Yale University
Everett K. Rowson, The University of Pennsylvania
Ehsan Yar-Shater, Columbia University (General Editor)
Estelle Whelan, Editorial Coordinator
Center for Iranian Studies
Columbia University
SUNY
SERIES IN NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
Said Amir Arjomand, Editor
The preparation of this volume was made possible in part
by a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities, an independent federal agency.
Bibliotheca Persica
Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater
The History of al-Tabari
(Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l muluk)
VOLUME X
The Conquest of Arabia
translated and annotated
by
Fred M. Donner
The University of Chicago
State University of New York Press
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1993 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tabari, 838?-9z3.
ITa'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. English. Selections(
The Conquest of Arabia I translated and annotated by
Fred M. Donner.
p. cm.-(The History of al-Tabari = Ta'rikh a-rusul wa'l
muluk; v. so) (Bibliotheca Persica) (SUNYseries in Near Eastern studies)
Translation of extracts from: Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN o-7914-1o71-4.-ISBN0-7914-1072-z (pbk.)
i. Riddah Wars. z. Islam-History. 3. Arabian Peninsula-
History. I. Donner, Fred McGraw, 1945- . II. Title.
111. Series. IV. Series: Tabari, 838?-9z3. Ta'rikh al-rusul
wa-al-muluk. English; v. 1o. V. Series: Bibliotheca Persica
(Albany, N. Y.)
DS38.z. T313 1985 vol. 10
(DS38.r(
909'. r s-dczo 91-35989
CIP
(953'. oz(
t0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 1 1
46
Preface
9
THE HISTORY OF PROPHETS AND KINGS (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-mu-
10k) by Abu Ja`far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (839-923), here
rendered as the History of al-Tabari, is by common consent the
most important universal history produced in the world of
Islam. It has been translated here in its entirety for the first time
for the benefit of non-Arabists, with historical and philological
notes for those interested in the particulars of the text.
Al-Tabari's monumental work explores the history of the
ancient nations, with special emphasis on biblical peoples and
prophets, the legendary and factual history of ancient Iran, and,
in great detail, the rise of Islam, the life of the Prophet
Muhammad, and the history of the Islamic world down to the
year 915. The first volume of this translation contains a bio-
graphy of al-Tabari and a discussion of the method, scope,
and value of his work. It also provides information on some of
the technical considerations that have guided the work of the
translators.
The History has been divided here into thirty-eight volumes,
each of which covers about two hundred pages of the original
Arabic text in the Leiden edition. An attempt has been made to
draw the dividing lines between the individual volumes in such
a way that each is to some degree independent and can be read
as such. The page numbers of the Leiden edition appear on the
margins of the translated volumes.
Al-Tabari very often quotes his sources verbatim and traces
the chain of transmission (isnad) to an original source. The
chains of transmitters are, for the sake of brevity, rendered by
vi Preface
only a dash-) between the individual links in the chain. Thus,
"According to Ibn I;lumayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq" means that
al-Tabari received the report from Ibn Humayd, who said that he
was told by Salamah, who said that he was told by Ibn Ishaq, and
so on. The numerous subtle and important differences in the
original Arabic wording have been disregarded.
The table of contents at the beginning of each volume gives a
brief survey of the topics dealt with in that particular volume. It
also includes the headings and subheadings as they appear in
al-Tabari's text, as well as those occasionally introduced by the
translator.
Well-known place names, such as, for instance, Mecca,
Baghdad, Jerusalem, Damascus, and the Yemen, are given in
their English spellings. Less common place names, which are
the vast majority, are transliterated. Biblical figures appear
in the accepted English spelling. Iranian names are usually tran-
scribed according to their Arabic forms, and the presumed
Iranian forms are often discussed in the footnotes.
Technical terms have been translated wherever possible, but
some, such as dirham and imam, have been retained in Arabic
forms. Others that cannot be translated with sufficient precision
have been retained and italicized, as well as footnoted.
The annotation aims chiefly at clarifying difficult passages,
identifying individuals and place names, and discussing textual
difficulties. Much leeway has been left to the translators to
include in the footnotes whatever they consider necessary and
helpful.
The bibliographies list all the sources mentioned in the an-
notation.
The index in each volume contains all the names of persons
and places referred to in the text, as well as those mentioned in
the notes as far as they refer to the medieval period . It does not
include the names of modern scholars. A general index, it is
hoped, will appear after all the volumes have been published.
For further details concerning the series and acknowledg-
ments, see Preface to Volume I.
Ehsan Yar-Shater
e
Contents
Preface / v
Abbreviations / ix
Translator's Foreword / xi
Maps i. Western Arabia at the Time of the Riddah Wars / xxiv
z. Eastern Arabia at the Time of the Riddah Wars / xxv
The Events of the Year rr (cont 'd) (632/633) / r
What Took Place between the Muhajirun and the Ansar over the
Matter of Leadership at the Portico of the Banu Sd'idah / i
Remainder of the Account Regarding al-`Ansi the Liar / 118
[Abu Bakr's Letter to the Apostates] / 55
The Remainder of the Account about Ghatafan at the Time of
Their joining with Tulayhah and Other Things Relating to the
Affair of Tulayhah / 6o
The Apostasy of Hawazin, Sulaym, and `Amir / 75
Banu Tamim and the Affair of Sajah bt. al-Harith b. Suwayd /
84
Continuation of the Account of Sayf / 96
Al-Butch and Its Story / 98
Remainder of the Story of Musaylimah the Liar and His Tribe of
the People of al-Yamamah / io5
The People of al-Bahrayn, the Apostasy of al-Hutam, and Those
Who Joined With Him in al-Bahrayn / i34
viii Contents
The Apostasy of the People of `Uman and Mahrah and the
Yemen / 151
The Account of Mahrah in the Uplands / 155
Account of the Apostates in the Yemen / 15 8
The Wicked People of `Akk / r 61
Apostasy of the People of the Yemen a Second Time / 165
The Story of Tahir When He Marched to Reinforce Fayruz / 17z
The Account of Hadramawt during Their Apostasy / 175
Continuation of the Report of Sayf / 189
Bibliography of Cited Works / 193
Index / r99