The History of al-Tabari, Volumes 11-20 PDF
Preview The History of al-Tabari, Volumes 11-20
The History of al-Tabari The Challenge to the Empires Volume XI Translated by Khalid Yahya Blankinship Although this volume deals with the part of al-Tabari s History covering the years 12 and 13 (633-35), in the caliphates of Abu Bakr al- Siddi'q and`Umar b. al-Khatlab, the narratives contained in it, which are lengthy and detailed, are concerned with the first Muslim conquests in Iraq and Syria. Although it might be expected,therefore, that this volume would be a basic source for these conquests ,the actual value of the bulk of the reported traditions is in considerable doubt because most of the material is derived from a later Kufan traditionist, Sayf b. `Umar (d. 170-93/786-809), who apparently exaggerated and distorted his material considerably. Indeed, Sayf's transmissions clearly reveal the tendency of his party,an anti-Shiitefaction based on the Arab Mudar tribal group in al-Kufah that had lost out with the fall of the Umayyads and the coming of the `Abbiisids to power .Although Sayf's transmissions thus have limited value as far as the earliest conquests themselves are concerned, they are of the utmost value in revealing the content and character of Islamic historical debates in the late 2nd/8th century. In addition, they permit us to elucidate and reconstruct an early harmonizing tendency in Islam that undoubtedly had a significant effect on the way later Muslims viewed their earliest history. The translation is preceded by an introduction analyzing the tenden- cies of Sayf and his party as revealed in this volume. Extensive notes accompany the text for the benefit of historians in other fields, as well as of Islamic specialists. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies Said Amir Ariomand, Editor The State University of New York Press Visit ourweb site at http://www.sunypress.edu ISBN 0-7914-0852-3 THE HISTORY OF AL-TABAR.I AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION VOLUME XI The Challengeto the Empires A.D. 633-635/A.H. 11-13 16 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 ColumbiaUniversity SUNY SERIES IN NEAR EASTERN STUDIES Said Amir Arjomand, Editor OP 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 wal-muldk) VOLUME XI The Challenge to the Empires translated and annotated by Khalid Yahya Blankinship Temple University State University of New York Press Published by State University of New York Press, Albany 0 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 ofCongress Cataloging In Publication Data Tabari, 838?-923. (Ta'rikhal-rusul wa-al-mul6k. English. Selections) The challenge to the empires / translated and annotated by Khalid Yahya Blankinship. p. cm.-(SUNY seriesin Near Eastern studies) (The history of al-Tabari = Ta'rikh al-rusul wall-muluk ; v i 1) (Bibliotheca Persica) Translation of extracts from: Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-7914-0851-5 (alk. paper). - ISBN 0-7914-0852-3 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. IslamicEmpire-History-622-661. 2. IslamicEmpire-History, Military. I. Blankinship, Khalid Yahya. II. Title. III. Series. IV. Series: Tabari, 838?-923. Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. English; v. 11. V. Series: Bibliotheca Persica (Albany, N.Y.) DS38.2.T313 1985vol. r1 (DS38.11 909'.1 s-dc20 90-28420 (909'.09767101) CIP 16 Preface THE HISTORY OF PROPHETS AND KINGS (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-mu- luk) by Abu la`far Muhammad b. larir al-Tabari(839-92.3), here ren- dered 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 in- terested 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 9 15. The first volume of this translation contains a biography 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-nine 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 divid- ing lines between the individual volumes in such a way that each is to some degree independent and can be read as such.The page num- bers 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 vi Preface transmitters are, for the sake of brevity,rendered by only a dash (-) between the individual links in the chain. Thus, "According to Ibn Humayd-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 in- cludes 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 transcribed 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, iden- tifying individuals and place names, and discussing textual difficul- ties. 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 annota- tion. 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 modem scholars. A general index, it is hoped, will appear after all the volumes have been published. For further details concerning the series and acknowledgments, see Preface to Volume I. Ehsan Yar-Shater 1► Contents 0 Preface / v Abbreviations / xi 'Danslator's Foreword / xiii Genealogical Table of the Later Sasanians as Represented by Sayf b. `Umar / xxxi Genealogical Table of the Later Sasanians as Attested in Sources Other than Sayf b. `Umar / xxxii Maps r. Iraq at the Time of the Muslim Conquest / xxxiii z. Syria at the Time of the Muslim Conquest / xxxiv The Caliphate of Abu Bakr al-$iddiq The Events of the Year r2 (633/634) ! r The Battle of al-Madhar / 15 The Battle of al-Walajah / i g About Ullays,Which Is on the Euphrates Itself/ zi The Affair of Amghishiya / z6 The Day of al-Maqr and the Mouth of Furat Badagla / z6
The list of books you might like
