Supplementary Notes to "Arabic Books and Libraries in the Umaiyad Period"

Abstract

NOTE 29. R. Strothmann, "Das Problem der literarischen Pers6nlichkeit Zaid ibn cAli," Der Islam, XIII (1923), 1 ff. The text of the legal compendium was published by Griffini, Corpus iuris di Zaid ibn cAll (Milan, 1919). NOTE 73. Al-Masciidi (d. A.D. 956) states (Murj at-Dhahab, IV, 89) that the Book of Kings by cUbaid ibn Sharya circulated widely in his day; it was used by H1amdsnI (d. A.D. 945) in his Iklil and later in the historical commentary to The Himyarite Ode, probably also written by the author of the ode, Nashwin ibn SacId al-HIimyari (d. A.D. 1177) (see Nicholson, Literary History of the Arabs, p. 13). The present form of the Relation of cUbaid, which consists of answers to questions asked by Mucawiya, agrees with the statement of the Fihrist, p. 89, to the effect that this caliph summoned him to court to ask him for historical information, after which he caused it to be recorded. Taken with the above-mentioned use of this work, there seems to be considerable evidence for its authenticity and the historicity of its author. It is published as a supplement to the T1jdn of Wahb ibn Munabbih in the recension of Ibn Hisham (Hyderabad, A.H. 1347) (see Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, Suppl. I [1937], pp. 100 f.). NOTE 107. See also Brockelmann, op. cit., Suppl. I, pp. 76 ff. NOTE 126. The Fihrist, p. 34, also refers to a Tafsir by Al-Hasan of Basra (d. 110/728-29). His glosses were collected in commentary form by cAmr ibn cUbaid (d. 145/762) (see G. Bergstrisser, "Die Koranlesung des Hasan von Basra," Islamica, II [1926], 11-57). The chief source for Hasan's comments is the