History and Memory in the Abbasid Caliphate: Writing the Past in Medieval Arabic Literature

198 Pages·2022·7.083 MB·English

by  Letizia Osti

History and Memory
in the Abbasid Caliphate
i
Th e Early and Medieval Islamic World
Published in collaboration with the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean

As recent scholarship resoundingly attests, the medieval Mediterranean and
Middle East bore witness to a prolonged period of fl ourishing intellectual and
cultural diversity. Seeking to contribute to this ever-more nuanced and
contextual picture, Th e Early and Medieval Islamic World book series promotes
innovative research on the period 500–1500 ad with the Islamic world, as it
ebbed and fl owed from Marrakesh to Palermo and Cairo to Kabul, as the
central pivot. Th ematic focus within this remit is broad, from the cultural and
social to the political and economic, with preference given to studies of
societies and cultures from a socio-historical perspective. It will foster a
community of unique voices on the medieval Islamic world, shining light into
its lesser-studied corners.

Series editor
Professor Roy Mottahedeh, Harvard University

Advisors
Professor Amira Bennison, University of Cambridge
Professor Farhad Daft ary, Institute of Ismaili Studies
Professor Simon Doubleday, Hofstra University
Professor Frank Griff el, Yale University
Professor Remke Kruk, Leiden University
Professor Beatrice Manz, Tuft s University
Dr Bernard O’Kane, American University in Cairo
Professor Andrew Peacock, University of St Andrews
Dr Yossef Rapoport, Queen Mary University of London

ii
New and forthcoming titles
Cross Veneration in the Medieval Islamic World: Christian Identity and
Practice under Muslim Rule, Charles Tieszen (Fuller Th eological Seminary/
Simpson University)
Power and Knowledge in Medieval Islam: Shiʾ i and Sunni Encounters in
Baghdad , Tariq al-Jamil (Swathmore College)
Th e Eastern Frontier: Limits of Empire in Late Antique and Early Medieval
Central Asia, Robert Haug (University of Cincinnati)
Writing History in the Medieval Islamic World: Th e Value of Chronicles as
Archives , Fozia Bora (University of Leeds)
Narrating Muslim Sicily: War and Peace in the Medieval Mediterranean World,
William Granara (Harvard University)
Gender and Succession in Medieval Islam: Bilateral Descent and the Legacy of
Fatima , Alyssa Gabbay (Th e University of North Carolina at Greensboro)
Music and Musicians in the Medieval Islamicate World: A Social History, Lisa
Nielson (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA)
Roma in the Medieval Islamic World: Th e History of a People, Kristina
Richardson (City University, New York)
History and Memory in the Abbasid Caliphate: Writing the Past in Medieval
Arabic Literature , Letizia Osti (University of Milan)
iii

History and Memory
in the Abbasid Caliphate
Writing the Past in Medieval Arabic Literature
Letizia Osti
v
I.B. TAURIS
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY, I.B. TAURIS and the I.B. Tauris logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury
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First published in Great Britain 2022

Copyright © Letizia Osti, 2022

Letizia Osti has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to
be identifi ed as Author of this work.

For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. x constitute an extension of this
copyright page.

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Cover image: Kitab fi al-shatranj wa-mansubatihi wa-mulahih [15v] (39/276),
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 7515, Qatar Digital Library

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ISBN: HB: 978-1-7883-1923-2
ePDF: 978-1-8386-0057-0
eBook: 978-1-8386-0056-3

Series: Early and Medieval Islamic World

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vi
a Dina e Piero
vii

Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Transliteration and Translation xii
Introduction 1
1 Life and Aft erlife 9
‘Biography’ 9
Using biography 12
Where: the pervasiveness of al- S ụ̄ l ī 15
What’s in a profi le? 19
Th e power of stories 25
Person or persona? 37
2 In his own Words 39
Terminological traps 39
Motivations, intended readers and time 42
Al- S ụ̄ l ī ’s voice 45
‘Der blosse Lebenslauf’ and beyond 50
Rights and wrongs 51
Person, persona and an arc 53
3 In his own Time 55
Th e classroom 58
Th e court years 65
Th e legacy of notebooks 74
Networks and texts 80
4 In his own Books 83
Career path 86
Th e well-organized mind 90
Th e well-organized life 94
A well-organized time 95
ix