Ibn Bassam

Ibn Bassām or Ibn Bassām al-Shantarīnī (Arabic: ابن بسام الشنتريني; 1058-1147) was an Arab-Andalusian poet[1] and historian from al-Andalus. He was born in Santarém (sometimes spelled Shantarin or Xantarin) and hailed from the Banu Taghlib tribe.[2] He died in 1147.

Ibn Bassam
ابن بسام الشنتريني
Born1058
Santarém
Died1147

Ibn Bassam describes how the incessant invasions of the Christians forced him to run away from Santarém in Portugal, "the last of the cities of the west," after seeing his lands ravaged and his wealth destroyed, a ruined man with no possessions save his battered sword.[3]

Especially well known is his anthology Dhakhīra fī mahāsin ahl al-Jazīra  (The Treasury concerning the Merits of the People of Iberia) one of the most important sources of information in the field of history, literature and culture of the Almoravid dynasty. It was edited in eight volumes by Ihsan ‘Abbas, written in rhymed prose, many of its biographies are contemporary and filled out with details taken from the Kitab al-Matin of Ibn Hayyan.[4] The parts taken from that book are easily distinguishable, because Ibn Bassam prefixes the words qala Ibn Hayyan ("Ibn Hayyan says") and concludes the extract with intaha kalam Ibn Hayyan ("here ends Ibn Hayyan's words").

Editions and translations
  • ʼAbī ʼal-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn Bassām ʼal-Shantarīnī, ʼal-Dhakhīrah fī maḥāsin ahl ʼal-Jazīrah, ed. by Iḥsān ʻAbbās, 4 vols in 8 (Bayrūt: Dār ʼal-Thaqāfah, 1978–81), https://al-maktaba.org/book/1035, https://archive.org/details/zakhera_mahasen_jazeera
  • 'Ibn Bassām, from Al-dhakhīra fī maḥāsin ahl al-Jazīra translation', trans. by Ross Brann, in Medieval Iberia, ed. by Remie Constable, 2nd edn (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011), pp. 125–27.

References
  1. Allen, Roger (2006). "Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period". Cambridge University Press. p. 19.
  2. Baker, Khalid Lafta. "Ibn Bassām as a literary historian, a critic and a stylist" (PDF). University of Glasgow. p. 21. He is said to have been of the tribe of Taghlib.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2010-03-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ʼAbī ʼal-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn Bassām ʼal-Shantarīnī, ʼal-Dhakhīrah fī maḥāsin ahl ʼal-Jazīrah, ed. by Iḥsān ʻAbbās, 4 vols in 8 (Bayrūt: Dār ʼal-Thaqāfah, 1978).
  • Brann, Ross (2002). Power in the portrayal: representations of Jews and Muslims in eleventh- and twelfth-century Islamic Spain. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00187-1.


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