Jahza al-Barmaki
Abu'l-Ḥasan Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar al-Barmakī al-Nadīm (839 – June/July 936), surnamed Jaḥẓa (Arabic: جحظة, lit. 'popping out, bulging') and al-Ṭunbūrī (lit. 'the lute player'), was a descendant of the Barmakid family, and a well-known scholar, singer, poet, and courtier of his time.
Abu'l-Ḥasan Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar al-Barmaki al-Nadim | |
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| Born | c. 839 Abbasid Caliphate |
| Died | June/July 936 |
| Other names | Jahza al-Barmaki |
| Occupation(s) | Lute player and Author |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age (Abbasid era) |
| Known for | Singer, poet, and Abbasīd courtier, close Companion of Al-Muqtadir |
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He was reportedly born in 839, the grandson of Musa ibn Yahya and great-grandson of the famous Yahya al-Barmaki, the vizier of Harun al-Rashid.[1] The historian Charles Pellat describes him as "a man of very varied culture, but little religion, of doubtful morals and repulsive appearance"; he was nicknamed Jaḥẓa by the Abbasid prince and poet Ibn al-Mu'tazz, on account of his bulging eyeballs. He nevertheless was a prominent member of the courtly society of his time, and appears in multiple anecdotes, associating with the grandees of the Abbasid Caliphate's court.[1] Little of his work survives, apart from a few poems; most of them are known through a list in the 10th-century compendium al-Fihrist, and include treatises on astrology, lute-playing, cooking, and a biography of Caliph al-Mu'tamid.[1] He died at Wasit in June/July 936.[1]
Sources
- Pellat, Ch. (1965). "D̲j̲aḥẓa". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume II: C–G (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 389. OCLC 495469475.