Ibn Battuta and Ibn Juzayy: Ibn Battuta of Tangiers was one of the most famous travelers in Arab-Islamic history. Setting out on the pilgrimage to Mecca, he traveled between 725/1325 and 750/1349 and eventually reached as far as China. Following his return to his native city, he made a further trip to Niger. He died in 779/1377. Ibn Juzayy was his amanuensis.
Ibn Hazm of Cordoba (d. 456/1064): renowned Andalusian jurist and poet, who also wrote Arabic’s most famous essay on love-theory, Tawq al-hamama (‘The Dove’s Neckring’).
Ibn Khaldun (732–808/1332–1406): His full name was Wali al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. He was occasionally also called ‘al-Hadrami,’ a reference to his family’s purported ancestry in the Hadramawt region of Southern Arabia. In this novel, the historian is called both Ibn Khaldun and ‘Abd al-Rahman, and is also addressed by his peers as Wali al-Din.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziya (d. 751/1350): a jurist and theologian of Damascus, he supported the doctrines of his contemporary, TAQI AL-DIN IBN TAYMIYA. The Rawdat al-muhibbin (‘Meadow for Lovers’) is one of the most famous works on the topic in Arabic.
Ibn Sharaf (444–533/1052–1139): a renowned figure, poet and philosopher, at the court of al-Mu‘tasim ibn Sumadih (d. 484/1091), a member of the Tujibid dynasty who ruled from Almeria in Spain.
Imam al-Shafi‘i (d. 204/820): founder of the Shafi‘i school of Islamic law.
Information on Ibn Khaldun and His Travels East and West (al-Ta’rif bi-Ibn Khaldun wa-rihlatihi gharban wa-sharqan): IBN KHALDUN’S most significant extant works (all of them mentioned during the course of this novel) are 1) his work of history, Kitab al-‘ibar (‘Book on the Lessons of History’); 2) al-Muqaddima (‘Introduction to History’), the theoretical preface to the history; and 3) al-Ta’rif bi-Ibn Khaldun wa-rihlatihi gharban wa-shar-qan (‘Information on Ibn Khaldun and His Travels East and West’), an autobiography.
Islamic calendar: The Islamic calendar is lunar rather than solar. It is dated from the hijra (emigration) of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 of the Christian era.
‘Izz al-Din ibn al-Athir (d. 630/1233): historian and author of al-Kamil fi-l-tarikh (‘The Complete Work on History’).
al-Jahiz (d. 255/869): one of Arabic’s most famous scholars, al-Jahiz wrote on a vast number of subjects in the form of essays and anthologies and was also a major contributor to the development of an Arabic prose style and critical writing.
Kinana tribe: a confederacy of tribes in Arabia, whose territory was in the neighborhood of Mecca.
Luqman: a legendary figure in Arabian lore, noted for both his longevity and a collection of fables attributed to him.
Maghrib: word in Arabic meaning ‘the West.’ While today it is used to refer specifically to Morocco and, in broader terms, to Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, in IBN KHALDUN’S time it referred to the general region to the west of Egypt.
Maliki judge: IBN KHALDUN had judicial authority within the Maliki school of law, one of the four principal schools of Islamic jurisprudence (the others being the Hanafi, Shafi‘i, and Hanbali). This school was named for its founder, Malik ibn Anas, the author of a renowned early work of law, al-Muwatta (‘The Smooth Path’), which IBN KHALDUN utilized in his teaching.
Mamluks: Mamluk is an Arabic word meaning ‘slave.’ The Mamluk dynasty that ruled Egypt, eligibility for which involved being born a slave and then manumitted, is subdivided into two periods: the Bahri period, 648–791/1250–1389, and the Burji period, 784–922/1382–1517.
al-Mas‘udi (d. 345/956): a famous historian, whose major work is Muruj al-Dhahab (‘Golden Prairies’).
Mawlay Idris: this is the name of an important shrine close to the Roman site of Volubilis in Morocco. It is named for Idris, a descendant of the fourth Caliph ‘Ali who fled to the West and established himself in Morocco. He died in 175/791.
mihrab: the niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla (direction of Mecca).
Mintash (d. 793/1393): one of the two primary leaders of the rebel lion against SULTAN BARQUQ (791–792/1389–90). His full name was Amir Tumarbugha al-Afdali. Before the rebellion, he was serving as viceroy of the region of Malatya. Like his co-conspirator, YALBUGHA AL-NASIRI, he advocated executing the deposed SULTAN BARQUQ. However, while AL-NASIRI was restored to his former positions after being pardoned by the restored sultan, Mintash continued his revolt in Syria.
mosques of al-Azhar and al-Husayn: These are two of the most famous shrines in the old city of Cairo. Al-Azhar was built for the SHI’ITE FATIMI dynasty in the tenth century A.D. The mosque of al-Husayn (Muhammad’s grandson), situated across a square from al-Azhar itself, is one of the holiest shrines in Islam and is believed to house al-Husayn’s relics.
Mu‘allaqat: the renowned collection of the longest odes (collected in groups of seven or ten) from the tradition of pre-Islamic poetry. They were collected during the early period of Islam and have since then served as the major yardstick for Arab poetic achievement.
Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (d. 60/680): the first caliph of the Umawi dynasty (41–132/660–750), that assumed the caliphate following the Battle of Siffin and established Damascus as their center of authority.
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Abili: IBN KHALDUN’S revered teacher in Tunis, an authority on philosophy and metaphysics.
Muhammad V and Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib: Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar (d. 793/1391) was one the rulers of GRANADA, a member of the Nasrid dynasty. Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib (d. 776/1374), one of the most famous literary figures of his age, served as his chief minister.
al-Mutanabbi (d. 354/965), al-Ma‘arri (d. 449/1058): two of the most famous poets in the Arabic literary heritage.
Mu‘tazili doctrine: the rationalist movement, questioning principle of predestination and the uncreatedness of the Qur’an, that became official belief during the caliphate of al-Ma’mun (d, 218/833).
The Path to Eloquence (Nahj al-balagha), The Epistle of Qushayri (Risalat al-Qushayri), Sufi Categories (al-Tabaqat al-sufiyya): the names of three significant works concerning Islamic beliefs: the first is by al-Sharif al-Radi (d. 406/1016) and contains texts attributed to ‘Ali, the cousin of Muhammad and fourth caliph; the second is a treatise on Sufi beliefs by al-Qushayri (d. 465/1074); and the third is a categorization of Sufis compiled by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Sulami (d. 412/1021).
Pedro Alfonso (d. 770/1369): often known as ‘Pedro the Cruel,’ he was king of Seville. It was in 765/1364 that Muhammad the Fifth of GRANADA and his minister, Ibn al-Khatib, sent IBN KHALDUN to parley with the king.
The Prevalent Model (al-Mathal al-sa’ir) by Diya’ al-Din ibn al-Athir (d. 637/1239): this is a famous literary compendium, in which the qualities of both poetry and prose are considered side by side.
Qala’un: the fifth of the Bahri line of MAMLUK sultans, he ruled from 678–689/1279–1290.
al-Qamhiya College: founded by SALAH AL-DIN (Saladin), it was the college to which SULTAN BARQUQ appointed IBN KHALDUN as teacher of MALIKI law in 786/1384.