Hilal al-Sabi'
{{Short description|Arab historian, bureaucrat and writer (c.969–1056)}}
{{Infobox historian
| name = Hilal al-Sabi'
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Abūʾl-Ḥusayn Hilāl b. Muḥassin b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṣābīʾ
| birth_date = 969 CE
| birth_place = Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate (modern-day Iraq)
| death_date = 1056 CE
| death_place = Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate (modern-day Iraq)
| occupation = Historian, Bureaucrat, Writer
| notable_works = Rusum dar al-khilafa, Kitab al-wuzara, Tarikh Hilal al-Sabi
| era = Buyid era
| influences =
| influenced =
}}
Abūʾl-Ḥusayn Hilāl b. Muḥassin b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṣābīʾ (Arabic: ابو الحسين هلال بن محسن بن ابراهيم الصابئ) (born: 358 A.H./c. 969 A.D., died: 447-448 A.H./1056 A.D.) (aged 90 lunar) was a historian, bureaucrat, and writer of Arabic. Born into a family of Sabian bureaucrats, al-Ṣābi converted to Islam in 402-403 A.H/1012 AD.{{harvnb|Sourdel|1971}}. First working under the Buyid amir Ṣamṣām al-Dawla, he later became the Director of the Chancery under Baha' al-Daula's vizier Fakhr al-Mulk.
Works
Hilal al-Sabi' is the author of numerous books, not all of which have survived. Bureaucratic matters and matters of the court were his main themes, along with history.
- The Rules and Regulations of the Abbasid Court - (Arabic: رسوم دار الخلافة Rusum dar al-khilafa)
Perhaps his most famous book is the Rusum dar al-khilafa which is a manual for behavior and work in the Abbasid court of late Buyid Baghdad. Though it is designed as a set of instructions and advice, the book contains numerous statistics, anecdotes and historical asides.
- The Book of Viziers - (Arabic: كتاب الوزراء Kitab al-wuzara)
Only of the beginning of this work has survived, which deals with the viziers of the caliph Al-Muqtadir.
- History of Hilal al-Sabi' - (Arabic: تاريخ ابي الحسين هلال بن المحسن بن ابراهيم الصابي Tarikh Hilal al-Sabi)
This too survives only in fragmentary form, but its fragments fill a gap in the chronicles of the late Buyid era, up to the year 393 hijri (1003 AD).
See also
References
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFSourdel1971}}
Bibliography
- {{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|volume=3|title=Hilāl b. al-Muḥassin b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṣābiʾ|page(s)=|first=D.|last=Sourdel |authorlink=|url= https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/hilal-b-al-muhassin-b-ibrahim-al-sabi-SIM_2862}}
- Hilāl al-Sābi’. Rusūm Dār al-Khilāfa: The Rules and Regulations of the Abbasid Court. Trans. Elie A. Salem. American University of Beirut, 1977.
See also
{{Historians of Islam}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilal Al-Sabi}}
Category:11th-century historians from the Abbasid Caliphate