Editing Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (section)

=== Family ===
The epithet, al-Isfahani,{{Efn|Another spelling, al-Isbahani, is also used in secondary literature. Although al-Isbahani is found in the oldest biographical sources and manuscripts, al-Isfahani will be used in this article.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=vii}}}} refers to the city, [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]], on the [[Iranian plateau]]. Instead of indicating al-Isfahani's birthplace,{{sfn|al-Ziriklī|2002|loc=vol. 4, p. 278}}{{sfn|Rotter|1977|p=7}}{{sfn|Amīn|2009|p=248–249}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=9}}{{efn|This misconception, according to Azarnoosh,{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=719}} was first disseminated by Ṭāshkubrīzādah (d. 968/1560) and was thereafter followed by modern scholars.}} this epithet seems to be common to al-Isfahani's family. Every reference al-Isfahani makes to his paternal relatives includes the attributive, al-Isfahani.{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=23–25}}{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=720}} According to [[Ibn Hazm]] (994–1064), some descendants of the last [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad caliph]], [[Marwan II|Marwan b. Muhammad]] (691–750), al-Isfahani's ancestor,{{Efn|While most of the sources agree that al-Isfahani was amongst the offspring of the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan b. Muhammad, Ibn al-Nadīm alone claimed that he was a descendant of Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (72–125/691–743).{{sfn|ref=al-Fihrist|Ibn al-Nadīm, ''al-Fihrist''|p=127}} The majority opinion:{{sfn|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|loc=vol. 13, p. 337}}{{sfn|ref=Siyar|al-Dhahabī, ''Siyar''|p=2774}}{{sfn|ref=Inbāh|al-Qifṭī, ''Inbāh''|loc=vol. 2, p. 251}}}} settled in Isfahan.{{sfn|Ibn Ḥazm, ''Jamharat ansāb al-ʿarab''|ref=Jamharat|p=107}} However, it has to be borne in mind that the earliest information available regarding al-Isfahani's family history only dates to the generation of his great-grandfather, Ahmad b. al-Ḥaytham, who settled in [[Samarra]] sometime between 835–6 and 847.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=421–422}}

Based on al-Isfahani's references in the ''Kitab al-Aghani'' (hereafter, the ''Aghani''), Ahmad b. al-Haytham seems to have led a privileged life in Sāmarrāʾ, while his sons were well-connected with the elite of the [[Abbasid]] capital at that time.{{Efn|A report in the ''Aghani'' mentions Ahmad b. al-Ḥaytham's possession of slaves, which may indicate his being wealthy.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=422–423}}}} His son, Abd al-Aziz b. Ahmad, was "one of the high ranking scribes in the days of [[al-Mutawakkil]] (r. 847–861) (''min kibār al-kuttāb fī ayyām al-Mutawakkil'')".{{sfn|Ibn Ḥazm, ''Jamharat ansāb al-ʿarab''|ref=Jamharat|p=107}} Another son, Muhammad b. Ahmad (''viz''. al-Isfahani's grandfather), was associated with Abbasid officials, the vizier [[Muhammad ibn al-Zayyat|Ibn al-Zayyāt]] (d. 847), the scribe Ibrahim b. al-Abbas al-Ṣūlī (792–857), and the vizier Ubaydallah b. Sulayman (d. 901), along with the [[Ṭālibid]] notables,{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=424–426}} including al-Husayn b. al-Husayn b. Zayd, who was the leader of the [[Banu Hashim]].{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Maqātil''|ref=Maqātil|p=547}} The close ties with the Abbasid court continued with Muhammad's sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (al-Isfahani's father).{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=426–430}}

In various places in the ''Aghani'', al-Isfahani refers to Yahya b. Muhammad b. Thawaba (from the Al Thawaba) as his grandfather on his mother's side.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 12, p. 29; vol. 14, p. 113, 157; vol. 16, p. 317–318; vol. 19, p. 35, 49; vol. 20, p. 116}}{{Efn|For the identity of Yahya b. Muhammad b. Thawaba and other members of the Al Thawaba, see: {{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=52–58}}{{sfn|ref=al-Fihrist|Ibn al-Nadīm, ''al-Fihrist''|p=143–144}}}} It is often suggested that the family of Thawaba, being [[Shi'i]],{{Efn|The term, Shi'i, is used in its broadest sense in this article and comprises various still evolving groups, including Imami Shi'is, Zaydīs, Ghulāt, and mild or soft Shi'is (as per van Ess and Crone), as well as those who straddle several sectarian alignments. Such inclusiveness is necessitated by the lack of clear-cut sectarian delineation (as in the case of the Al Thawaba, discussed here) in the early period.{{sfn|van Ess|2017|loc=vol. 1, p. 236}}{{sfn|Crone|2005|p=72, 99}}}} bequeathed their sectarian inclination to al-Isfahani.{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=58}}{{Efn|Both Kilpatrick and Azarnoosh follow Khalafallāh's argument as to the Al Thawaba's impact upon al-Isfahani's Shi'i conviction.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=15}}{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=728}}}} However, the identification of the Thawaba family as Shi'is is only found in a late source, [[Yaqut al-Hamawi|Yaqut's]] (1178–1225) work.{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 4, p. 147–149}} While many elite families working under the Abbasid caliphate were Shi'i-inclined, indeed allied with Alids or their partisans,{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=433–441}} there is no evidence that members of the Thawaba family embraced an extreme form of Shi'ism.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=431–432}}

In summary, al-Isfahani came from a family well-entrenched in the networks of the Abbasid elite, which included the officials and the [[Alids]]. Despite the epithet, al-Isfahani, it does not seem that the Isfahani family had a strong connection with the city of Isfahan. Rather, the family was mainly based in Sāmarrāʾ, from the generation of Ahmad b. al-Ḥaytham, and then Baghdad.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 23, p. 21}}

In the seats of the caliphate, a few members of the al-Isfahani family worked as scribes, while maintaining friendship or alliance with other scribes, viziers and notables.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=421–432}} Like many of the court elite, al-Isfahani's family maintained an amicable relationship with the offspring of Ali and allied with families, such as the Thawaba family,{{Efn|Besides the Al Thawaba, one may count among the pro-Alid or Shi'i families the Banū Furāt and Banū Nawbakht.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=429–430}}}} sharing their veneration of Ali and Alids. However, it is hard to pinpoint such a reverential attitude towards Alids in terms of sectarian alignment, given the scanty information about al-Isfahani's family and the fluidity of sectarian identities at the time.