Editing Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (section)

=== Personality, preferences, and beliefs ===
As a friend, al-Isfahani was unconventional in the sense that he did not seem to have been bothered to observe the social decorum of his time, as noted by a late biographical source: with his uncleanliness and gluttony, he presented a counterexample to elegance (''ẓarf''), as defined by one of his teachers, Abu al-Ṭayyib al-Washshāʾ (d. 937).{{Efn|Al-Washshāʾ says: “It is not permissible for the people of elegance and etiquette to wear dirty clothes with clean ones, or clean ones with new ones,” and they should eat with small morsels, while avoiding gluttony. Al-Isfahani never washed his clothes and shoes and only replaced them when they became too shabby to put on.{{sfn|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|loc=vol. 13, p. 101–102, 107–108}} <ref>al-Washshāʾ, ''al-Muwashshā'', p. 161 (quotation), 167.</ref>}} His unconformity to the social norms did not hinder him from being part of al-Muhallabī's entourage or participation in the literary assemblies, but, inevitably, it resulted in frictions with other scholars and detraction by his enemies.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=17–18}}{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=730–731}} Although al-Isfahani appeared eccentric to his human associates, he was a caring owner of his cat, named Yaqaq (white): he treated Yaqaq's [[colic]] (''qulanj'') with an [[enema]] (''al-ḥuqna'').{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 104–105}}{{Efn|For the discussion of colic and its treatment by enema; see:{{sfn|Nezhad et al|2015|pp=29–40}}}}

In contrast to his personal habits, al-Isfahani's prose style is lucid, “in clear and simple language, with unusual sincerity and frankness”.{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=731}}{{efn|See also:{{sfn|Jabrī|1965|p=27–29}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=56–69}}}} Al-Isfahani's capacity as a writer is well illustrated by Abu Deeb, who depicts al-Isfahani as "one of the finest writers of Arabic prose in his time, with a remarkable ability to relate widely different types of ''aḵbār'' in a rich, lucid, rhythmic, and precise style, only occasionally exploiting such formal effects as ''saǰʿ'' (rhyming prose). He was also a fine poet with an opulent imagination. His poetry displays preoccupations similar to those of other urban poets of his time".{{sfn|Abū Deeb}} His pinpoint documentation of ''asānīd''{{efn|Al-Isfahani specifies not only his sources (the identities of his informants, or the titles of the written material used by him) but also the methods by which he acquired the reports. Now and then, he mentions the occasions on which he received the given information; see:{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=94–104}}}} and meticulous verification of information,{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=40–46, 60–63, 115–119}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=38–55, 101–118}} provided in all his works, embody a truly scholarly character. Usually, in his treatment of a subject or an event, al-Isfahani lets his sources speak, but, occasionally, he voices his evaluation of poems and songs, as well as their creators.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=46–47,66–69}} When dealing with conflicting reports, al-Isfahani either leaves his readers to decide or issues his judgement as to the most credible account.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=111–119}} Yet, he frankly condemns sources whom he holds to be unreliable, for instance, Ibn Khurdādhbih on musicological information and Ibn al-Kalbī on genealogy.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=112–113}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=85–89}} Indeed, al-Isfahani assesses his source material with a critical eye, while striving to present a more balanced view on his biographies, by focusing on their merits instead of elaborating on their flaws.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=46–47, 68–69, 114–115}}{{sfn|Jabrī|1965|p=19–20, 25–26}}

That said, al-Isfahani's personal preferences and sectarian partisanship are not absent from his works. In terms of music and songs, al-Isfahani favours [[Ishaq al-Mawsili|Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili]] (772–850). In al-Isfahani's view, Ishaq b. Ibrahim was a multi-talented man, who excelled in a number of subjects, but, most importantly, music.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 5, p. 190}} Ishaq b. Ibrahim, as a collector of the reports about poets and singers, is an important source in his ''Aghānī''.{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=89–91}} Besides being a mine of information, Ishaq b. Ibrahim's terminology for the description of the melodic modes is preferred over that of his opponent, [[Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi]] (779–839), and adopted by al-Isfahani in his ''Aghani''.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 1, p. 15–16}}{{efn|See also:{{sfn|Sawa|2002|p=384–385}}}} Furthermore, al-Isfahani embarked on the compilation of the ''Aghānī'' because he was commissioned by his patron to reconstruct the list of the exquisite songs selected by Ishaq.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 1, p. 16}}{{efn|See the [[#Works|section on al-Iṣfahānī’s works]].}} In other words, the ''raison d’etre'' of the ''Aghānī''  is partly related to al-Isfahani's idol, Ishaq b. Ibrahim, and its information about singers, songs and performance owes a tremendous amount to him.{{sfn|Su|2018b|p=275–289}} Al-Isfahani's admiration for scholars or men of letters can be detected from time to time, usually in the passing comments in the chains of transmission.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=111–112}}{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=66–84}} Yet al-Isfahani outspokenly expresses his admiration, in some cases, such as that of Ibn al-Muʿtazz (862–909).{{sfn|Su|2016|p=175–179}}{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 10, p. 228–229}}{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=83–84}}

As an Umayyad by ancestry, al-Isfahani's later biographers mention his Shi'i affiliation with surprise.{{efn|The earliest mention of the Umayyad-Shi'i combination in the biographical sources is perhaps:{{sfn|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|loc=vol. 13, p. 340}}{{sfn|ref=Inbāh|al-Qifṭī, ''Inbāh''|loc=vol. 2, p. 253}} This is then repeated in later sources; see {{sfn|ref=Siyar|al-Dhahabī, ''Siyar''|p=2774}}{{sfn|ref=Mīzān|al-Dhahabī, ''Mīzān''|loc=vol. 5, p. 151}}
{{sfn|ref=Lisān al-mīzān|Ibn Ḥajar, ''Lisān al-mīzān''|loc=vol. 5, p. 526}}{{sfn|Ibn al-ʿImād|1986|loc=vol. 4, p. 292}}{{sfn|ref=al‑Kāmil|Ibn Al‑Athīr, ''al‑Kāmil''|1987|loc=vol. 7, p. 302}}}} Yet, in the light of the history of the family's connections with the Abbasid elite of Shi'i inclination and the Ṭālibids, and of his learning experience in Kūfa, his Shi'i conviction is understandable. Al-Tusi (995–1067) is the only early source specifying the exact sect to which al-Isfahani belonged in the fluid Shi'i world: he was a [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydī]].{{sfn|al-Ṭūsī|1991|p=192}} Although al-Ṭūsī's view is widely accepted, its veracity is not beyond doubt.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=14–16}}{{sfn|Günther|2007|p=}}{{sfn|Haider|2011|p=197}}{{sfn|Haider|2008|loc=p. 459–475}}{{sfn|Crone|2005|p=100|loc=footnote 4}} Al-Isfahani does not seem to have been informed of the latest Zaydī movements in Yemen and Ṭabaristān during his life, while his association with the Kūfan Zaydī community, which to some degree became less distinguishable from the [[Sunnī]]s, is yet to be studied in depth.{{sfn|Madelung|1965|p=223–228}}{{sfn|Su|2016|p=72–90}} It is clear, based on examination of how al-Isfahani amended the reports at his disposal, that he honoured Ali, who played a far more prominent role in his works than the first three caliphs, and some of his descendants, including Zaydi Shi'ism's eponym, [[Zayd ibn Ali]] (694–740), by presenting them positively, while, in some cases, leaving their enemies’ rectitude in question.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=183–265}} In spite of that, al-Isfahani is neither keen to identify the imams in the past, nor discuss the qualities of an imam.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=253–260}}{{efn|The Zaydī writings in the late ninth and early tenth centuries more or less devote discussion to the role and qualities of imam; see, for example:
{{sfn|ref=Majmūʿ kutub|al-Qāsim, ''Majmūʿ kutub''|loc=vol. 2, p. 169–193}}{{sfn|ref=Majmūʿ Rasāʾil|Yaḥyā, ''Majmūʿ Rasāʾil|p=431–432}} al-Ḥādī ilā al-Ḥaqq also singled out a line of the Zaydi imams up till his time in his ''Kitab al-Ahkam''; see:{{sfn|Strothmann|1990|p=360}}}} As a matter of fact, he hardly uses the word, not even applying it to Zayd b. Ali.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=253}} Furthermore, he does not unconditionally approve any Alid revolt and seems lukewarm towards the group he refers to as Zaydis.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=87–89}} Taken together, al-Isfahani's Shi'i conviction is better characterised as moderate love for [[Ali]] without impugning the dignity of the caliphs before him.