Editing Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli

{{Short description|10th-century Turkic scholar at Abbasid court}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūli <br> أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن العباس الصولي
| image         = The Vizier Buzurghmihr Showing the Game of Chess to King Khusraw Anushirwan, Page from a Manuscript of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) LACMA M.73.5.586.jpg
| image_size    = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = 
| other_names   = Abu Bakr, <br> Ibn Yahya, <br> Muhammad
| father        = Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās
| mother        = 
| children      = 
| birth_date    = c. 870
| birth_place   = [[Gorgan]], [[Iran]]
| death_date    = between 941/948
| death_place   = [[Basra]], [[Iraq]]
| era   = [[Islamic Golden Age]] <br> ([[Abbasid Caliphate|Middle Abbasid era]])
| occupation  = Abbasid courtier
| years_active  = 908 – 941
| notable_works =  Kitāb Al-Awrāq <br> Kitāb al-Shiṭranj
| known_for     =  Court companion of three Abbasid caliphs: [[al-Muktafi]], [[al-Muqtadir]], and [[al-Radi]]
}}
'''Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūlī''' (Arabic: {{lang|ar|أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن العباس الصولي}}) (born c. 870 [[Gorgan]] – died between 941 and 948 [[Basra]]) was a [[Turkic people|Turkic]] scholar and a court companion of three [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbāsid]] [[List of caliphs|caliphs]]: [[Al-Muktafi|al-Muktafī]], his successor [[al-Muqtadir]], and later, [[al-Radi]], whom he also tutored. He was a bibliophile, wrote letters, editor-poet, chronicler, and a [[shatranj]] ([[chess]]) player.{{sfn|Khallikān (Ibn)|1868|loc=III|p=70}} His contemporary biographer [[Ibn Nadim|Isḥāq al-Nadīm]] tells us he was "of manly bearing."{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=329}}{{sfn|Yāqūt|1993|loc=VI (7)|p=136}}{{sfn|Mas'ūdī (al-)|1861|loc=I|p=161}}{{sfn|Yāqūt|1907|loc=Irshād, 1134|p=2677}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=1105}} He wrote many books, the most famous of which are ''[[Kitāb Al-Awrāq]]'' and ''[[Kitāb al-Shiṭranj]]''.

==Life==
Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī was born into an illustrious family of Turkic origin, his great-grandfather was the [[Turkic people|Turkic]] prince [[Sul-takin]] and his uncle was the poet Ibrahim ibn al-'Abbas as-Suli.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Osaulai|first1=Muohammad Ibn Yaohyaa|title=The Life and Times of Abu Tammam|date=2015|publisher=Library of Arabic Literature|isbn=9780814760406}}</ref>
[[Al-Marzubānī]], a principal pupil of al-Ṣūlī, who admired him and copied him in the art of compilation, borrowed much of al-Ṣūlī's material for his ''Kitāb al-Muwashshaḥ''. [[Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani|Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī]] made extensive use of his material in his ''[[Kitab al-Aghani|Kitāb al-Aghānī]]''.{{sfn|Ṣūlī (al-)|1936|p=10}}                          
On Caliph al-Rāḍī's death in 940, al-Ṣūlī fell into disfavour with the new ruler due to his [[Shi'a]] sympathies and he died hiding at [[Basra|al-Baṣrah]],{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=329}}  for having quoted a passage about ‘Alī, which caused a public scandal.{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=330}}

===Chess{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=341}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1872|p=566}}===
Al-Ṣūlī was among a group of tenth-century chess players who wrote books about the game of [[Shatranj|shaṭranj]], i.e. "chess".{{refn|group=n|The word shiṭranj, often written shaṭranj, is a corrupted form of the Indian word chaturanga, which was originally a military term. The word "chess" derives from shāh or shaykh.}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=341}}

Al-Ṣūlī's books were:
*''Kitāb al-Shiṭranj al-Nisḥa al-Awala'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الشطرنج النسخة الاولة}}) ‘Chess, the first manuscript’;
*''Kitāb al-Shiṭranj al-Nisḥa ath-Thānīa'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الشطرنج النسخة الثانية}}) Chess, the second manuscript; Book on [[chess strategy]], common [[chess opening]]s, standard problems in middle game, annotated end games and the first known description of the [[knight's tour]] problem.
Sometime between 902 and 908, al-Ṣūlī played and beat the reigning shaṭranj champion, al-Mawardī, at the court of Caliph al-Muktafī, and the [[Caliph of Baghdad]]. When al-Muktafī died, al-Ṣūlī retained the favour of the succeeding rulers, Caliph al-Muqtadir and Caliph al-Radi.

His biographer [[Ibn Khallikan]], (d. 1282), relates that even in his lifetime the phrase "to play like al-Ṣūlī" was to show great skill at shaṭranj. His [[Chess endgame|endgame]] strategies are still studied. Contemporary biographers mention his skill in [[blindfold chess]]. Al-Ṣūlī also taught shaṭranj. Many later European writers{{who|date=July 2018}} based their work on modern chess on al-Suli's work.

===Other Chess players/authors in the Group{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=341}}===
*[[Al-Adli ar-Rumi|Al-‘Adlī]] ({{lang|ar|العَدْلى}}) wrote:
{{snd}}''Kitāb al-Shiṭranj'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الشطرنج}}) ‘Chess’, the first book on chess,{{refn|group=n|Al-Nadīm tells us that al-‘Adlī wrote the first book on the game of chess.{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=342}}}} and;
{{snd}}''[[Al-Nard, wa Isbābha wa-al-La’ab bīha]]'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب النرد واسبابها واللعب بها}}). 'Al-Nard Its Elements and Play'.{{refn|group=n|Al-nardashīr, board games like backgammon or checkers. See "Shaṭrandj," Enc. Islām, IV, 338;  Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register, V (June, 1818), 121.}}
*[[Al-Rāzī]] ({{lang|ar|الرازى}}) was a chess rival of al-‘Adlī and the caliph [[Al-Mutawakkil]] attended their matches. He wrote:
{{snd}}''Kitāb latīf fī al- Shiṭranj'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب لطيف في الشطرنج}}) ‘A Delightful Book about Chess.’
*Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh [[al-Lajlaj|al-Lajlāj]] ("the stammerer") ({{lang|ar|ابو الفرج محمد بن عبيد الله اللَجْلاج}}), whom Isḥāq al-Nadīm had met, was his best known pupil. He excelled at chess at the [[Buyid dynasty|Būyid]] court of king [['Adud al-Dawla|‘Aḍud al-Dawlah]] in [[Shiraz|Shīrāz]], where he died sometime after 970/71 [360 AH]. He wrote:
{{snd}}''Manṣūbāt al-Shiṭranj'' ({{lang|ar|منصوبات الشطرنج}}) ‘The Stratagems of Chess.’
*Ibn al-Uqlīdasī Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ, one of the most skilful chess players, who wrote ''A Collection of the Stratagems of Chess''.{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=342}}

===Al-Suli's Diamond===
{{chaturanga diagram
| tright
|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |kd|  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |kl|ql|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|qd|  |  |  |  |  |  |

| White to move, White wins}}

Al-Ṣūlī's shaṭranj problem, called "Al-Ṣūlī's Diamond", went unsolved for over a thousand years.<ref>{{citation|last=Shenk|first=David|title=The Immortal Game: A History of Chess}}</ref>
As this is shaṭranj, the "queen" (counsellor) is a very weak piece, able to move only a single square diagonally. It is possible to win in shaṭranj by capturing all pieces except the king, unless the opponent is able to do the same on the next move.

{{blockquote|This ancient position is so difficult that there is no one in the world who would be able to solve it, except those I have taught to do so. I doubt whether anyone did this before me. This was said by al-Suli.|12th-century manuscript from the library of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid]]<ref name="Damsky"/>}}

[[David Vincent Hooper|David Hooper]] and [[Ken Whyld]] studied this problem in the mid-1980s but were unable to crack it. It was finally solved by Russian [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] [[Yuri Averbakh]].<ref name="Damsky">{{citation|last=Damsky|first=Yakov|year=2005|title=The Book of Chess Records|publisher=Batsford|isbn=0-7134-8946-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/batsfordbookofch0000dams/page/166 166–167]|url=https://archive.org/details/batsfordbookofch0000dams/page/166}}</ref><ref>{{citation
| last=Ree|first=Hans|author-link=Hans Ree|year=2000|title=The Human Comedy of Chess
| publisher=Access Publishers Network}}</ref> The solution, starting with 1. Kb4, is given in Hans Ree's "The Human Comedy of Chess", and on the web.<ref>{{cite web | title = Exeter Chess Club blog | author = DrDave | year = 2013 | url = http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/sulis-diamond}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = John's Chess Playground | author = John Tromp | year = 2013 | url = https://tromp.github.io/chess/chess.html}}</ref>

==Works==
===Kitāb Al-Awrāq===
*''Kitāb Al-Awrāq'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الاوراق}}) ‘Leaves’ or ‘Folios’;  unfinished  work on the traditions of the caliphs and the poets;  the poems and chronicles of the sons of the caliphs, from [[As-Saffah|al-Saffāḥ]] to Ibn [[Al-Mu'tazz|al-Mu‘tazz]] (750–908) and poems of other members of the [[Banu Abbas|Banū al-‘Abbās]] who were neither caliphs nor sons of caliphs in rank.  This included the poetry of [[Abdallah ibn Ali|‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Alī]] ({{lang|ar|عبد الله بن على}}), the poetry of Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ismā’īl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Īsā ibn al-Manṣūr ({{lang|ar|ابو احمد محمد بن احمد بن اسمعيل بن ابراهيم بن عيسى بن المنصور}}), the poems of members of the [[Family tree of Ali|family]] of [[Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib|Abū Ṭālib]] the descendants of [[Hasan ibn Ali|al-Ḥasan]] and [[Al-Husayn|al-Ḥusayn]], the descendants of [[Abbas ibn Ali|al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Alī]], the descendants of ‘Umar ibn ‘Alī, and the descendants of [[Ja'far ibn Abi Talib|Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib]];{{refn|group=n|The Arabic word ''walad'' may mean either "descendant" or "son." For the members of the family of Abū Ṭālib.{{sfn|Mas'ūdī (al-)|1869|p=148}} }} poems of the descendants of [[Abd al-Muttalib|al-Ḥārith ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib]]; traditions about, and selected poems by, [[Abu Ishaq Ibn Harmah|Ibn Harmah]];  traditions about al-Sayyid al-Ḥimyarī ({{lang|ar|السيد الحميرى}}),{{refn|group=n|"Al-Ḥimyarī" given by Flügel and Yāqūt ,{{sfn|Yāqūt|1913|loc=Irshād, VI (7) |p=137}} but omitted in [[Chester Beatty Library|Beatty]] and [[Tonk, India|Tonk]] MSS of Al-Fihrist, }} with a selection of his poetry;  traditions about, and selected poems by, Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ({{lang|ar|احمد بن يوسف}}); traditions about Sudayf{{refn|group=n|Before "traditions about Sudayf" the Beatty MS has "traditions of Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm [al-Mawṣilī], with a selection of his poetry."}} with a selection of his poetry.  [[Ibn al-Nadim|Ishaq al-Nadīm]] speculates that al-Ṣūlī plagiarized al-Marthadī's book on poetry and the poets, as he had seen a copy of his book that had come from al-Ṣūlī's library.
**''Kitāb Al-Awrāq'' published in three parts (1934–6, London):{{sfn|Ṣūlī (al-)|1936|pp=5-11}}
{{snd}}i) ''Kitāb al-Awrāķ (Section on Contemporary Poets)'': contains anthologies of poets of the ''Muḥadathūn'' (modern poets) and their [[Diwan (poetry)|diwan]]s. Al-Ṣūlī was interested in the lesser known poets.  [[Al-Mas'udi|Al-Mas'ūdī]] highly esteemed him for his unique recording of people and events. Of the fourteen poets al-Ṣūlī cites, Abān ibn ‘Abdal-Ḥamīd al-Lāḥiķī and Ashja ibn ‘Amr al-Sulamī are the best known. Part of Abān's versification of the [[Kalila wa Dimna|Kalīla wa Dimna]] written for [[Yahya ibn Khalid|Yaḥyā ibn Khālid]] [[Barmakids|al-Barmakī]] is preserved and published in the edited Arabic edition by [[James Heyworth-Dunne]] (1934).{{sfn|Ṣūlī (al-)|1934}}

{{snd}}ii) ''Akhbar al-Rāḍī wa'l-Muttaqī''; chronicle covering a thirteen-year period of the reigns of the caliphs [[Ar-Radi|al-Rāḍī]]{{emdash}}whom al-Ṣūlī had tutored and been a close companion of{{emdash}}and [[Al-Muttaqi|al-Muttaqī]]. It contains many fresh details of their reigns and the literary activities of the court.{{sfn|Ṣūlī (al-)|1936|p=6}}  Although less famous than the histories of al-Mas'ūdī and [[Miskawayh]], al-Ṣūlī's is an eyewitness-account of the transition to [[Buyid]] rule. The position of ''[[amir al-umara]]'' was created in 936 during al-Radi's caliphate, which devolved some caliphal executive powers to ''[[amir]]s'' (princes). The Buyid amirs later exerted these powers to establish their independent dynasty within the Caliphate and the Abbāsid's never regained their full power. However, al-Ṣūlī's account makes clear the limits of the devolved powers to the [[amir]]s.

{{snd}}iii) ''Ash’ār Awlād al-Khulafā’ wa-Akhbāruhum''; chronicle of the [[Banu Abbas|House of al-'Abbās]] who were poets.{{sfn|Ṣūlī (al-)|1936|p=6}}

===Other Works{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=330}}===
*''Kitāb al-Wazrā'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الوزرآء}}) The Viziers;
*''Kitāb al-'Abādah'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب العبادة}}) Worship;
*''Kitāb Adb al-Kātib 'alā al-Haqīqa'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب ادب الكاتب على الحقيقة}}) Training of the Secretary, according to Standard;{{refn|group=n|The Beatty and Tonk MSS have "secretaries", whereas Khallikān, III, 69, has "secretary." }}
*''Kitāb tafdhīl al-Sinān'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب تفضيل السنان}}) ‘Superiority of the Aged,’ written for ‘Alī ibn al-Furāt{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=331}} (855 – 924) surnamed Abū al-Ḥasan;{{refn|group=n|Omitted in Beatty and Tonk MSS of ''[[Ibn al-Nadim#Al-Fihrist|Al-Fihrist]]''.}}
*''Kitāb al-Shāb'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الشاب}}) Youths;{{refn|group=n|Omitted in Flügel edition.}}
*''Kitāb al-Anwā’'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الانواع}}) Varieties (unfinished);
*''Kitāb suwāl wa-jawāb Ramaḍān li Ibn al-Munajjim'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب سوال وجواب رمضان لابى النجم}}) Questions about Answers of Ramaḍān of Ibn al-Munajjim;{{refn|group=n|Uncertain which ‘Ibn’ of the Munajjim family.}}
*''Kitāb Ramaḍān'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب رمضان}}) Ramaḍān;{{refn|group=n|Beatty MS of Al-Fihrist suggests "Ramaḍān" erroneously duplicated.}}
*''Kitāb al-Shāmal fī ‘Alam al-Qur’ān'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الشامل فى علم القران}}) The Compendium, about knowledge of the Qur’ān (unfinished),{{refn|group=n|Al-Fihrist adds that it contained rare forms for the scholars ({{lang|ar|وللعلمآء في ذلك نوادر ليس هذا موضعها}}).}}
*''Kitāb Munāqub ‘alā ibn al-Furāt'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب مناقب على بن الفرات}}) The Virtues of ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Furāt;
*''Kitāb akhbār Abū Tammām'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب اخبار ابى تمام}}) Traditions about Abū Tammām;
*''Kitāb akhbār al-Jubbā’ī Abū Sa’īd'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب اخبار الجُبّاءى ابى سعيد}}) Traditions about al-Jubbā’ī Abū Sa’īd;
*''Kitāb al-‘Abbās ibn Aḥnaf'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب العباس بن الاحنف ومختار شعره}}) Al-‘Abbās ibn Aḥnaf and selected poems;
*Epistle of Al-‘Abbās ibn Aḥnaf about collecting taxes;{{refn|group=n|Omitted in Flügel.}}
*''Kitāb akhbār Abā ‘Amru Ibn al-‘Alā’'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب اخبار ابآ عمرو ابن العلاء}}) Traditions about Abū [[‘Amr ibn al-‘Alā’]];
*''Kitāb Al-Gharar'' ({{lang|ar|كتاب الغرر امالى}}) Al-Gharar{{refn|group=n|Al-gharar, "peril," may be a poet’s nickname. Yāqūt, Irshād, VI (7), 137, gives a separate title. Flügel gives the word but doubts its accuracy.  Omitted in Beatty and Tonk MSS.}}

==Dīwāns of Contemporary Poets edited by al-Ṣūlī{{refn|group=n|Compiled alphabetically by al-Ṣūlī}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=331}}==
*[[Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣanawbarī]]{{refn|group=n|Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣanawbarī surnamed Abū Bakr, poet of Antioch of the Abbāsid Period. Al-Ṣūlī edited and alphabetically arranged (two hundred leaves of) of his poetry.}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=372}}
*[[Ibn al-Rumi|Ibn al-Rūmī]] ({{lang|ar|ابن الرومى}});  Ibn al-Rūmī  Alī ibn al-Abbās grandson of George the Greek popular poet of Baghdād.
*[[Abu Tammam|Abū Tammām]] ({{lang|ar|ابو تمام}});
*[[Buhturi|al-Buḥturī]] ({{lang|ar|البحترى}});
*[[Abu Nuwas|Abū Nuwās]] ({{lang|ar|ابو نؤاس}});
*[[Abbas Ibn al-Ahnaf|Al-‘Abbās ibn al-Aḥnaf]] ({{lang|ar|العباس بن الاحنف}});
*[[‘Alī ibn al-Jahm]] ({{lang|ar|على بن الجهم}});
*[[Ibn Ṭabāṭabā]] ({{lang|ar|ابن طباطبا}});
*[[Ibrāhīm ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūlī]] ({{lang|ar|ابرهيم بن العباس الصولى}});
*[[Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah|Sufyān ibn ‘Uyaynah]] ({{lang|ar|سفيان ابن عيينة}});
*[[Sawwār ibn Abī Sharā‘ah]] ({{lang|ar|ابن شراعة}});{{refn|group=n|Flügel repeats Ibn al-Rūmī and misplaces al-Ṣūlī in the third-to-last name. Only Flügel gives Sufyān ibn ‘Uyaynah and Sawwār ibn Abī Sharā‘ah.}}

==Legacy==
Others who made use of content from al-Ṣūlī’s works:{{sfn|Ṣūlī (al-)|1936|p=10}}
*[[Al-Marzubani|Al-Marzubānī]], his principal student who adopted his compilation technique, and frequently cites him in his ''Kitāb al-Muwashshaḥ''.
*[[Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani|Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī]] in his [[Kitab al-Aghani|Kitāb al-Aghānī]]
*[[Al-Masudi|Al-Mas'ūdī]]
*[[Hilal al-Sabi'|Hilāl al-Ṣābī]]
*[[Arib ibn Sa'd al-Katib al-Qurtubi|Arīb ibn Sa’d al-Qurṭubī]]
*[[Abu Hilal al-Askari|Abū Hilāl al-‘Askarī]]
*[[Miskawayh|Miskawaihī]]
*[[‘Alī ibn Ẓāfir al-Azdī]]
*[[Ibn al-Tiqtaqa|Ibn Ṭiqṭaqā]]
*[[Al-Suyuti|Al-Suyūṭī]]

==See also==

* [[List of Muslim historians]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==

* [[Robert Charles Bell]] (1980). ''Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations''. {{ISBN|0-486-23855-5}}.
*{{Cite book|last=Flügel|author-link=Gustav Leberecht Flügel|first=Gustav| title=Die Grammatischen Schulen der Araber |place=[[Leipzig]] |publisher=Brockhaus|year=1862|page=[https://archive.org/details/diegrammatischen00fluoft/page/162 162]|language=de |url= https://archive.org/details/diegrammatischen00fluoft}}
*{{cite book|last= Khallikān (Ibn)|author-link= Ibn Khallikan|first=Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad |title=Wafayāt al-A'yān wa-Anbā' Abnā' al-Zamān (The Obituaries of Eminent Men) |translator-last=[[William McGuckin de Slane|McGuckin de Slane]]|translator-first=William |place= Paris|publisher=Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland |year=1868|pages=68–73 |volume=III|url= https://archive.org/stream/WafayatAlAyantheObituariesOfEminentMenByIbnKhallikan/Vol3Of4WafayatAl-ayantheObituariesOfEminentMenByIbnKhallikan#page/n71/mode/2up }}
*{{citation|last=Kratchkovsky|author-link=Ignaty Krachkovsky|first=Ignatius|title=Al-Ṣūlī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-'Abbās|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]}}
* Leder, S. "al-Suli, Abu Bakr Muhammad." [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online.
*{{cite book |last=Mas'ūdī (al-) |author-link=Al-Masudi |first=Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn |title=Kitāb Murūj al-Dhahab wa-Ma'ād in al-Jawhar (Les Prairies d'or) |translator1-last=[[Charles Barbier de Meynard|Meynard]] |translator1-first=C. Barbier |translator2-last=[[Abel Pavet de Courteille|Courteille]] |translator2-first=Pavet |place=Paris |publisher=Imprimerie impériale |year=1869 |language=ar, fr |volume=V |page=[https://archive.org/details/lesprairiesdor05masuuoft/page/148 148] |url=https://archive.org/details/lesprairiesdor05masuuoft}}
*{{cite book |last=Mas'ūdī (al-) |author-link=Al-Masudi |first=Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn |title=Kitāb Murūj al-Dhahab wa-Ma'ād in al-Jawhar (Les Prairies d'or) |translator1-last=[[Charles Barbier de Meynard|Meynard]] |translator1-first=C. Barbier |translator2-last=[[Abel Pavet de Courteille|Courteille]] |translator2-first=Pavet |place=Paris |publisher=Imprimerie impériale |year=1861 |language=ar, fr |volume=I |page=[https://archive.org/details/lesprairiesdor01masduoft/page/161 161] |url=https://archive.org/details/lesprairiesdor01masduoft}}
* [[H. J. R. Murray|Murray, H. J. R.]] (1913). ''[[A History of Chess]]''. {{ISBN|0-936317-01-9}}.
*{{cite book|last=Nadīm (al-)|author-link=Ibn al-Nadim|first= Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq Abū Ya’qūb al-Warrāq| title=The Fihrist of al-Nadim; a tenth-century survey of Muslim culture|editor-last=[[Bayard Dodge|Dodge]] |editor-first=Bayard |place=New York & London|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1970|url=https://archive.org/details/fihristofalnadim0000ibna|url-access=registration}}
*{{Cite book|last=Nadīm (al-)|author-link=Ibn al-Nadim|first=Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq| title=Kitāb al-Fihrist|editor-last=[[Gustav Leberecht Flügel|Flügel]]|editor-first= Gustav|place=[[Leipzig]]|publisher=F.C.W. Vogel|year=1872|page=572 (150)|language=ar|url= https://archive.org/details/KitabAlFihrist/page/n571}}
*{{cite book|last=Ṣūlī (al-) |first= Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā| title= Kitāb al-Awrāķ (Section on Contemporary Poets)|editor-last=[[James Heyworth-Dunne|Heyworth-Dunne]]|editor-first=J|place= London|publisher= Luzac |year=1934|language= ar}}
*{{cite book|last=Ṣūlī (al-) |first= Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā| title= Akhbār ar-Rāḍī wa-al-Muttaķī from the Kitāb al-Awrāķ |editor-last=[[James Heyworth-Dunne|Heyworth-Dunne]]|editor-first=J|place= London|publisher= Luzac|year=1935|language= ar}}
*{{cite book|last=Ṣūlī (al-) |first= Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā| title= Ash'ār Awlād al-Khulafā' wa-Akhbāruhum from the Kitāb al-Awrāķ|editor-last=[[James Heyworth-Dunne|Heyworth-Dunne]]|editor-first=J|place= London|publisher= Luzac |year=1936|language= ar}}
*{{cite book|last=al-Ziriklī|author-link=Khair al-Din al-Zirikli|first=Khayr al-Dīn| title= al-Aʻlām, qāmūs tarājim li-ashhar al-rijāl wa-al-nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa-al-mustaʻribīn wa-al-mustashriqīn |edition=17 |place=[[Beirut|Bayrūt]] |publisher= Dār al-ʻIlm lil-Malāyīn|volume= VII|page= 149|year=2007|language=ar |url=https://archive.org/stream/WAQ99019/alam3#page/n210/mode/2up}}
*{{cite book|last=Yāqūt|author-link=Yaqut al-Hamawi|first=Shihāb al-Dīn ibn ‘Abd al-Ḥamawī |title=Irshād al-Arīb alā Ma'rifat al-Adīb|place=Beirut|year=1993|language= ar|url= https://archive.org/details/waq45344/page/n2675 }}
*{{cite book|last=Yāqūt|author-link=Yaqut al-Hamawi|first=Shihāb al-Dīn ibn ‘Abd al-Ḥamawī |title=Irshād al-Arīb alā Ma'rifat al-Adīb|editor-last=[[David Samuel Margoliouth|Margoliouth]]|editor-first=D. S. |place=Leiden|publisher=Brill|year=1913|volume=VI (7)|page=137| language= ar|url= https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Yqt+ibn+%27Abd+Allh+al-amaw%2C+1179%3F-1229%22}}
*{{cite book|last=Yāqūt|author-link=Yaqut al-Hamawi|first=Shihāb al-Dīn ibn ‘Abd al-Ḥamawī |title=Irshād al-Arīb alā Ma'rifat al-Adīb|editor-last=[[David Samuel Margoliouth|Margoliouth]]|editor-first=D. S. |place=Lieden|publisher=Brill|year=1907|language= ar|url=https://archive.org/stream/FP73901/06_73906#page/n216/mode/2up}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli}}
[[Category:870s births]]
[[Category:940s deaths]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:10th-century Arabic-language writers]]
[[Category:10th-century historians from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:10th-century Arabic-language poets]]
[[Category:10th-century scholars]]
[[Category:Courtiers from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Iraqi Turkmen people]]
[[Category:History of chess]]
[[Category:Iraqi chess players]]
[[Category:People from Gorgan]]
[[Category:Shatranj players]]
[[Category:Amir al-umara of the Abbasid Caliphate]]