Editing Ahmad ibn Fadlan

{{Short description|10th-century Arab traveller and ethnographer}}
{{Infobox theologian
| name            = Ahmad ibn Fadlan
| birth_date      = 
| birth_place     = [[Baghdad]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]]
| death_date      = 
| era             = [[Islamic golden age]]
| main_interests  = [[Islamic jurisprudence]]
}}
'''Ahmad ibn Fadlan ibn al-Abbas al-Baghdadi''' ({{langx|ar|أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد بن حماد|translit=Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Baghdādī}}) or simply known as '''Ibn Fadlan''', was a 10th-century traveler from [[Baghdad]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]],{{efn|Very little is known about Ibn Fadlan other than what can be inferred from his {{lang|ar-Latn|risāla}}. He is usually assumed to have been [[Arabs|ethnically Arab]], although there is no positive evidence to this effect.{{sfn|Knight|2001|pp=32–34}}{{sfn|Frye|2005|p=8}}{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|p=xiii}}}} famous for his account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid caliph [[al-Muqtadir]] to the king of the [[Volga Bulgaria|Volga Bulgars]], known as his ''[[:wikt:رسالة#Arabic|risāla]]'' ("account" or "journal").{{efn|The full title is ''Risālat Ibn Faḍlān, mab‘ūth al-khalīfah al-‘Abbāsī al-Muqtadir ilá bilād Ṣiqālīyah, ‘an riḥlatihi ... fī al-qarn al-‘āshir al-Mīlādī'' ({{lang|ar|رسـالـة ابن فـضـلان، مـبـعـوث الـخـلـيـفـة الـعـبـاسـي الـمـقـتـدر إلـى بـلاد الـصـقـالـيـة، عـن رحـلـتـه ... في الـقـرن الـعـاشـر الـمـيـلادي}}) or ''ma šahidat fi baladi-t-turk wa al-ẖazar wa ar-rus wa aṣ-ṣaqalibat wa al-bašġird wa ġirham'' ("Account of the lands of the [[Oghuz Turks|Turks]], the [[Khazars]], the [[Rus' people|Rus]], the [[Saqaliba]] [i.e. [[Early Slavs|Slavs]]] and the [[Bashkirs]]")}}

His account is most notable for providing a detailed description of the [[Varangians|Volga Vikings]], including eyewitness accounts of life as part of a trade caravan and witnessing a [[ship burial]].<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|2009}}: "...left a unique geo-historical and ethnographic record of the northern fringes of 10th-century Eurasia." See also {{harvnb|Gabriel|1999|pp=36–42}}.</ref> He also notably described the lifestyle of the Oghuz Turks while the Khazars, Cumans, and Pechenegs were still around.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Curta |first=Florin |url= |title=Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500-1300) (2 Vols) |date=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-39519-0 |location=Boston |page=152 |oclc=1111434007}}</ref>

Ibn Fadlan's detailed writings have been cited by numerous historians. They have also inspired entertainment works, including [[Michael Crichton]]'s novel ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'' and its film adaptation ''[[The 13th Warrior]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Saudi Aramco World : Among the Norse Tribes: The Remarkable Account of Ibn Fadlan|url=https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199906/among.the.norse.tribes-the.remarkable.account.of.ibn.fadlan.htm|access-date=2020-09-11|website=archive.aramcoworld.com}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[File: Ibn Fadhlan manuscript.jpg|thumb|240px|Ibn Fadlan manuscript page (in Arabic)<ref>Kovalevskii, A. P., ''Kniga Akhmeda Ibn-Fadlana o ego Puteschestvii na Volgu 921-922 gg'' (Kharkov, 1956), p. 345.</ref>]]

===Background===
Ahmad ibn Fadlan was described as an [[Arabs|Arab]] in contemporaneous sources.{{sfn|Frye|2005|page=8}}{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|page=xiii}} However, the ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]]'' and [[Richard N. Frye]] add that nothing can be said with certainty about his origin, his ethnicity, his education, or even the dates of his birth and death.{{sfn|Zadeh|2017}}{{sfn|Frye|2005|page=8}}

Primary source documents and historical texts show that Ahmad Ibn Fadlan was a ''[[Fiqh|faqih]]'', an expert in [[Islam]]ic jurisprudence and faith, in the court of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Muqtadir]].{{sfn|Gabriel|1999|p=36-42}} It appears certain from his writing that prior to his departure on his historic mission, he had already been serving for some time in the court of al-Muqtadir. Other than the fact that he was both a traveler and a [[theologian]] in service of the Abbasid Caliphate, little is known about Ahmad Ibn Fadlan prior to 921 and his self-reported travels.

===The embassy===
[[File:Ahmad Ibn Fadlan Route 1.jpg|thumb|Ahmad ibn Fadlan's route from Baghdad to Bukhara]]
[[File:Ahmad Ibn Fadlan Route 2.jpg|thumb|Ahmad ibn Fadlan's theorized route from Bukhara to Bulghar]]
Ibn Fadlan was sent from [[Baghdad]] in 921 to serve as the secretary to an ambassador from the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Muqtadir]] to the [[iltäbär]] (vassal-king under the [[Khazars]]) of [[Volga Bulgaria]], [[Almış]].

On 21 June 921 (11 ''safar'' AH 309), a diplomatic party led by Susan al-Rassi, a [[eunuch]] in the caliph's court, left Baghdad.{{sfn|Knight|2001|p=81-82}} Primarily, the purpose of their mission was to explain [[Sharia|Islamic law]] to the recently converted Bulgar peoples living on the eastern bank of the Volga River in what is now [[Russia]]. Additionally, the embassy was sent in response to a request by the king of the Volga Bulgars to help them against their enemies, the [[Khazars]].{{sfn|Hermes|2012|pages=80–84}} Ibn Fadlan served as the group's religious advisor and lead counselor for Islamic religious doctrine and law.{{sfn|Knight|2001|p=32-34}}

Ahmad Ibn Fadlan and the diplomatic party utilized established caravan routes toward [[Bukhara]], now part of [[Uzbekistan]], but instead of following that route all the way to the east, they turned northward in what is now northeastern Iran. Leaving the city of [[Gurgan]] near the [[Caspian Sea]], they crossed lands belonging to a variety of Turkic peoples, notably the [[Khazar Khaganate]], [[Oghuz Turks]] on the east coast of the Caspian, the [[Pechenegs]] on the [[Ural River]] and the [[Bashkirs]] in what is now central Russia, but the largest portion of his account is dedicated to the [[Rus' people|Rus]], i.e. the [[Varangians|Varangians (Vikings)]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} on the [[Volga trade route]]. All told, the delegation covered some 4000 kilometers (2500&nbsp;mi).{{sfn|Knight|2001|p=81-82}}

Ibn Fadlan's envoy reached the Volga Bulgar capital on 12 May 922 (12 ''muharram'' AH 310). 
When they arrived, Ibn Fadlan read aloud a letter from the caliph to the Bulgar [[Khan (title)|Khan]] and presented him with gifts from the caliphate. At the meeting with the Bulgar ruler, Ibn Fadlan delivered the caliph's letter, but was criticized for not bringing with him the promised money from the caliph to build a fortress as defense against enemies of the Bulgars.<ref>{{harvnb|Frye|2005}}{{page needed|date=December 2016}}, {{harvnb|Hermes|2012|pp=80–98}}</ref>

==Ethnographic writing==

===Manuscript tradition===
For a long time, only an incomplete version of the account was known, transmitted as quotations in the geographical dictionary of [[Yaqut al-Hamawi|Yaqut]] (under the headings [[Volga River|Atil]], [[Bashgird]], [[Volga Bulgars|Bulghār]], [[Khazar]], [[Khwarizm|Khwārizm]], [[Kievan Rus'|Rūs]]),{{sfn|Lunde|Stone| 2011|p=xxxiv-xxxv}} published in 1823 by [[Christian Martin Frähn]].{{sfn|Ibn Faḍlān|Frähn|1823}}

Only in 1923 was a manuscript discovered by [[Zeki Velidi Togan]] in the [[Astane Quds Museum]], [[Mashhad]], [[Iran]].{{sfn|Hermes|2012|pages=80–84}} The manuscript, [[Ridawiya Library, MS 5229|Razawi Library MS 5229]], dates from the 13th century (7th century [[Hijri year|Hijra]]) and consists of 420 pages (210 folia). Besides other geographical treatises, it contains a fuller version of Ibn Fadlan's text (pp.&nbsp;390–420). Additional passages not preserved in MS 5229 are quoted in the work of the 16th century [[geographer]] [[Amīn Rāzī|Amin Razi]] called ''Haft Iqlīm'' ("Seven [[Clime]]s").

Neither source seems to record Ibn Fadlān's complete report. Yāqūt offers excerpts and several times claims that Ibn Fadlān also recounted his return to Bagdad, but does not quote such material. Meanwhile, the text in Razawi Library MS 5229 breaks off part way through describing the Khazars.{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|p=xxxv-xxxvi}}

===Account of the Volga Bulgars===
One noteworthy aspect of the Volga Bulgars that Ibn Fadlan focused on was their religion and the institution of [[Islam in Central Asia|Islam in these territories]]. The Bulgar king had invited religious instruction as a gesture of homage to the Abbasids in exchange for financial and military support, and Ibn Fadlan's mission as a ''faqih'' was one of proselytization as well as diplomacy.<ref>{{harvnb|Hermes|2012}}: "...what was ultimately sought by Almish had more to do with politics and money than with spirituality and religion. As a growing number of scholars have observed, there seemed to be a political agreement between the Bulghar king and the Abbasid caliph. With this arrangement, the former would receive financial and military help in exchange for paying religious-political homage to the Abbasids."</ref>

For example, Ibn Fadlan details in his encounter that the Volga Bulgar Khan commits an error in his prayer exhortations by repeating the prayer twice. One scholar calls it an "illuminating episode" in the text where Ibn Fadlan expresses his great anger and disgust over the fact that the Khan and the Volga Bulgars in general are practicing some form of imperfect and doctrinally unsound Islam. In general, Ibn Fadlan recognized and judged the peoples of central [[Eurasia]] he encountered by the possession and practice of Islam, along with their efforts put forth to utilize, implement, and foster Islamic faith and social practice in their respective society. Consequently, many of the peoples and societies to Ibn Fadlan were "like asses gone astray. They have no religious bonds with God, nor do they have recourse to reason".{{sfn|Perry|2009|p=159–60}}

{{quote box|width=25%|quote=''I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the [[Volga|Itil]]. I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither [[tunic]]s nor [[kaftan]]s, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. Each woman wears on either breast a box of iron, silver, copper, or gold; the value of the box indicates the wealth of the husband. Each box has a ring from which depends a knife. The women wear neck-rings of gold and silver. Their most prized ornaments are green glass beads. They string them as necklaces for their women.''|source='''Ibn Fadlan''', ''on the Rus merchants at Itil, 922''.
}}

===Account of the Rus'===
{{Further|Rus' people}}
A substantial portion of Ibn Fadlan's account is dedicated to the description of a people he called the ''[[Rus' (people)|Rūs]]'' ({{lang|ar|روس}}) or ''Rūsiyyah''. Though the identification of the people Ibn Fadlan describes is uncertain,{{sfn|Montgomery|2000}} they are generally assumed to be [[Volga Vikings]]; the traders were likely of Scandinavian origin while their crews also included [[Baltic Finnic peoples|Finns]], [[Slavs]], and others.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilson|first=Joseph Daniel|date=Spring 2014|title=Black banner and white nights: The world of Ibn Fadlan|url=https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1526&context=honors201019|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=JMU Scholarly Commons}}</ref> The Rūs appear as traders who set up shop on the river banks nearby the Bolğar camp. They are described as having bodies tall as (date) palm trees, with blond hair and ruddy skin. Each is [[tattoo]]ed from "the tips of his toes to his neck" with dark blue or dark green "designs" and all men are armed with an axe, sword, and long knife.{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|p=45-46}}

Ibn Fadlan describes the Rus as perfect physical specimens and the hygiene of the ''Rūsiyyah'' as disgusting and shameless, especially regarding to sex (which they perform openly even in groups), and considers them vulgar and unsophisticated. In that, his account contrasts with that of the traveler [[Ibn Rustah]], whose impressions of the Rus were more favorable, although it has been attributed to a possibly intentional mistranslation with the original texts being more in line with Ibn Fadlan's narrative.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Russ/X/Garkavi_mus_pis/23.htm|title=See footnote 35|website=www.vostlit.info|access-date=2020-04-13}}</ref> He also describes in great detail [[Viking funeral#Ibn Fadlan's account|the funeral of one of their chieftains]] (a [[ship burial]] involving [[human sacrifice]]).{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|p=45-54}} Some scholars believe that it took place in the modern [[Balymer complex]].<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://sm-k.narod.ru/archives/2002/jan/3/13.htm Сибирский курьер. Тайны древнего кургана]</ref>

{{Quote|text=They are the filthiest of all God's creatures: they do not purify themselves after excreting or urinating or wash themselves when in a state of [[ritual impurity]] after coitus and do not even wash their hands after food.|source=<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jakobsen |first=Hanne |date=2013-07-17 |title=Old Arabic texts describe dirty Vikings |url=https://www.sciencenorway.no/archaeology-history-art-and-literature-forskningno/old-arabic-texts-describe-dirty-vikings/1388613 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=www.sciencenorway.no |language=en-GB}}</ref>|author=Ibn Fadlan}}

===Editions and translations===
(In chronological order)
* {{cite book |title=Ibn Foszląn's und anderer Araber Berichte über die Russen älterer Zeit. Text und Übersetzung mit kritisch-philologischen Ammerkungen. Nebst drei Breilagen über sogenannte Russen-Stämme und Kiew, die Warenger und das Warenger-Meer, und das Land Wisu, ebenfalls nach arabischen Schriftstellern |last1=Ibn Faḍlān |first1=Aḥmad |last2=Frähn |first2=Christian Martin |author-link2=Christian Martin Frähn |year=1823 |language=de |publisher=aus der Buchdruckerei der Akademie |location=Saint-Petersburg |oclc=457333793 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Togan |first1=Ahmed Zeki Velidi |title=Ibn Fadlan's Reisebericht |location=Leipzig |publisher=Kommissionsverlag F. A. Brockhaus |year=1939 |language=de}} &#91;from Razawi Library MS 5229&#93;
*{{cite book |last=Kovalevskii |first=A. P. |title=Kniga Akhmeda Ibn-Fadlana o ego Puteschestvii na Volgu 921-922 gg |publisher=Kharkov |year=1956 |language=ru}} &#91;Includes photographic reproduction of Razawi Library MS 5229.&#93;
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Canard |first=Marius |title=La relation du voyage d'Ibn Fadlân chez les Bulgares de la Volga |encyclopedia=Annales de l'Institut d'Etudes Orientales de l'Université d'Alger |year=1958 |pages=41–116 |lang=fr}}
*{{cite book |last=Dahhan |first=S. |title=Risālat Ibn Fadlān |location=Damascus |publisher=al-Jāmi‘ al-‘Ilmī al-‘Arabī |year=1959}}
*{{cite book |last=McKeithen |first=James E. |year=1979 |title=The Risalah of Ibn Fadlan: An Annotated Translation with Introduction}}
* {{cite book |title=Ibn Fadlân, Voyage chez les Bulgares de la Volga |language=fr |last=Ibn-Faḍlān |first= Ahmad |translator-last1=Canard |translator-first1=Marius |translator-last2=Miquel |translator-first2=Andre |year=1988 |publisher=Sindbad |location=Paris |oclc=255663160}} &#91;French translation, including additions to the text of Razawi Library MS 5229 from Yāqūt's quotations.&#93;
* {{cite book |title=Collection of Geographical Works: Reproduced from MS 5229 Riḍawīya Library, Mashhad |last=al-Faqih |first=Ibn |author2=Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad |author3=Aḥmad Ibn Faḍlān |author4=Misʻar Ibn Muhalhil Abū Dulaf al-Khazrajī |author5=Fuat Sezgin |author6=M. Amawi |author7=A. Jokhosha |author8=E. Neubauer |year=1987 |publisher=I. H. A. I. S. at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University |location=Frankfurt am Main |oclc=469349123}}
*{{cite book |first1=Л.-М. |title=Ibn Fadlan - Index |last1=Бораджиева |first2=Г. |last2=Наумов |language=bg |url=http://www.kroraina.com/fadlan/fadl_index.html |script-title=bg:Ибн Фадлан, Пътешествие до Волжска |location=България ИК "Аргес", София |year=1992}}
* {{cite book |title=Ibn Fadlan's Travel-Report: As It Concerns the Scandinavian Rüs |last=Flowers |first=Stephen E.|author-link=Stephen Flowers |year=1998 |publisher= Rûna-Raven |location=Smithville, TX |oclc=496024366}}
*{{cite journal |last=Montgomery |first=James E. |url=https://www.journals.uio.no/index.php/JAIS/article/viewFile/4553/4006 |title=Ibn Faḍlān and the Rūsiyyah |journal=Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies |volume=3 |date=2000 |pages=1–25|doi=10.5617/jais.4553 |doi-access=free|ref=none }} &#91;Translates the section on the ''Rūsiyyah''.&#93;
*{{cite book |last=Frye |first=Richard N. |title=Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia: A Tenth-Century Traveler from Baghdad to the Volga River |location=Princeton |publisher=Marcus Weiner Publishers |year=2005|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=Simon |first=Róbert |title=Ibn Fadlán: Beszámoló a volgai bolgárok földjén tett utazásról |location=Budapest |publisher=Corvina Kiadó |year=2007|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |translator-last1=Lunde |translator-first1=Paul |translator-last2=Stone |translator-first2=Caroline E.M. |title=Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=978-0140455076}}
* Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān, ''Mission to the Volga'', trans. by James E. Montgomery (New York: New York University Press, 2017), {{ISBN|9781479899890}}
* {{cite book |title=Viagem ao Volga |language=pt-br |last=Ibn Faḍlān |first= Ahmad |translator-last1=Criado |translator-first1=Pedro Martins |year=2018 |publisher=Carambaia |location=São Paulo |isbn=978-85-69002-40-6}}

==Appearances in popular culture==
Ahmad Ibn Fadlān is a major character in [[Michael Crichton]]'s 1976 novel ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'', which draws heavily on Ibn Fadlān's writings in its opening passages. In the 1999 film adaptation of the novel, ''[[The 13th Warrior]]'', Ibn Fadlān is played by [[Antonio Banderas]].{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|p=xxxi and xxxiii (quoting xxxiii n. 16)}}

Ibn Fadlān's journey is also the subject of the 2007 Syrian TV series ''[[Saqf al-Alam]]''.

[[List_of_characters_in_mythology_novels_by_Rick_Riordan#Samirah_al-Abbas|Samirah "Sam" al-Abbas]], a main character from ''[[Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard]]'', as well as her betrothed, [[List_of_characters_in_mythology_novels_by_Rick_Riordan#The_Al_Abbas_family|Amir Fadlan]], are said to be descendants of Ahmad ibn Fadlan.

In the 2003 anime ''[[Planetes]]'', the body of an astronaut named Ibn Fadlan was buried in a metal coffin by being sent to the depths of space. However, although he  says that he belongs to space, he somehow returned to his world environment and was perceived as [[space debris]]. Like Ibn Fadlan as a real-life [[Travel|voyager]], the retired astronaut says something important.{{vague|date=June 2023}}

==See also==
*[[Nabidh]]
*[[Ibn Sufi]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |last1=Frye |first1=Richard N. |author-link1=Richard N. Frye |title=Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia: A Tenth-Century Traveler from Baghad to the Volga River |date=2005 |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers |isbn=978-1558763661}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Gabriel |first=Judith |title=Among the Norse Tribes: The Remarkable Account of Ibn Fadlan |magazine=Saudi Aramco World |volume=50 |number=6 |location=Houston |publisher=Aramco Services Company |date=November–December 1999 |page= |pages=36–42 |access-date=1 December 2012 |url=http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199906/among.the.norse.tribes-the.remarkable.account.of.ibn.fadlan.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113133305/http://saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199906/among.the.norse.tribes-the.remarkable.account.of.ibn.fadlan.htm |archive-date=2010-01-13 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hermes |first=Nizar F. |chapter=Utter Alterity or Pure Humanity: Barbarian Turks, Bulghars, and Rus (Vikings) in the Remarkable Risala of Ibn Fadlan |title=The (European) Other in Medieval Arabic Literature and Culture: Ninth-Twelfth Century AD |series=The New Middle Ages |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave |year=2012 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Knight |first=Judson |title=Ibn Fadlan: An Arab Among the Vikings of Russia |encyclopedia=Science and Its Times |editor1-first=Neil |editor1-last=Schlager |editor2-first=Josh |editor2-last=Lauer |volume=700 to 1449 |location=Detroit |publisher=Gale |date=2001 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Lunde |first1=Paul |last2=Stone |first2=Caroline E.M. |title=Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=978-0140455076 }}
*{{cite journal |first=James E. |last=Montgomery |title=Ibn Fadlan and the Rūsiyyah |journal=[[Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies]] |volume=3 |year=2000 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.5617/jais.4553 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last = Perry |first = John R. |title =Review of Frye (2005) |journal = [[Journal of Near Eastern Studies]] |issn = 1545-6978 |volume = 68 |issue = 2 |year = 2009 |pages = 159–160|doi = 10.1086/604698 |jstor = 10.1086/604698 }}
* {{EI3 | last = Zadeh | first = Travis | title = Ibn Faḍlān | year = 2017 | doi = 10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_30766 }}

== External links ==
* {{OL author}}

{{Islamic geography|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadlan, Ahmad ibn}}
[[Category:9th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:10th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:10th-century businesspeople]]
[[Category:10th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:10th-century travelers]]
[[Category:10th-century writers]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Date of death unknown]]
[[Category:Explorers of Asia]]
[[Category:Explorers of Europe]]
[[Category:Geographers from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Travel writers of the medieval Islamic world]]
[[Category:Writers from Baghdad]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of the Abbasid Caliphate]]