The Founder of Cairo The Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Muʿizz and his Era: An English translation of the text of al-Muʿizz from Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn's ʿUyūn al-akhbār
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies
The reign of the founder of Cairo, the fourth Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh (953–975 CE) marks a watershed in the transformation of the Fatimid state from a regional North African dynasty to an expansive Mediterranean empire. It was also under al-Muʿizz that articulations of the supreme authority of the Fatimid Ismaili imamate were written and disseminated across various regions of Fatimid influence.
The writings of Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn (d.1468 CE) provide a distinctive presentation of the Fatimid imamate from the perspective of the Ismaili daʿwa itself. As the chief dāʿī of the Yemeni Tayyibi Ismailis, Idrīs composed his monumental ʿUyūn al-akhbār wa funān al-āthār as a record of the Ismaili imamate from its inception to his own time. In doing so, Idris drew upon the rich repertoire of Ismaili and non-Ismaili sources that had been part of the corpus of the Fatimid literary tradition, many of which have subsequently been lost due to the vagaries of time and circumstance. As the only surviving medieval Ismaili work documenting the history of the Fatimid dynasty, the ʿUyūn al-akhbār is among its principal primary sources.
The Founder of Cairo provides the first annotated English translation of the extensive chapter on al-Muʿizz in the ʿUyūn, which remains a vital yet relatively unknown Ismaili source. The introduction to this work not only outlines the salient features of al-Muʿizz’s reign but also examines Idris’ purpose and approach to historical writing.
In providing an insider’s account of the reign of one of the most influential rulers of the medieval Muslim world, this work will be of particular interest to students of Ismaili history and thought, medieval Mediterranean history and Muslim historiography.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Fatimid framework
The reign of al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh
Representations of al-Muʿizz: al-Maqrīzī and Idrīs
Al-Muʿizz through the lens of the ʿUyūn
Comparative approaches to Fatimid historiography
Note on the translation
Translation from Idrīs ‘Imād al-Dīn’s ʿUyūn al-akhbār
1. Preamble
2. Al-Muʿizz and the cycles of the imamate
3. The virtues of al-Muʿizz according to his predecessors
4. The merits of al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh for the imamate
5. Reports concerning al-Muʿizz’s inherited knowledge
6. The inherited knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt
7. Additional reports on al-Muʿizz’s inherited knowledge
8. The transmission of the imamate
9. Al-Muʿizz’s sermon announcing al-Manṣūr’s demise
10. Al-Muʿizz’s campaign in the Awrās mountains
11. Al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān’s bond with the imams
12. Sessions of wisdom at the caliphal palace
13. The virtues of al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān
14. Al-Nuʿmān’s works on jurisprudence
15. The composition of the Daʿāʾim al-Islām
16. Motivation for al-Nuʿmān’s other compositions
17. Additional works on jurisprudence
18. Historical works of al-Nuʿmān and their purpose
19. Other works of al-Nuʿmān
20. The virtues of Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman
21. Reports on the clemency and patience of al-Muʿizz
22. Reports on al-Muʿizz’s quest for knowledge
23. Reasons for enmity towards the imams
24. Naval encounters with the Umayyads
25. Naval encounters with the Byzantines
26. Umayyad attempts to seek truce with al-Muʿizz
27. Al-Muʿizz dispatches Jawhar westwards
28. The revolts of Ibn Wāsūl and Aḥmad b. Bakr
29. The enlisting of the Kutāma
30. Victory over the Maghribī contenders Ibn Wāsūl and Ibn Bakr
31. Al-Muʿizz’s favourable treatment of the Ḥasanids and praise for the Kutāma
32. Ibn Hāniʾ’s praise of Jawhar’s capture of Ibn Wāsūl and Ibn Bakr
33. Circumcision of the Fatimid princes
34. Account of the daʿwa in Sind
35. The Abbasid malaise
36. Byzantine incursions into Crete
37. Al-Muʿizz’s invitation to the ruler of Egypt for the defence of Crete
38. Byzantine subjugation of Sayf al-Dawla
39. Al-Muʿizz’s letter to the dāʿī of Sind
40. The death of Kāfūr al-Ikhshīdī
41. Preparations for Jawhar’s march to Egypt
42. Jawdhar’s monetary contribution for the Egyptian expedition
43. Jawhar’s departure for Egypt
44. Ibn Hāniʾ’s poem on Jawhar’s departure for Egypt
45. Jawhar’s march westwards
46. Jawhar’s issuance of the guarantee of safety
47. Skirmishes with the Ikhshīdids and Kāfūrids
48. The re-issuance of the guarantee
49. Jawhar’s rule in Egypt and the founding of Cairo
50. The first Fatimid sermon in Egypt
51. Ibn Hāniʾ’s poem about the conquest of Egypt
52. Celebration of ʿῙd al-Fiṭr and ʿῙd al-Naḥr
53. Introduction of Ismaili law and rituals in Fatimid Egypt
54. Fatimid armies battle the Qarāmiṭa in Egypt
55. Jawhar’s gift to al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh
56. Revolt of Zunbur al-Ikhshīdī
57. Jaʿfar b. Falāḥ’s expeditions in Syria
58. Appointment of ʿAbd Allāh as the heir apparent
59. Al-Muʿizz sets out westwards at the head of an army
60. Al-Muʿizz’s defeat of Ibn Khazar’s rebellion
61. Ibn Hāniʾ’s poem on the defeat of Ibn Khazar
62. Incursions of the Qarāmiṭa into Syria and Egypt and the death of Jaʿfar b. Falāḥ
63. Fatimid and Qarmaṭī armies battle outside Cairo
64. Al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh’s migration to Egypt
65. The demise of al-Ustādh Jawdhar
66. Al-Muʿizz’s arrival in Egypt
67. Al-Muʿizz establishes his authority in Egypt
68. Buluggīn b. Zīrī’s defeat of Muḥammad b. al-Khayr
69. Resumption of the Fatimid–Qarmaṭī conflict
70. Demise of Prince ʿAbd Allāh
71. Appointment of al-ʿAzīz bi’llāh as the next imam
72. The demise of al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh
Bibliography
Index
Shainool Jiwa is a specialist in Fatimid history and Head of Constituency Studies at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. She holds graduate degrees from McGill University and the University of Edinburgh, and has lectured at a number of academic institutions for over 25 years. Dr Jiwa has published several studies in the field of medieval Islamic history. Her previous publications include Towards a Shiʿi Mediterranean Empire: Fatimid Egypt and the Founding of Cairo. The reign of the Imam-caliph al-Muʿizz from al-Maqrīzī’s Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ (London, 2009).