1.1.4 - Some Other Famous Taiy Figures

It is difficult to trace the Tay ancestries between Ibn Arabi and Abdullah Ibn Hatim, owing to the accelerating spreading of Islam outside the Arabian Peninsula, especially that most of the men of Tay were among the soldiers who took part in the conquests which outreached west up to the Maghrib and Andalusia. However, many of the Tay descendants had also taken a great part in the intellectual history of Islam, as well as the military. It is also clear that many of them are Sufis, like Ibn Arabi.

The following is a list of some of the famous Taiy figures is Islamic history:

Dawud Ibn Nusair al-Taiy: Also known as Abu Sulaiman al-Kufi, he first studied Jurisprudence and other sciences, and then opted to solitude, isolation, privacy, and worship. He worked hard at that to the rest of his life. He inherited an old house from his mother, and kept moving from one room to another as they become ruined, and he did never restore it. He also inherited from his father some dinars and spent them one by one so when he died the last dinar was spent for his shroud. It is said that he used fast every day, for forty years, while his wife did not know he was fasting, because he used to carry his lunch with him to work and give it away on the road, and when he returns he breaks his fast as he takes his dinner at home. His contemporary Muharib Ibn Dathar says: if Dawud al-Taiy was living in ancient nations maybe Allah would have told his stories (in Quran)! Abu Sulaiman died in Kufa in the year 160 AH, and some say 165 AH [Ansaab, IV:36].

There seems to be a close relationship between Dawud al-Taiy and Shaykh Abu Madyan, one of the masters of Shaykh Muhyiddin who quotes him so often as we shall see in Chapter III. Al-Muqarri, the author of “Neveh al-Tib”, listed him among his Shaykhs together with Abu Madyan in a series of masters which is connected through Hasan al-Basri into Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them, to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him [Nafh, V:241, V:268]. In addition, Abu Madyan also wore the rag from his Shaykh Abu Yaiza according to a series of masters including Dawud al-Taiy.

Abu Tammam, Habib Ibn Aws Ibn al-Harith al-Taiy: The famous poet of Syrian origin. He was raised in Egypt, delivering water in the mosque, but he then started sitting with writers and learning from them, until he became noticed. When the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutasim heard about him, he invited him to become one of the leading poets of his time. He lived in Baghdad amongst the famous scholars and writers. He was described by generosity and good ethics. At the end of his life, al-Hassan Ibn Wahb appointed him for the correspondence in Mosul, and he paid him good attention. After less than two years, he died in Jumada the first of the year 231 AH, at the age of 41, and he was buried in Mosul [Ansaab, IV:37].

In his history book Muhadarat al-Abraar (Presenting the Righteous), Shaykh Muhyiddin quotes his Quran Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Komi, whom we shall mention in Chapter II, reciting him the famous verses by Abu Tammam:

You can let your heart flutter wherever you want in passion, but true love is only for the first Beloved.

How many houses the boy may like on Earth, but he always longs for the first house ever.

* Noah Ibn Darraj al-Taiy: He was a judge in Kufa. He narrated after the Iraqis, and he was narrated by Ali Ibn Hajar. He died in the year 182 AH, and he was blind.

* Abu Haytham, Abdel Rahman Ibn Adiy Ibn Abdul Rahman al-Taiy. His father was from the people of Wasit, but he was born in Kufa and lived in it before moving to Baghdad till the end of his life. He was a scholar of history and genealogy, narrating ancient Arab stories [Ansaab, IV:37].

* Abu Sulayman, Dawud Ibn al-Muhbir Ibn Qahzum Ibn Sulaiman Ibn Zakoan al-Taiy: Lived in Basra, he is famous for his kitab al-aql: “the book of reason.” He narrated after Shubah, Hammad Ibn Salamah, Hammam Ibn Yahya, Abbad Ibn Kathir, and many others, but some scholars doubted his authenticity. He died in Baghdad on Friday the eighth of Jumada the first in the year 206 AH [Ansaab, IV:38].

* Abu al-Qasim, Abdullah Ibn Ahmed Ibn Amer Ibn Sulaiman Ibn Saleh al-Taiy: He lived in Baghdad, and he narrated after his father who narrated after Ali Ibn Mousa al-Rida, who narrated after his parents may Allah have peace and mecry upon them all. Among his narrators are: Abu Hafs Bakr Muhammad Ibn Omar al-Jaabi, Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Shazan, Abu Hafs Omar Ibn Ahmad Ibn Shahin, and the others. He was illiterate, and he died in Rabii al-Thani in the year 324 AH [Ansaab, IV:38].

* Abu-Hassan, Ali Ibn Harb Ibn Mohammad Ibn Ali Ibn Hibbaan Ibn Mazin Ibn al-Gadawih al-Taiy al-Musoli. His grandfather Mazin Ibn al-Gadawih was amongst the delegation to the Prophet, may Allah have peace upon him. So he must have been with Adiy Ibn Hatim, with the delegation of Tay, as we mentioned above. As for Ali Ibn Harb, he was one of those who traveled to the Hejaz, Baghdad, Kufa and Basra, seeking the Hadith, he left to talk. He was born in Azerbaijan, and he died in Mosul in Shawwal in the year 265 AH.

* Abou-Saleh, Yahya al-Taiy, born during the Mehdi succession, in the year 65 AH, and he was knowledgeable in the Arabic language.

* Abu-Hassan, Rafie Ibn Omaira al-Taiy. Known as Rafie Ibn Rafie, he fought with the Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, and he was famous for traveling between Kufa and Damascus in five nights [Ansaab, IV:39].