Yaqoot Al-Hamawi is one of a handful of scholars who are always known by their first names. Although the name may be a common one, if it is used without qualification, then it refers to a particular scholar who is not confused with any other scholar having the same name. Yet, he was Yaqoot ibn Abdullah, of Byzantine origins. Born in Hamah in Syria, he lived mostly in Baghdad. We do not know his year of birth with any measure of accuracy, other than saying that he was born around 570 A.H., corresponding to A.D. 1175. He was taken captive from his home town when he was young and sold in Baghdad to a merchant with the name Askar ibn Abu Nasr Ibraheem Al-Hamawi.
His master immediately sent Yaqoot to an elementary school so that he could be of help to him in his book keeping, because he himself was illiterate, and could do nothing other than attending to his business. As Yaqoot grew up, his education branched out a little to add some studies in linguistics and literature. His master sent him on business trips to areas like Oman and southern Arabia, as well as Syria. Later, some friction took place between him and his master, which resulted in his gaining his freedom and the two went their separate ways. He started working as a scribe, copying books, which increased his education. However, many years later, his relation with his former master was mended, and he traveled once more on that man’s business, in a partnership capacity, but on his return he found that his former master had died.
This trip was very profitable for him, giving him some capital to start his own business, some of which was in the book trade. His trips and his copying books, coupled with his penetrative mind and undoubted intelligence helped him formulate clear opinions and an ability to engage in debate. However, he was influenced by some views of Al-Khawarij, the group that rebelled against Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph. Thus, he was decidedly against Ali in his political views.
It is unfortunate that the events of that early period of Islam continued to create division and problems for centuries to come. Yaqoot had a personal taste of that. He was in Damascus in the year 613 A.H., when he was in argument with someone who was a clear supporter of Ali’s camp. The argument, however, degenerated into using unbecoming language, and Yaqoot leveled some unwarranted abuse on Ali. People attacked him physically and he managed to escape only with difficulty. He fled Damascus on hearing that the Governor ordered his arrest. His flight took him first to Aleppo, then to Musel in Iraq, then to Iran, where he carried on with his business. He began traveling on business between Iranian cities, but in 616, he encountered the Tartar Army as it was sweeping Muslim areas. He fled again, meeting great hardship, until he arrived in Musel in utter poverty. He lived there for several years before traveling to Aleppo, where he lived again in poverty until his death in 626 A.H., when he was in his mid-fifties.
As we have seen, Yaqoot’s life was different from most scholars who spend a great deal of time either traveling or attending scholarly circles in pursuit of their studies. Yet he wrote books of immense value. Most notables of these are two: Mu’jam Al-Buldan and Mu’jam Al-Udaba’. The first word that occurs in the names of both these books, Mu’jam, means dictionary. Thus the first is a descriptive dictionary of towns and places, and the second a biographical dictionary of literary figures and scholars.
In Mu’jam Al-Buldan, Yaqoot makes numerous entries of places, mountains, valleys, water springs, seas, provinces, cities, statues and idols, etc. When he makes an entry, he first defines the locality, and mentions the distance between that place and another better known place or town. If the place is mentioned in the history of Islamic conquests, he notes that normally with details, and sometimes in brief. He concludes the entry of any town or village by mentioning the names of any notable figures that belong to it, starting with those who have reported the Prophet’s traditions, or Hadiths, adding biographical notes of each, before mentioning poets, literary figures and others.
Yaqoot relies mostly on earlier works in this field, but his personal knowledge, accumulated through his extensive travels, is very clear. He adds personal notes on any place that he had visited, and corrects mistaken information that occurs in earlier books. It should be noted here that Yaqoot demonstrates scholarly integrity, as he attributes any information he writes down to its source. Moreover, when he mentions a statement by the Prophet, he is always on his guard, pointing out that he reports it by meaning, not by the Prophet’s exact wording. In this, he follows a tradition started by the Prophet’s companions which guards against even the slightest misrepresentation of what the Prophet said.
Many later works were based on this book. Yaqoot himself produced a book devoted to places that have the same names but are located in different areas. Abridged works were produced by Abd Al-Mu’min Al-Baghdadi (d. 739 A.H.) and Jalal Al-Deen Al-Suyooti (d. 911 A.H.). The Orientalist F. Wustenfeld published this book in 1866 in 6 large volumes, and other Orientalists did other works on its basis. Today, the book is available in several editions.
In Mu’jam Al-Udaba’, Yaqoot gives biographies of a large number of linguists, literary figures, historians, reciters of the Qur’an, book sellers, authors of books or letters, and compilers of literary and language material. If he is writing about someone he met, he gives in detail whatever he knows about the person. If he is writing about one who lived much earlier, he exerts every effort to provide a full biography, with clear references to his sources. However, he does not include in this book those who were mainly known as poets, because he wrote a different book on poets. Like he did in his dictionary of places, he arranges his entries alphabetically. He does not make any sub-arrangement on the basis of the native places of his literary people.
Yaqoot was very proud of his book. He says that he would not barter his authorship of this book for any riches or positions, because he put into it very great efforts. He was indeed unwilling to lend it to anyone at first, but he also blamed himself for treasuring it so grudgingly. He wanted first to continue to work on it until it is perfected. And he appeals to his readers to pray God on his behalf requesting God’s forgiveness for him.
May God grant Yaqoot the forgiveness he so desired and may He bestow His mercy on him.
