of Riddles (1). A highly esteemed senior official, he was put in charge of the dīwān of Āmid (2). His property was later confiscated, so he moved to Mayyāfāriqīn. When that city was left without an emir, Abū Naṣr assumed authority there, ruled it, and took up residence in the citadel. Fear then overtook him and he fled to Aleppo, but he later plucked up courage and returned to Ḥarrān, where he was seized and hanged (3) by order of the deputy of Ḥarrān in 487 AH.
45 – Amīr al-Juyūsh Badr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Armanī al-Jamālī *
The Armenian emir and vizier, al-Jamālī, was purchased and reared by Jamāl al-Mulk ibn ʿAmmār of Tripoli, and his circumstances rose step by step until he attained authority. He was appointed deputy governor of Damascus on behalf of al-Mustanṣir in 455 AH, and he remained
(1) Kashf al-Zunun, 1/149, defines the discipline as follows: “It is a science that uncovers how words point to their intended meaning by extremely subtle indications—yet not so subtle that sound minds reject them; rather, they find them agreeable and readily grasp them, on the condition that the intended referents are concrete entities that exist outside the mind.” Yaqut, Mu jam al-Udaba, 8/56, ascribes to him the works Sharh al-Luma and Al-Ifsah fi Sharh Abyaat Mushkila. Al-Suyuti devotes a whole section to riddles in Al-Muzhir, 1/578, where he lists their types and the principal authors who composed on the subject.
(2) Amad, with the mim pronounced short (kasra), is a city of Diyar Bakr on the left bank of the Tigris; it now lies in Turkish territory north of Mardin. Yaqut calls it the greatest, most prestigious, and best-known city of Diyar Bakr.
(3) Yaqut reports that Ahmad b. Marwan became enraged with him and had him crucified; for a detailed account see Mu jam al-Udaba, 8/57-61.
(*) For sources mentioning his appointment to the vizierate, see: Al-Ishara ila man Nala al-Wizarah, 55; Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, 10/235-236; Wafayat al-Ayan (under his son’s entry), 2/448-450; Al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar, 2/205; Duwal al-Islam, 2/15; Al-Ibar, 3/320; Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar, 2/14; Al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, 10/95; Al-Bidayah, 12/147-148; Al-Nujum al-Zahirah, 5/141 and no. 87; Raf al-Isr, 1/130-137; Husn al-Muhadara, 2/204; Shadharat al-Dhahab, 3/383; Mu jam al-Ansab wa-l-Usar al-Hakimah, 45, 149.