ABIT JAAFAR IBN MOHAMMED, a^boo jii'far 'b'n iiiu-ham'ined, called El Sadik, ••The Righteous" (0<J!)-765). A caliph, one of the twelve imams of the Arabians. He wrote a work on alchemy, augury, and omens; and one of his pupils, Abu Musa Jabir ibn Haiyan of Tarsus, compiled a work of two thousand pages, in which he inserted five hundred of the prob- lems of his master. Abu Jaafar is the principal Arabian representative of the pretended art of prophesying from cabalistic tablets, and all the superstitious disciplines of the Arabs are usually ascribed to him, notwithstanding the fact that these pseudo-sciences undoubtedly originated in countries farther to the east.
'ABUKIR, ii'boo-ker'. An insignificant village
on the coast of Egj'pt, about 13 miles northeast
of Alexandria, probably the ancient Bukiris. The
important city of Canopus was situated in the
near vicinity. The castle of Abukir stands on
the west side of the hay of the same name, which
is west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile. This
bay is celebrated on account of Nelson's victory
here gained over the French fleet. August -2,
1798, the engagement being frequently called the
Battle of the Nile. The French fleet was sta-
tioned in a curved line near a small island guard-
ed by a battery; but Nelson, with his usual in-
trepidity, forced a passage with half of his fleet
of fifteen vessels between the island and the
French line of battle, while the other half at-
tacked the enemy in front. The French ad-
miral De Bruyes was killed by a cannon-ball,
and his fiag-sliip, VOrienf. was destroyed. The
French fleet was completely defeated, and only
two vessels escaped. Napoleon defeated the
Arabs here on July ■25th. 1799, and Sir Ralph
Abercromby (q.v.) repulsed the French near this
point in 1801 (the engiigement being known as
the battle of Alexandria).
ABU KLEA, UIjoo kla'a. A place in the
Sudan situated on the route between Korti and
Metemme. both of which are on the great bend
of the Nile below Khartum. It was the scene
of a battle fought on January 17, 188.i, in
which the Mahdi's forces were defeated by the
English troops under bir Herbert Stewart. See
Mahdi.
ABTTIi ALA AL-MAARRI, ii'boOl a'la al-ma-
ar're (937-10-27). An Arabian poet and philos-
opher. He was born in Syria, and at an early
age lost his eyesight. In his poems — mostly of
a philosophical nature — he sets up purity and un-
selfishness as the highest ideals that man could
follow. A collection of his ,joenis was made
at Cairo (1306). Consult Kremer, Veber die
phUosophischen Gedichte des Abil l-Ala ul-Ha'-
arri (Vienna, 1888).
ABTILCASIM, a'bool-kii'seni. Commonly
termed by Europi'an historians Abiil-Kasis. A
famous Arabic physician. He was born at El-
Zahra, near Cordova. The exact date of his
birth is unknown. He died in his birthplace
1106. His great work, At-Tusnf, an encyclo-
picdia of medicine, is of much interest, the trea-
tise on surgery contained in it being the best
that has come to us from antiquity, and still of
importance in tracing the progi'ess of surgery. A
partial Latin translation of Abulcasim's work
was published in Augsburg, l.')19; the section <m
surgery was published in the original Arabic
with a Latin translation by Channing (Oxford,
1778, two volumes).
ABULFARAJ, •I'bfTol-fa-raj'. See Bar He-
UR.EU.S.
ABULFAZL, a'bool-fii'zT, MUBARAK - 1
ALLAMI I sixteenth century). Vizier and his-
toriographer of Akbar (q.v.), the great ilongol
emperor. His chief work is in two parts; the first
part {Akbtn- Xawali. or Book of Akliar) is a
complete history of Al;l)ar's reign, and the second
half [Ayin-i-AJc'bnr. or Institute of Akbar) gives
an account of the religious and political consti-
tution and administration of the empire. The
style is excellent, and the second jiart is of unique
and enduring interest. The Persian text of the
Akbar 'Xamah is edited in the Bibliothcca Indica
(1873-87), and a translation is now being jssued
by Beveridge in the same collection. The Ayiii-i-
Akbnr, edite<l in the Bibliotheca Indica (1807-77),
is translated by Blochmann and .Tarett ( 1873-94)
in the same series. Abnlfazl died by the hand of
an assassin while returning from a mission to
the Deccan in l(i02.
ABULFEDA, aTiool-fa-da', Arabic Abu al-
Fida' IsmaTl ibn 'AlT 'Imad al-DTn ( 1273-
1331). A Moslem prince and historian. He was
bcni at Damascus. During his youth he distin-
guished himself in several campaigns against the
Crusaders. He inherited the principality of
Hamah, Syria, in 1298, but in consequence of a
dispute over the succession the dignity was abol-
ished by the Sultan. It was restored in 1310 by
Sultan JIalik al-Xasir and bestowed upon Abul-
ftda for distinguished military services. He was
given practically sovereign powers. From 1310 to
the time of his "death he ruled over the principal-
ity, visited Eg^spt and Arabia, and patronized
literature and science. Among his important writ-
ings were An Ahridyment of the History of th<z
Hiimun Ii'nce, in the form of annals, from the crea-
tion to 1328. The work is partly a compilation and
partly original. It is important as historical
material for the era of the Crusades. There are
several translations from the original Arabic.
A part is contained in the first volume of ilura-
tori, Hcriplores I'eriun Italicariim. The part
preceding the Mohammedan era was rendered into
Latin by Fleischer as Abulfcdw Historia ante-
If^lamiti'ca (Leipzig. 1831): the part on the life
of Mohammed into English by W. Murray (Lon-
don); and the later part by Reiske and Adler
{Annalrs Moslemici, 5 vols., Copenhagen, 1789-
94). The Geography of Abulfeda is chiefly valu-
able for the history and description of the Mo-
hammedan world. A complete edition was pub-
lished by Reinaud and de Slane in Paris { 1840 )_;
and a French translation by Reinaud appeared in
1848.
ABUL-HASSAN. iTbool-has'san. See Judah,
Ben Samuel.
ABULIA, a-bou'li-a. See Psychiatry.
ABUL KASIM MANSUR, ii'bool ka'sem
man-suor'. See Firdai-si.
ABULONE,;i-boo'16-n&. A wild tribe in Zam
bales province, Luzon. See Piiilippixe.s.
ABUL SU'UD, a'boTTl sn-oud' (1828—). An Arabian poet. He was born in a village of Lower Egypt of poor parents, and was one of a number of pupils annually selected from the primary schools to take the course in languages at the institute founded at Cairo by Mehemet Ali. He at first imitated the elegiac poets of Arabia; afterward his verses, many of which Ijecame very popular, were distinguished by a wealth of ideas
