Page:The Oriental Biographical Dictionary.djvu/70

Aven 58 Azad He was surnamed Malik Tuhanna or king John. From the name of this prince we have made John the Priest, who was stripped of his dominions by Changez Khan in 1202 A. D., 599 A. H. They have since applied the name of John the Priest or Prestre John, to the king of Ethiopia, because he was a Christian. Avank Khan is by some authors called Avant Kh&n. He was a very powerful sovereign, and the greatest part of Tartary was tributary to him ; but he was defeated and put to death by Changeiz Khan. Aven Rosch, vide Ibn Eashfd. Avenzur, vide Abdul Malik bin-Zohr. Averroes, vide Ibn Eashid. Avicenna, vide Abu Sina. Aweis Karani, csir* (_rO^ (Khwaja) an upright Mu- salman of the Sufi sect, who had given up the world, used to say to those that sought him, "Do you seek God ? If you do, why do you come to me ? And if you do not seek God, what business can I have with you P" He was an inhabitant of Yeman and of the tribe of Karan. He was slain in a battle fought by All against Mu'awia I. in 657 A. D., 17th Shawwal, 37 A. H. This man had never seen Muhammad, and yet the Musalmans say, that when he heard that Muhammad had lost a tooth in battle, and not knowing which, he broke all his teeth. Aweis Jalayer, cT^j' o^l^J---, (Sultan) succeeded his father Amir Hasan Buzurg as king of Baghdad in July 1356, A. D., Eajab 757 A. H., and after a reign of nearly nineteen lunar years died on Tuesday the 10th October, 1374 A. D., 2nd Jamad I, 776 A. H. He was succeeded by his son Sultan Husain Jalayer. ^ Aweis Mirza, cr^j'^> a prince nearly related to Bai- kara Bahadur, was nephew to Abul Ghazi Sultan Husain Bahadur. He was murdered by Sultan Abu Said Mirza between the years 1451 and 1457 A. D. 'Ayani, ts^^j whose proper name was Abu Is-hak Ibrahim, probably flourished previous to the 8th century of the Hijrat. He is the author of a Masnawi called " Anbia Nama," a history of the prophets who preceded Muham- mad. Ayaz, a slave of Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznf, who being a great favourite of his master, was envied by the courti- ers ; they therefore informed the Sultan that they fre- quently observed Ayaz go privately into the Jewel office ; whence they presumed he had purloined many valuable effects. The next time when the slave had entered the treasury, the Sultan followed by a private door, and unobserved, saw Ayaz draw from a large chest a suit ol old dirty garments with which having clothed himself, he prostrated himself on the ground and returned thanks to the Almighty for all the benefits conferred on him. The Sultan, being astonished, went to him, and demanded an explanation of his conduct. He replied, " Most gracious Sire, when I first became your Majesty's servant, this was my dress, and till that period, humble had been my lot. Now that, by the grace of God and your ma- jesty's favor, I am elevated above all the nobles of the land, and am intrusted with the treasures of the world, I am fearful that my heart should be puffed up with vanity; I therefore daily practice this humiliation to remind me of my former insignificance." The Sultan being much pleased, added to his rank, and severely re- primanded his slanderers. 'Ayaz (Kazi), {J>^i^ ls'^^', son of Musa, and author of the " Sharah Sahih Muslim," Masharik-ul- Anwar, and several other works. He died in 1149 A. D., 544 A. H. 'Ayesha, daughter of Abu Bakr, and one of the most beloved wives of Muhammad, though she bore him no child. She was his third wife, and the only one that was a maid, being then only of seven years of age. On which account (some say) her father, whose original name was Abd-ullah, was named Abu Bakr, that is to say, the father of the virgin. An Arabian author, cited by Maracci, says, that Abu Bakr was very averse to the giving him his daughter so young, but that Muhammad pretended a divine command for it ; whereupon he sent her to him with a basket of dates, and when the girl was alone with him, he stretched out his hand, and rudely took hold of her clothes ; upon which she looked fiercely at him, and said, " People call you the faithful man, but your behaviour to me shews you are a perfidious one." But this story is most probably one of those calumnies against Muhammad, which were invented and found favour during the Middle Ages. After the death of her husband, she opposed the succession of Alf, and had several bloody battles with him ; although violent, her character was respected, and when taken prisoner by All, she was dis- missed without injury. She was called prophetess and mother of the faithful. She died aged 67 in the year 678 A. D., 58 A. H. Her brother Abdur Rahman, one of the four who stood out against Yezid's inauguration, died the same j'ear. There is a tradition that 'Ayesha was murdered by the direction of Mu'awia I, and the ^following particulars are recorded. 'Ayesha having reso- lutely and insultingly refused to engage her allegiance to Yezid, Mu'awia invited her to an entertainment, where he had prepared a very deep well or pit in that part of the chamber reserved for her reception, and had the mouth of it deceptively covered over with leaves and straw. A chair was then placed upon the fatal spot, and 'Ayesha, on being conducted to her seat, instantly sank into eternal night, and the mouth of the pit was immediately covered with stones and mortar. There is, however, no trust- worthy authority in support of this story. 'Ayn-uddin (Shaikh), (^"^l eri^ of Bijapur, author of the " Mulhikat," and Kitab-ul-Anw&r contain- ing a history of all the Muhammadan saints of India. He flourished in the time of Sultan Ala-uddm Hasan Bahmaui. 'Ayn-ia-Midk (Hakim), ^-^^ (^f^, a native of Shiraz, and a well educated and learned Musahnan, was an officer of rank in the time of the emperor Akbar. He was an elegant poet, and his poetical name was W^afa. He died in the 40th year of the emperor in 1594 A. D., 1003 A. H. 'Ayn-ul-Mulk (Khwaja), <-^'^ i^^^ *^L>^, a dis- tinguished nobleman in the court of Sultan Muhammad Shah Tughlak and his successor Sultdn Firoz Shah Barbak, kings of Dehlf. He is the author of several works, one of which is called "Tarsil 'Ayn-ul-Mulkf." Ho also appears to be the author of another work called " Fatha^ Nama," containing an account of the conquests of Sultan 'Ala-uddm Sikandar Sani, who reigned from 1296 to 1316 A. D. 'Aysh, CT'--^, poetical name of Muhammad 'Askari who lived in the reign of the emperor Shah 'Alam. 'Ayshi, i£'^i^, a poet who is the author of a Masnawi called " Haft Akhtar," or the seven planets, which he wrote in 1675 A. D., 1086 A. H. Azad, ^^j^} the poetical name of Mir Ghulam All of Bil- garam. His father Sayyad Nuh who died in 1752 A. D., 1165 A. H., was the son of the celebrated Mir Abdul Jalil Bilgarami. Ho was an excellent poet and is the author of several works in Persian, among which are