ABU’L-FAŻL MĪKĀL

 

ABU’L-FAŻL MĪKĀL, ʿOBAYDALLĀH (also called ʿABDALLĀH and ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN) B. AḤMAD B. ʿALĪ, author and poet, d. 436/1045. Abu’l-Fażl traced his lineage back to the Sasanian king Pērōz. His mastery of Arabic literature was such that Ṯaʿālebī recognized him as the equal of Ebn ʿAmīd and Ṣāḥeb b. ʿAbbād, and in poetry the peer of ʿAbdallāh b. al-Moʿtazz and Abū Ferās Ḥamdānī. He wrote a dīvān of poetry, and a collection of his essays entitled Maḵzūn al-balāḡa was well-known. Titles of other works included al-Montaḥel (or al-Montaḵab) and Melaḥ al-ḵawāṭer wa menaḥ al-ǰawāher.

Bibliography:

Ṯaʿālebī, Yatīma III, pp. 247-48.

Jorfaḏaqānī, Tarǰama-ye tārīḵ-e Yamīnī, ed. J. Šeʿār, Tehran, 1345 Š./1966, p. 240.

Tārīḵ-e Bayhaqī, pp. 40, 373.

(S. ʿA. Anwār)

Originally Published: December 15, 1983

Last Updated: July 21, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 3, p. 290

Cite this entry:

S. ʿA. Anwār, “ABU’L-FAŻL MĪKĀL,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/3, p. 290; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abul-fazl-mikal-obaydallah-also-called-abdallah-and-abd-al-rahman-b (accessed on 31 January 2014).