Basrah after being constructed by the great sahabi Utba bin Gazawn (may Allah be pleased with him) died in (14 A.H.) , had got the attention of the reporters and early narrators , from historical and cultural sides , since it was the first city which the Arab Muslims built outside their Arabian peninsula. A little after being constructed, it became an important cultural sign that attracted a lot of educated people and knowledge seekers to get the knowledge from its scientists who were so famous in all over the world, otherwise many scientists and philosophers had made it their permanent residence.
This attention and care in Basrah had been seen obviously through the many works and books which had been written by the reporters and earlier narrators. Ibn AL- Nadeem, Abu AL- Faraj Muhammad bin Abi Yagoob Ishag AL- Warag AL- Baghdadi (died in 385 A.H.) had listed the famous writers like Abi Ubaida Mammar bin AL- muthana (died 210 A.H.), Ali bin Muhammad AL- Madani (died in 253 A.H.), and Omar bin Shaba (died 262 A.H.), who classified books about Basrah in which they wrote down its history, the news of its scientists, princes, judges, writers, and other aspects of its cultural conditions. Ibn AL-Nnadeem had the favor of saving the names of those who wrote about Basrah, the titles of their books, which the most important of them were lost, so its news had been reached by the earlier historians like AL- Jahith (died in 255 A.H.), AL- Balathery (died in 279 A.H.), AL- Mubarad ( died in 285 A.H.), AL0 Tabari (died in 310 A.H.), and others who will be mentioned in detail in this research.
This research will also show the importance of Ibn AL- nadeem’s book (AL-Fahrast) in which he preceded others in recording this kind of classifications which kept for us the names of authors and their titles of their works on literature, news, translations and different kinds of arts and science till the year (377 A.H.) in which he finished the writing of his above mentioned book. |