Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/39

ABS king's express command, was put to death by Joab, near Mahanaim, about 1036 .—J. B.  ABSALOM, the ecclesiastical name of the Danish Axel, archbishop of Lund in the twelfth century, and chief counsellor to Waldemar I. Died at Sora in 1201. The famous Saxo Grammaticus was in the archbishop's service, and has left many notices of his patron's life and labours.  ABSALOM, archbishop of Lund and primate of Denmark, one of the most remarkable men of the twelfth century, was born in Zeland in 1128. On his return from Paris, where he studied, he soon distinguished himself by his energy and talents, not only in the church, but in the civil and military administration of Denmark. Died in 1202.  A´BSCHATZ,, Baron von, a German statesman and poet, born in 1646. Many of his hymns are still sung in the protestant churches of Germany. Died in 1699.  ABSIMA´RUS,, a military adventurer, who became emperor of Constantinople in 698. Commanding the fleet, and proving unsuccessful in a naval engagement with the Saracens, he saved himself from the punishment he apprehended from his sovereign, by inducing the forces under his command to raise him to the throne. He confined the Emperor Leontius in a monastery, after putting out his eyes and cutting off his nose; but was himself dethroned and put to death at the restoration of Justinian II. in 705.—E. M.  ABSTE´MIUS,, an Italian critic, but known chiefly as a fabulist, born near Ancona towards the end of the fifteenth century. His real name was Bevilaqua, "Water-drinker." He became librarian to the duke of Urbino, whose preceptor he had been.  ABU BECER or IBN TOFAIL; ,—one of the greatest philosophers among the Spanish Arabs: born about the commencement of the twelfth century at a small town in Andalusia, now named Guadix. Tofaïl was a disciple of Ibn Bâdja, or Avempace, and rendered himself illustrious in many ways. For an account of the deeds and deservings of the brilliant Andalusian period to which Abu-Becer belonged, we refer to article his personal merits. One work of this remarkable writer alone remains, out of the many quoted by his successors. It is a philosophical romance, in which a fictitious personage,, is born without father or mother, and made to pass through the education presented by the external universe. The idea that profound philosophical truths might be illustrated by such a fiction, is thus both an old and favourite one. Tofaïl shows, or attempts to show, the scientific developments of the elements of intelligence in the mind of a being thus solitary and forlorn. The knowledge first acquired by Hay, is limited to that of specific facts and sensible things; through which he comes to comprehend somewhat concerning the surrounding world. Traces of order or uniformity next arrest him, and he discovers that, amid an almost bewildering variety, there is yet a link or chain binding everything together. Multiplicity is an accident; the Unity of things is their essence. Another step, and the Solitary inquires wherein reside the accidents, and wherein the essence of things: on which he arrives at the famous distinction of Matter or Substance, and Form. But who or what impresses on has impressed ? Matter itself is probably eternal; not so its forms: the existence and variety of these imply an Agent. This agent is not a body, nor any faculty of body, but a distinct Being who is the form of the whole universe. All individual existences are thus the work of this Being or God, towards whom and his goodness and perfection, our human intelligence ascends as we contemplate the beauty of his agency.—Returning from these heights, Hay examines himself—asking the nature of his intelligence—its destiny, and the path towards supreme happiness. The pure intellect is the true substance or personality of Man; it is not born, and it cannot perish: its happiness consists in its identification with God. Tofaïl's conclusions, in this respect, approach those of a refined pantheism. His work, however, has a second part. He felt it necessary to show that the results to which he conducts his Solitary, are in harmony with revealed religion, especially with Moslemism. And with this object he brings Hay—now at the age of fifty—into contact with Asâl, a religious hermit. The conclusions they have reached are the same, but Hay insists that the way of reason is as good as Asâl's. The merits of the dispute are put to a practical test. Hay discovers the actual inferiority of his mode of teaching, and in the end the friends return to Asâl's island—devoting themselves henceforward to an austere and contemplative life. Tofaïl's work contains many acute remarks bearing closely on controversies not thought of in his time: it has been translated into various languages; two versions exist in English,—one from the Arabic by Ockley, another from Pocockê's Latin, by a member of the Society of Friends—George Keith.—J. P. N.  ABU´ BEKR, Mahomet's father-in-law, and first successor or caliph. During his brilliant reign of little more than two years, the new Moslem empire was thoroughly consolidated and greatly extended. He edited in a collective and authentic form the contents of the Koran, which previously existed in detached chapters; and, by the ability and intrepidity of his generals, and the impetuous fanaticism of his armies, suppressed formidable insurrections, and subdued Irac and the whole of Syria. He died in 634, at the age of sixty-three, the day on which his lieutenants took Damascus. He was a man of great sagacity and mildness, as well as of great simplicity of manners, disinterestedness, and self-denial. His real name was Abdallah-Atik-ben-Abi-Kohafah. He was called Abú Bekr, or "Father of the Virgin," being the father of Ayesha, distinguished by that appellation from Mahomet's first wife, who, when he married her, was a widow.—E. M. <section end="39H" /> <section begin="39I" />ABU´CARA,, a disciple of John Damascenus, and bishop of Haran in the eighth century. His numerous dissertations in support of the orthodox faith against Jews, Moslems, and heretics, have been published in Greek and Latin. <section end="39I" /> <section begin="39J" />ABU´ HANI´FAH, a famous Mussulman doctor, founder of the Hanifites, one of the four great orthodox sects of Islam, and for his mildness and patience, on which the Moslem writers expatiate, called the "Moslem Socrates;" born at Kufah in 699. He refused to become a judge, though threatened for his disobedience by the caliph. Having boldly remonstrated with the caliph, who desired to punish the inhabitants of Mossul, he was imprisoned, and soon afterwards poisoned by his order.—E. M. <section end="39J" /> <section begin="39K" />ABU´L-'ALA or OLA, an Arab poet, born at Maarah in 975; remarkable for his learning and knowledge of the world, though he lost his sight when three years old. His poetry is mostly satirical and sceptical. Died in 1057. <section end="39K" /> <section begin="39L" />ABU´L-CACEM, a Turkish general, who took Nice, and advanced to the shores of the Propontis in the reign of Alexis Comnenus, but was driven back by the Greek general Taticius. Simultaneously harassed by the Greek emperor and the shah of Persia, he threw himself on the generosity of the latter, by whom he was put to death. <section end="39L" /> <section begin="39M" />ABU´L-CACIM, a fictitious name, under which Michael de Luna, Arabic interpreter to Philip III. of Spain, published his "History of the Arab Conquest of Spain;" a work long regarded as genuine, and quoted as a high historical authority. <section end="39M" /> <section begin="39N" />ABU´LFARAGE,, a philosopher, physician, and historian, born in 1226 at Malatia in Armenia, the son of a Jacobite physician of Jewish extraction. He became an ecclesiastic, and primate of the Jacobites, a well-known Christian sect. He wrote numerous works on various subjects, but is principally known as author of a "Universal History from the Creation," down to his own time. This work is of great value, particularly for the history of the Moslems and Tartars. The author is praised for veracity and general accuracy, both by Mahometans and Christians. Died in 1286.—E. M. <section end="39N" /> <section begin="39O" />ABU´LFARAJALI, an Arab author, born at Ispahan in 897, Four manuscript volumes of Arabic poems collected by him were brought from Egypt by the French in 1801, and are now in the national library of Paris. <section end="39O" /> <section begin="39P" />ABU´LFAZI, an able and learned statesman and historian, for thirty-eight years prime minister of the Mogul emperor Akbar, by whom he was so much esteemed and trusted, as to be exposed to the malice of courtiers. He was murdered in 1602, two years before Akbar's death, at the instigation of Selim, the emperor's son and successor. He wrote many valuable works, but is known among Europeans chiefly as author of an interesting "Statistical and Geographical Description of the Mogul Empire," comprising an account of the religion, science, and literature of the Hindoos. This work, which is held in great estimation among Orientals, was translated into English by Mr. F. Gladwin, residing at Calcutta, in 1783-86.—E. M. <section end="39P" /> <section begin="39Zcontin" />ABU´LFEDA,, a Moslem prince of Hamah in Syria, renowned as a warrior and statesman, but still more as an <section end="39Zcontin" />
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