Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli explained

Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūli
أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن العباس الصولي
Other Names:Abu Bakr,
Ibn Yahya,
Muhammad
Father:Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās
Birth Date:c. 870
Birth Place:Gorgan, Iran
Death Date:between 941/948
Death Place:Basra, Iraq
Era:Islamic Golden Age
(Middle Abbasid era)
Occupation:Abbasid courtier
Years Active:908 – 941
Notable Works:Kitāb Al-Awrāq
Kitāb al-Shiṭranj
Known For:Court companion of three Abbasid caliphs: al-Muktafi, al-Muqtadir, and al-Radi

Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-‘Abbās al-Ṣūlī (Arabic: Arabic: أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن العباس الصولي) (born c. 870 Gorgan – died between 941 and 948 Basra) was a Turkic scholar and a court companion of three Abbāsid caliphs: al-Muktafī, his successor al-Muqtadir, and later, al-Radi, whom he also tutored. He was a bibliophile, wrote letters, editor-poet, chronicler, and a shatranj (chess) player. His contemporary biographer Isḥāq al-Nadīm tells us he was “of manly bearing.” He wrote many books, the most famous of which are Kitāb Al-Awrāq and Kitāb al-Shiṭranj.

Life

Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī was born into an illustrious family of Turkic origin, his great-grandfather was the Turkic prince Sul-takin and his uncle was the poet Ibrahim ibn al-'Abbas as-Suli.[1] Al-Marzubānī, a principal pupil of al-Ṣūlī, who admired him and copied him in the art of compilation, borrowed much of al-Ṣūlī's material for his Kitāb al-Muwashshaḥ. Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī made extensive use of his material in his Kitāb al-Aghānī. On Caliph al-Rāḍī's death in 940, al-Ṣūlī fell into disfavour with the new ruler due to his Shi'a sympathies and he died hiding at al-Baṣrah, for having quoted a passage about ‘Alī, which caused a public scandal.

Chess

Al-Ṣūlī was among a group of tenth-century chess players who wrote books about the game of shaṭranj, i.e. “chess”.

Al-Ṣūlī's books were:

Sometime between 902 and 908, al-Ṣūlī played and beat the reigning shaṭranj champion, al-Mawardī, at the court of Caliph al-Muktafī, and the Caliph of Baghdad. When al-Muktafī died, al-Ṣūlī retained the favour of the succeeding rulers, Caliph al-Muqtadir and Caliph al-Radi.

His biographer Ibn Khallikan, (d. 1282), relates that even in his lifetime the phrase "to play like al-Ṣūlī" was to show great skill at shaṭranj. His endgame strategies are still studied. Contemporary biographers mention his skill in blindfold chess. Al-Ṣūlī also taught shaṭranj. Many later European writers based their work on modern chess on al-Suli's work.

Other Chess players/authors in the Group

Kitāb al-Shiṭranj (Arabic: كتاب الشطرنج) ‘Chess’, the first book on chess, and;Al-Nard, wa Isbābha wa-al-La’ab bīha (Arabic: كتاب النرد واسبابها واللعب بها). 'Al-Nard Its Elements and Play'.

Kitāb latīf fī al- Shiṭranj (Arabic: كتاب لطيف في الشطرنج) ‘A Delightful Book about Chess.’

Manṣūbāt al-Shiṭranj (Arabic: منصوبات الشطرنج) ‘The Stratagems of Chess.’

Al-Suli's Diamond

Al-Ṣūlī's shaṭranj problem, called "Al-Ṣūlī's Diamond", went unsolved for over a thousand years.As this is shaṭranj, the "queen" (counsellor) is a very weak piece, able to move only a single square diagonally. It is possible to win in shaṭranj by capturing all pieces except the king, unless the opponent is able to do the same on the next move.

David Hooper and Ken Whyld studied this problem in the mid-1980s but were unable to crack it. It was finally solved by Russian Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh. The solution, starting with 1. Kb4, is given in Hans Ree's "The Human Comedy of Chess", and on the web.[2] [3]

Works

Kitāb Al-Awrāq

i) Kitāb al-Awrāķ (Section on Contemporary Poets): contains anthologies of poets of the Muḥadathūn (modern poets) and their diwans. Al-Ṣūlī was interested in the lesser known poets. Al-Mas'ūdī highly esteemed him for his unique recording of people and events. Of the fourteen poets al-Ṣūlī cites, Abān ibn ‘Abdal-Ḥamīd al-Lāḥiķī and Ashja ibn ‘Amr al-Sulamī are the best known. Part of Abān's versification of the Kalīla wa Dimna written for Yaḥyā ibn Khālid al-Barmakī is preserved and published in the edited Arabic edition by James Heyworth-Dunne (1934).

ii) Akhbar al-Rāḍī wa'l-Muttaqī; chronicle covering a thirteen-year period of the reigns of the caliphs al-Rāḍīwhom al-Ṣūlī had tutored and been a close companion ofand al-Muttaqī. It contains many fresh details of their reigns and the literary activities of the court. Although less famous than the histories of al-Mas'ūdī and Miskawayh, al-Ṣūlī's is an eyewitness-account of the transition to Buyid rule. The position of amir al-umara was created in 936 during al-Radi's caliphate, which devolved some caliphal executive powers to amirs (princes). The Buyid amirs later exerted these powers to establish their independent dynasty within the Caliphate and the Abbāsid's never regained their full power. However, al-Ṣūlī's account makes clear the limits of the devolved powers to the amirs.

iii) Ash’ār Awlād al-Khulafā’ wa-Akhbāruhum; chronicle of the House of al-'Abbās who were poets.

Other Works

Dīwāns of Contemporary Poets edited by al-Ṣūlī

Legacy

Others who made use of content from al-Ṣūlī’s works:

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Osaulai. Muohammad Ibn Yaohyaa. The Life and Times of Abu Tammam. 2015. Library of Arabic Literature. 9780814760406.
  2. Web site: Exeter Chess Club blog . DrDave . 2013 .
  3. Web site: John's Chess Playground . John Tromp . 2013 .

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