At a glance
- Roles
- Scholar · writer
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Persia & Central Asia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Summary
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Dawud al-Asbahani, author of the Kitab al-Zahra, transmitted from his father and was a scholar, man of letters, dialectical jurist and eloquent poet. 2
The Thorn-Sparrow
Ja'far al-Khalidi related that Ruwaym said: we were with Dawud ibn 'Ali al-Asbahani when his son Muhammad came in weeping. His father drew him close and asked what grieved him; he said: the boys have nicknamed me "thorn-sparrow." Dawud laughed, and his son said: you are worse to me than the boys! Dawud said: there is no god but God — nicknames come only from heaven; you, my son, are nothing but the thorn-sparrow. 2
Sources
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , p. 206
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Muhammad ibn Dawud al-Asbahani”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/muhammad-ibn-dawud-al-asbahani/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.