ʿAlī b. ʿUbayda al-Rayḥānī - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Zakeri, Mohsen
Leiden
Brill
(618 words)
Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿUbayda al-Rayḥānī (d. c.219/834) was a secretary (kātib) to the caliph al-Maʾmūn (r. 189-218/813-33), a leading adīb (man of letters), and a prolific essayist whose eloquence some critics preferred to that of al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/868). Of his parentage and upbringing we know little. The name "al-Rayḥānī" suggests that his father was a seller of basil (rayḥān) . His Iranian family, originally from Khurāsān, had settled in Basra, where he was born and received his education. The