Awlad al-Assal
The Awlad al-Assal were a prominent medieval Coptic family whose thirteenth-century writers contributed to canon law, biblical scholarship, theology, and the study of the Coptic language.[^1][^3]
Also known as: Aulad al-‘Assal · ‘Assalids · Ibn al-Assal family
Overview
The Awlad al-Assal were a Coptic family originally from Sadamant in the province of Bani Suef in Middle Egypt. They settled in Cairo at an unknown date and attained wealth, administrative distinction, and leadership within the Coptic community under the Ayyubid dynasty.1 Their residence in Cairo is associated with the district of Harit Zuwaylah.2
The family’s three principal writers were al-Safi Abu al-Fada’il, al-As‘ad Abu al-Faraj Hibat-Allah, and al-Mu’taman Abu Ishaq Ibrahim. Their father bore the title Fakhr al-Dawlah and was known as al-Katib al-Misri, while a fourth brother, al-Amjad Abu al-Majd, served as secretary of the army’s administrative office.4
Literary and scholarly contributions
The Awlad al-Assal contributed to Coptic canon law, theology, philosophy, homiletics, biblical interpretation, and philology. Their work belonged to a scholarly movement that produced Coptic grammars in Arabic and Copto-Arabic dictionaries to preserve knowledge of the Coptic language.3
Al-Safi: canon law and religious literature
Al-Safi is associated with the legal compilation al-Majmu‘ al-Safawi, which treats both Coptic religious tradition and civil jurisprudence. Its civil subjects include contracts, sales, rentals, witnesses, and inheritance; the account of the work describes its use of Islamic jurisprudential methods alongside biblical and Coptic Orthodox traditions.5
He also summarized and revised John Chrysostom’s homilies on the Gospels of John and Matthew, using Arabic translations by ‘Abdallah ibn al-Fadl al-Antaki. He served as a canonical counselor and secretary at a synod in Cairo, drafting compendia adopted by the assembled bishops.6
Al-As‘ad: biblical translation and grammar
Al-As‘ad produced an Arabic translation of the Gospels through comparison of Greek, Syriac, and Coptic texts. He also composed an introduction to the Pauline epistles and a Coptic grammar written in Arabic.7
Al-Mu’taman: theology and lexicography
Al-Mu’taman’s works included writings on ecclesiastical usages and festal homilies. His major philological contribution was the Coptic-Arabic lexical compilation Al-Sullam al-Muqaffa wa-al-Dhahab al-Musaffa, which expanded the earlier work of Anba Yu’annis, bishop of Samannud, and arranged entries alphabetically.8
Transmission and historical uncertainties
The family’s writings survive in numerous manuscript collections. Forty-nine manuscripts are held in the Coptic Museum, together with further holdings in European collections, including the Vatican, the Bodleian Library, and the National Library in Paris.9
Some biographical and bibliographical details remain disputed within the supplied accounts. The family article states that al-Safi and al-As‘ad died before 1260, whereas al-Safi’s individual entry tentatively places his death around 1265.46 The accounts also date al-Safi’s reform synod differently: his individual entry gives September 1238, while the family article gives 1239.69
Authorship is likewise uncertain for some works: Mallon assigns Majmu‘ Usul al-Din wa-Masmu‘ Mahsal al-Yaqin and Al-Tabsirah al-Mukhtasarah to al-Mu’taman, whereas Kahhalah’s dictionary places them under al-As‘ad.8
References
Sources
- 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 756)
This Coptic family came originally from the village of Sadamant in the province of Bani Suef in Middle Egypt at an unknown date and settled in Cairo, where its members rose to wealth and high station at the court of the Ayyubid dynasty (A.H. 565-648/A.D. 1169-1250). They owned a residence in the capital and occupied a position of leadership in the Coptic community.
- 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 279)
They are known to have resided in the famous Coptic district of Harit Zuwaylah, with its historic churches, in Cairo.
- 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 758)
Arabic and compiled Copto-Arabic dictionaries to ensure the preservation of their ancestral tongue. The Awlad al-‘Assal distinguished themselves in this school, as may be witnessed from the enumeration of their works below. In addition to their excellence in Coptic philology, they made outstanding contributions to Coptic canon law, theology, philosophy, Christian polemics, homiletics, biblical studies, exegesis, and all manner of inquiry into their own religion.
- 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 757)
The full names of the Awlad al-‘Assal are as follows: (1) Abu al-Fadl ibn Abi Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Abi Sahl Jirjis ibn Abi al-Yusr Yuhanna ibn al-‘Assal, the father, known as al-Katib al-Misri, who bore the title fakhr al-dawlah, "the Egyptian scribe" or "secretary"; (2) AL-SAFI ABU AL-FADA’IL IBN AL-‘ASSAL with the title safi al-dawlah; (3) al-As‘ad Abu al-Faraj Hibat-Allah ibn al-‘Assal; (4) al-Mu’taman Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-‘Assal, with the title mu’taman al-dawlah; (5) al-Amjad Abu al-Majd ibn al-‘Assal, who was secretary of the important Diwan (office) of the army. ... The three literary
- 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 280)
whose name is associated with the great jurisprudential compilation entitled al-Majmu' al-Safawi, in which the author assembled all the available materials concerned with two wide subjects from the orthodox point of view. The first was the question of religion and Coptic orthodox religious tradition; the second comprised all the items of civil jurisprudence, to which he applied the rules of classical Islamic works on this subject. ... The civil section of this work treats the material life of individuals within the context of biblical and orthodox traditions. Details of contractual conditions
- 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 102)
He may have been born around 1205 and died around 1265. ... In 1232, he summarized and revised the eighty-eight homilies of Saint JOHN CHRYSOSTOM on the Gospel of John, using the translation of the Melchite ‘Abdallah ibn al-Fadl al-Antaki (eleventh century). ... By 1237-1238, he had already written his summary and revision of the ninety homilies of Saint John Chrysostom on the Gospel of Matthew, after the translation of ‘Abdallah ibn al-Fadl al-Antaki ... In September 1238, al-Safi completed the redaction of his Nomocanon, which justly brought him fame. On 3 September, he participated as a can
- 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 689)
Al-As‘ad's major and enduring contribution to the field of Christian religious studies was his new translation of the Gospels into Arabic. Before his time, there were sundry Arabic versions that were uncanonical and in need of critical study to render them true to the accepted original texts in Greek, Syriac, and Coptic, which al-As‘ad collected for the purpose of rendering his recension. ... Parallel to this work, he composed an introduction to the epistles of Saint Paul consisting of eight sections subdivided into various chapters and preceded by a historical life of Saint Paul. Beyond the f
- 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 129)
Mallon (1907) ascribes to him two works that appear under al-As‘ad in Kahhala's dictionary based on Cheikho's catalog of Christian Arabic manuscripts. They are Majmu Usul al-Din wa-Masmu‘ Mahsal al-Yaqin (Records of Foundations of Religion), and Al-Tabsirah al-Mukhtasarah (Abridged Contemplation). Other works by Abu Ishaq quoted by Mallon include Adab al-Kanisah (ecclesiastical usages) and Khutab al-A‘yad al-Sayyidiyyah (festal homilies). But his major and enduring contribution lies in the field of philological studies, specifically his famous scala under the Arabic title Al-Sullam al-Muqaffa
- 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 758)
Finally in 1239 the prelates of the church forced Cyril to convene a synod, probably at the Mu‘allaqah, the Church of Our Lady in Old Cairo, which reviewed all ecclesiastical evils and prescribed a program of total reform. It is noteworthy that al-Safi was the secretary of that synod and its moving spirit. ... The Coptic Museum alone has forty-nine, besides many more that are found in European collections, including the Vatican, Florence, the Bodleian, the British Museum, the National Library in Paris, and numerous others, public and private
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