Being a Sābīan at court in tenth-century Baghdad

Abstract

Thābit b. Qurra (d. 288/901), a Sābīan of Harrān, and his descendants remained in their ancestral religion for six generations. Why did they persist despite pressure to convert? This article argues that religious self-identification as a Sābīan could be a distinct advantage in Baghdad's elite circles. It focuses on Thābit's great-grandson Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm b. Hilāl al-Sābī (d. 384/994) and his poetry as collected by al-Thaalibi (d. 429/1038). Two members of the family who did convert are also considered by way of contrast.