BOHADDIN, or, more properly, Boh-a-Eddyn, an eminent Aiabian writer and statesman, better known in the East under the appellation of 1bn-Sjcddad, or the Son of Sjeddad. He was born at Mossul in the year 539 of the Hejira (1145 A. D.) He early became eminent in the study of the Koran, and of the traditions and controversies founded on it, as well as in that of jurisprudence. At the age of twenty-seven he obtained the place of repeater or lecturer at Bagdad, and, soon after, a professor’s chair in a college founded at Mossul. In 1187 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and then proceeded to visit Jerusalem and Hebron. In passing through Damascus he was sent for by Saladin, who was then employed in the siege of Kancab. The sultan seems to have been pleased with the interview; and his secretary, Omad-Eddyn-Isfahamy, a man of great learning and eloquence, advised him, after completing his pilgrimage, to present himself again before Saladin. Our author had observed, as he himself mentions ( Vita Saladini, ch. v.), that the whole soul of the monarch was engrossed by the war which he was then waging against the enemies of the faith; and that the only mode of acquiring his favour was by urging him to its vigorous prosecution. He, therefore, composed a treatise on the Laws and Discipline of Sacred War, and made a collection of all the passages in the Koran and the books of traditions in which the extermination of infidels was recommended and enforced. This work, on his return, he presented to Saladin, who received both it and the author with peculiar favour. Bohaddin, from this time, remained constantly attached to the person of the sultan, and was employed in various important embassies and departments of civil government. That prince seems also to have sought, by the friendship of so eminent a doctor, to exalt the reputation for sanctity, of which he was extremely ambitious. Often, while riding through the ranks, Bohad∙ din rode by his side, and read to him passages out of the Koran or its interpreters, to which Saladin lent more apparent attention than to the arrangements of the army. Our author was now appointed to two important posts; those of judge of the army, and judge of Jerusalem. In this latter capacity an incident occurred which he adduces to prove the impartial justice exercised by the sultan. A merchant presented himself at the tribunal of Bohaddin, and complained that he had been unjustly deprived of a large sum of money. On being asked to name the author of the injury, he replied “the sultan himself.” Here the judge deemed it expedient to suspend proceedings until the case was laid before the royal defendant. Saladin, on learning the circumstances, denied the truth of the charge; but said that the man should have justice. Accordingly he was introduced into his presence; and the sultan, descending from his throne, placed himself in the posture of a defendant, and each pleaded his own cause before Bohaddin. The latter decided, on just grounds as he alleges, in favour of Saladin, and even hinted that the temerity of the plaintiff merited some portion of chastisement. The sultan, however, dismissed the person not only unpunished, but with the present of a handsome robe and a large sum of money.

Bohaddin continued in favour with Saladin during the whole of that monarch’s life; and he boasts that he often obtained ready admission, while the principal officers and generals were waiting in vain for an audience. After the sultan’s death, he was active in securing the throne to his son Melik-al-Dhaker. That prince created him cadhi of his capital, Aleppo, which gave Bohaddin an opportunity of founding in that city a college, of which he himself was the principal professor. Under his auspices, the sciences, which hail greatly declined in Aleppo, soon rose to more than their former lustre. But Melik-al-Dhaker dying, left his son Melik-al-Aziz a minor, and Bohaddin obtained the principal sway in the regency. This gave him an opportunity of introducing learned men at court, and loading [7:4:737]them with honours. As the prince, however, approached to manhood, he attached himself to more youthful counsellors; and Bobaddin, though he still retained his offices, found it expedient to retire from court, and devote himself entirely to the pursuits of learning. Even after he was unable to go to college, he continued to give lectures in his own house; and he persevered in these learned labours till the age of ninety, when be died on the 29th of October 1235. (Hejira 633.)

Bohaddin wrote several works on jurisprudence and Moslem divinity; but the only one that can be interesting to us is his Life and Actions of Saladin; which, with several other pieces connected with the same subject, was published by Albert Schultens, at Leyden, in 1732, accompanied by a somewhat inelegant Latin translation, also by notes and a geographical index. This work affords a favourable specimen of the historical compositions of the Arabs. Neither Bohaddin, however, nor any of his contemporaries, can enter into competition with those great historians who have adorned the better ages of European literature. They display no philosophical views nor accurate discrimination of character; but confine themselves chiefly to a mere chronological record of events. The work of Bohaddin is written with some spirit, and, at the same time, is free from that verbose and empty inflation which deforms the compositions of some of his contemporaries. Whatever relates to Saladin, breathes, of course, the highest tone of panegyric; yet the enthusiasm with which every thing about him is narrated, and the anecdotes which the author, from his own personal knowledge, is able to communicate respecting that extraordinary character, give his work a great degree of interest. (e.)