On Ishmael being the first to ride horses
[Updated on September 12, 2019]
From the Nasiri book (1333 CE), citing al-Waqidi (d. 823 CE)
Al Waqidi recited that the first to ride horses after Adam was Ishmael son of Abraham peace be upon them; and after Adam, they had become wild, untamed, until they were subjected to Ishmael who rode them, and he is [missing words here] the Arab [horses].
From Jarr al-Dhayl fi ‘ilm al-Khayl, by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505 CE)
Al Waqidi said, after Muslim ibn Jundub [al-Hudhali, d. 724 CE]: the first to ride horses was Ishmael son of Abraham, peace be upon them; they were wild, untamed, until they were subjected to him.
Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar [al-Qurashi, d. 870 CE] said, in the “Lineages”, after Ibn ‘Abbas: horses were wild and could not be ridden, so the first who rode them was Ishmael, so for this they were named al-‘Iraab.
Al-‘Iraab could be translated as “Arab horses”.
This quote occurs verbatim in al-Waqidi (d.823 CE), which cites Muslim ibn Jundub as a source. It also occurs in the book al-Anssaab of al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, but with Ibn ‘Abbas (d. 687 CE) as a source this time.
It also occurs in Ibn al-Kalbi (d. 819 CE) after al-Waqidi after Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Hudhali after Muslim ibn Jundub.
Do any of these older sources survive still, or are they relayed as epitomes and fragments by other scholars and writers like al-Waqidi and al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar?
@ Kate: we have copies that we think are pretty complete of the work of ibn al-Kalbi and also al-Waqidi.
Those are pretty early as well. However, the transmission process before that was generally aural, and often only supported by notebooks. Fragments of notebooks are sometimes surfacing in other works, but most really early stuff that gets cited is mentioned as “7addatha” which means they obtained the information through recital. Which is considered a reliable transmission method in Islamic knowledge.
When a text says “qaal” which means “said” we can conclude that the writer did not obtain the info aurally, rather shows a possibility that it was obtained through a notebook.
It is fairly hard to pin down a “first” in the transmission process, however in this case i think it would be Muslim ibn Jundub, and i dont know yet if he left us anything in writing. Chances are slim.