Abà « al-Ḥasan Bakrë is the purported author of several Islamic works in Arabic, most notably a biography of Muḥammad entitled KitÃÂb al-anwÃÂr ('Book of Lights'). There is no consensus regarding his historicity (whether he lived) or his floruit (when he lived).
Franz Rosenthal, Boaz Shoshan and Frederick Colby all accept that Bakrë existed, at least as a working hypothesis. The question of his existence is unresolved because many of the works attributed to him remain unpublished and unanalyzed. The main competing eras for Bakrë's life are the ninth and thirteenth centuries AD.
The earliest Islamic biographical dictionary to have an entry on Bakrë is that of al-Dhahabë, who died in 1348. The AnwÃÂr cites authors who wrote in the second half of the 13th century, and there is a dated manuscript of the work from 1295. Accepting that Bakrë was the final compiler or rÃÂwë (transmitter) of the AnwÃÂr, Rosenthal argued that he wrote in the late thirteenth century. On the other hand, there is a citation to a certain Abà « al-Ḥasan ÿAbd AllÃÂh al-Bakrë in the KitÃÂb badÿ al-khalq wa-qiá¹£aá¹£ al-anbiyÃÂþ of , who died in 902. This passage appears to be drawn from the AnwÃÂr. Boaz Shoshan argues that the historical Bakrë lived in the ninth century and wrote the AnwÃÂr, which was later expanded by others, a position earlier argued by Giorgio Levi della Vida. Other later works are misattributed to him. Shoshan rejects the view that Bakrë is a mere "literary invention" of the later Middle Ages.
Little is known of Bakrë, which may explain his absence from early dictionaries. He may have been from or active in Baṣra, since he is sometimes called the "Baṣran preacher". Ibn Taymiyya calls him an Ashÿarë.
Six works are attributed to Bakrë by al-Dhahabë:
At least thirty more are known from various archives. These are mostly fictional novelesque treatments of the early Muslim conquests, that is, maghÃÂzë, although a mawlid (poem in praise of Muḥammad) is also attributed to him. Not all of these attributions to him are genuine.
The Arabic KitÃÂb al-anwÃÂr survives in over a dozen manuscript, mostly from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The earliest copy was made in Dénia in 1295 and is now shelfmark Borg. ar. 125 in the Vatican Library. Part of the AnwÃÂr, or else one of its source texts, was translated into Latin in 1142âÂÂ1143 by Herman of Carinthia under the title Liber de generatione Mahumet et nutritura eius ('Book of Muḥammad's Genealogy and his Nurturing'), as part of the project now known as the Corpus Islamolatinum sponsored by the Abbey of Cluny. The Latin version survives in at least 23 manuscripts of the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. Hermann worked in the city of León. The AnwÃÂr also circulated in Spain in aljamiado form, that is, translated into Andalusi Romance and written in Arabic script, under the title El Libro de las luces. It is known from at least five manuscripts.
The AnwÃÂr is an account of the genealogy of Muḥammad and of his early life down to the start of his mabÿath (mission). A major element is the nà «r Muḥammadë, Muḥammad's special light or essence, which is primordial and transmitted from Adam to him. Although this doctrine was accepted by Sunnës, it played a much larger role in Shëÿism. The AnwÃÂr describes the creation of the light by Gabriel through the mixing of a white substance (qabá¸Âa bayá¸ÂÃÂþ) with dust from the ground where Muḥammad's grave will lie. It was then washed in Tasnëm and the other springs of Paradise before being deposited in Adam.
The AnwÃÂr was written for a popular audience, includes many myths and legends and diverges in many ways from more traditional accounts. It includes an account of the Ethiopian siege of Mecca. The earliest surviving version (from 1295) ends with Muḥammad entering the service of Khadëja, while the fuller early modern editions end with their marriage.
Works attributed to Bakrë were popular, but Islamic scholars had a low opinion of him. According to al-Dhahabë, he was a "liar and swindler" and "inventor of stories", but popular in the bookshops of Damascus. Subsequent scholars are equally scathing in their assessments. Writing a little later in the same century, Ibn Kathër, compares the Sërat al-Bakrë (i.e., the KitÃÂb al-anwÃÂr) to the popular romances (sëra shaÿbiyya), such as Sërat Dhëþl-himma waþl-Baá¹Âá¹ÂÃÂl, Sërat ÿAntar and Sërat al-Danif. He describe's Bakrë's "lies" as "an offence and a grave sin". Al-á¹¢afadë, who died in 1363, refers to his "unsurpassed lies". In the fifteenth century, al-ÿAsqalÃÂnë wrote that "there is not even one accurate description of a single one of Muḥammad's expeditions" in Bakrë's works. They are also condemned by and al-Qalqashandë, who considered him an archetypal liar. In the sixteenth century, Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamë issued a fatwàforbidding their reading.