Fanāʾ

For Fanāʾ, a total of 8 epidemic events are known so far. It is a disease. See also Diseases.

Table

Page	DateStart date of the disease.	SummarySummary of the disease event	OriginalOriginal text	TranslationEnglish translation of the text	ReferenceReference(s) to literature	Reference translationReference(s) to the translation
1300-09-16-Egypt	1300 ^JL	Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle in Egypt in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301). A lot of cattle died. Subsequently, water wheels could not be operated anymore, draft animals were lacking in farming, and cattle prices hiked. Sugar cane could not be cultivated, thus sugar prices rose. (A marginal note in one manuscript adds: It was related that an elder [shaykh min ahl al-filāḥa] from Ushmūm [Ashmūn al-Rummān, in the Nile Delta] lost all but eight of his 1,011 Khaysiyya cows to the disease.)	File:1300-09-16-Egypt.png		Baybars al-Mansuri - Zubdat al-fikra 1998, p. 351	Translation needed
1300-09-16-Egypt 2	1300 ^JL	Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle, mainly in Egypt, in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301). Cattle prices hiked. Subsequently, water wheels could not be operated with cattle anymore. Sugar cane could not be cultivated and sugar prices hiked.	File:1300-09-16-Egypt 2.png	Template:TN	al-Mufaḍḍal 1919-1929, pt. 3, p. 30	None
1300-09-16-Egypt 3	1300 ^JL	Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle in Egypt in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301) that killed a great number of cows. It was related that the disease had killed 1,003 out of 1,021 Khaysiyya cows of an elder (shaykh) of Ushmūm-Ṭanāḥ (Ashmūn al-Rummān, in the Nile Delta). Cattle prices hiked and water wheels could not be operated with cattle anymore.			Al-Nuwayri - Nihayat al-arab 1964-1998, vol. 31, ed. by Albāz al-ʿArīnī and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ahwānī, Cairo 1992, p. 416	Translation needed
1303-08-00-Syria	August 1303 ^JL	Horse epidemic (fanāʾ) in Syria in 703 AH (August 1303 - August 1304) which killed a majority of the Syrian horse population; the author who lived in Damascus during those days lost all of his horses (ten or more) to the illness; before the epidemic, horses in Syria had been abundant and easily available; due to the epidemic, horses became scarse and their price increased sixfold.	File:1303-08-00-Syria.jpg		al-Nuwayri - Nihayat al-arab 1964-1998, vol. 32 (ed. by Fahīm Muḥammad ʿUlwī Shaltūt, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ahwānī, and Saʿīd ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ ʿĀshūr, 1998), p. 78	Translation needed
1348-04-00-Middle East	April 1348 ^JL	From April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented plague hit the Middle East, and lasted about a year, and one third of Greater Syria’s and Egypt’s population died.		The Black Death in the Middle East: In the year 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented wave of plague hit the Middle East. It was the sixth plague which affected the Middle East in the Islamic period. It was called the Kinship Plague (Ṭāʿūn al-Ansāb) since the decease of a person was often followed by the death of some of his or her relatives. People developed pustules, spat yellow blood and died within 50 hours. When people started spitting blood they would bid farewell to their friends, close their shops, their burial would be prepared, and they would die in their homes. The daily death toll reached a maximum of ca. 500 in Aleppo, more than 1,000 in Damascus, and ca. 20,000 in Egypt. Mostly women, youths, poor people, and riffraff died. The plague wave lasted about a year, and ca. one third of Greater Syria’s (Shām) and Egypt’s population died.	Ibn Ḥabīb - Tadhkirat al-nabīh 1976-1986, vol. 3 (1986), pp. 110-112	Translation by Undine Ott
1348-10-00-Damascus	7 October 1348 ^JL	On October 7, 1348 the number of people who had died of plague and were prayed for at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus reached 150 or more; not included were inhabitants of the outskirts of the city and members of the protected religious minorities (ahl al-dhimma) whose bodies were not brought to the Umayyad Mosque. It was said that on many days, casualties in the outskirts of Damascus (ḥawāḍir al-balad) reached more than 1,000. On October 7, a dust storm reached Damascus; people prayed to God and ask for this to be the end of the plague; things only got worse afterwards, though. On Miʿrāj Night (October 21), not as many people as usual gathered in the Umayyad Mosque because so many people had died of plague and many more were occupied caring for the sick and the deceased. In the beginning of Shaʿbān 749 H (the month began on October 25), many people were infected with plague (fanāʾ), and often there would be a bad smell in the city.	... ...		Ibn Kathīr - Al-Bidāya wa-l-nihāya 1997-1999, vol. 18 (1998), pp. 507-508.	Translation needed
1361-10-00-Egypt	October 1361 ^JL	A deadly disease (fanāʾ) hit Cairo, Alexandria and further places in 763 H (October 31, 1361 to October 19, 1362). Many people died.		"In the year 763 AH (1362-1363 AD), a plague struck Egypt, Alexandria, and other places, causing the death of many people. In the year 775 AH (1373-1374 AD), a calamity befell in Ben Saghta. (3) In Ben: many people died. (4) In: the number increased in Ben and decreased elsewhere. (5) Among the original inhabitants, many died, and in Ben, the number increased and decreased elsewhere."	al-Nuwayrī - Kitāb al-Ilmām 1968-1976, vol. 4 (1970), p. 127.	Translation by ChatGPT-3.5
1374-03-16-Alexandria	March 1374 ^JL	Many people, mainly children, died of plague (ṭāʿūn, fanāʾ, wabāʾ) in Alexandria from Shawwāl 775 H (March 16 to April 14, 1374) to Rabīʿ I 776 H (August 10, 1374 to September 8, 1374). Up to 200 people died per day. In Shawwāl, 7,000 people perished within three days. In 775 H (1373), the Nile had failed to reach the necessary gauge (wafāʾ) during the summer flood, and many fields in Egypt could not be cultivated. Prices for grain and other foodstuffs rose in Egypt. Prices remained high also during the following year (776 H: June 13, 1374 to June 1, 1375) despite a sufficient Nile flood and the availability of grain. People became impoverished and died of hunger due to the rise in prices while grain merchants (khazzān) made huge profits. Finally, people revolted against inflation and famine. Plague came on top of famine. In Alexandria, 17,000 people reportedly died of plague, 12,000 of whom were male and female children. [...]	... ... ...		al-Nuwayrī - Kitāb al-Ilmām 1968-1976, vol. 3 (1970), pp. 253-254; vol. 4 (1970), p. 127-129; 143; vol. 6 (1973), pp. 423-425.	Translation needed