The Bal'ami family was a Persian family native to Khorasan and Transoxiana. The most famous members were Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami (d. 940) and his son Muhammad Bal'ami (d. 974).

Although some sources state that they were of Arab origin, they were most likely of Persian origin, and were originally the mawla of the Tamim tribe. The family later claimed to be of noble Arab origin in order to raise their prestige.

Sources

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  • Ashraf, Ahmad (2006). "Iranian identity iii. Medieval Islamic period". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XIII, Fasc. 5. pp. 507–522.
  • Frye, R.N. (1975). "The Sāmānids". In Frye, R.N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 136–161. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
  • Khalegi-Motlagh, Dj. (1989). "AMĪRAK BALʿAMĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 9. pp. 971–972. Archived from the original on 2012-11-17.
  • Yarshater, Ehsan; Melville, Charles (2012). Persian Historiography: History of Persian Literature A, Volume 10. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–400. ISBN 9780857721402.
  • Zadeh, Travis (2016). "al-Balʿamī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.