Ibn Abd al-Zahir (; 1223–1293) was an Egyptian chancery scribe, poet and historian during the Mamluk period. Several of his works survive, including three biographies of the early Mamluk sultans Baybars, al-Mansur Qalawun and al-Ashraf Khalil. In addition, a diwan of his poetry survives, as does a collection of letters written by Saladin's vizier al-QÃÂá¸Âë al-FÃÂá¸Âil which he compiled, and parts of a geographical work entitled KitÃÂb al-Rawá¸Âah al-Bahëyah which was used extensively by the later historian Al-Maqrizi for his work "Al-MawÃÂÿiẠwa-l-iþtibÃÂr bi-dhikr al-khiá¹Âaá¹ wa al-athÃÂr." His son Fath al-Din Ibn Abd al-Zahir and grandson Ala al-Din Ibn Abd al-Zahir were also important chancery scribes of the Mamluk period, as was his nephew Shafiþ ibn þAli who also wrote three surviving biographies of sultans Baybars, Qalawun and al-Nasir Muhammad.
Writings
- al-RawḠal-zÃÂhir fë sërat al-Malik al-áºÂÃÂhir (ed. ÿAbd al-ÿAzëz al-Khuwayá¹Âir, Riyadh, 1976; partial English translation in Baybars I of Egypt, ed. Syedah Fatima Sadequi, London, 1958))
- Tashrëf al-ayyÃÂm wa-l-ÿuá¹£Ã
«r bi-sërat al-Malik al-Maná¹£Ã
«r (ed. Murad KÃÂmil, Cairo, 1961)
- al-Alá¹ÂÃÂf al-khafiyya min al-sëra al-sharëfa al-sulá¹ÂÃÂniyya al-Malikiyya al-Ashrafiyya, published in Ur ÿAbd Allah B. ÿAbd eáºÂ-áºÂâhirâÂÂs biografi over sultanen el-malik al-AÃ
Âraf Halîl (ed. Axel Moberg, Lund, 1902)
- Al-Durr an-naáºÂëm min tarassul ÿAbd al-Raḥëm (ed. Aḥmad Aḥmad Badawë, Cairo, 1959)
- al-Rawá¸Âa l-bahiyya al-zÃÂhira fë khiá¹Âaá¹ al-Muÿizziyya l-QÃÂhira (ed. Ayman FuþÃÂd Sayyid, Cairo, 1996).
- DëwÃÂn: DirÃÂsa wa-taḥqëq (ed. Gharëb Muḥammad ÿAlë Aḥmad, Cairo, 1990)
References
- Bauden, F., "Ibn þAbd al-áºÂÃÂhir" Encyclopaedia of Islam III (2017)
- Pedersen, J., "Ibn ÿAbd al-áºÂÃÂhir" Encyclopaedia of Islam II (1972), 679–680.
- Amitai, Reuven, "Ibn ÿAbd al-áºÂÃÂhir, Muḥyë al-Dën (1223-1292)." A Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing. ed. Woolf, D. R., New York and London: Garland Publishing, (1998) 435f.
- Richards, D. S., "Ibn ÿAbd al-áºÂÃÂhir (620-92/1223-92)." Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, Routledge (1998), p. 303.
- StrauáºÂ, E., "Muḥyîþddîn b. ÿAbdaáºÂáºÂâhir." Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 45, (1938), 191-202.
External links