Ibn al-Athîr al-Jazarî

Author of al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh · The Greatest Historian of Islam · 1160 – 1233 CE — ʿAli ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Shaybani al-Jazari, known as Ibn al-Athir, was a Kurdish historian from Jazirat ibn ʿUmar in Botan. He ranks among the greatest historians of Islam and is the author of al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh, the broadest historical encyclopedia composed before the thirteenth century.

Historical Overview

  • Rise to Power: Born in Jazirat ibn ʿUmar on the Tigris to a learned Kurdish family of the Shayban, he moved with his father to Mosul, where he studied hadith, jurisprudence, and history. He frequented the Zengid atabeg court at Mosul and accompanied Saladin on several of his Syrian campaigns.
  • Achievements: He composed al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh in twelve volumes, covering world history from the Creation to the year 1231. He wrote Usd al-Ghāba fī Maʿrifat al-Ṣaḥāba in seven volumes, the most important biographical dictionary of the Prophet's companions, and al-Lubāb fī Tahdhīb al-Ansāb on Arab genealogy.
  • Significance to the Kurds and Medes: Ibn al-Athir is the memory of the Islamic East. No historian of the Crusades, the Mongol conquests, or the Zengid and Ayyubid states can do without al-Kāmil. He is the Kurd who preserved the history of the region for the world.

Timeline

  1. 1160 CE — His Birth: Born in Jazirat ibn ʿUmar, north of Mosul.
  2. c. 1180 CE — To Mosul: He moved with his father and settled there.
  3. 1188 CE — In the Service of Saladin: He accompanied the Ayyubid army on its Syrian campaigns.
  4. c. 1210 CE — Usd al-Ghāba: He completed his great dictionary of the Prophet's companions.
  5. 1231 CE — Completion of al-Kāmil: He finished the last volume of al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh.
  6. 1233 CE — His Death: He died in Mosul and was buried there.

Battles & Achievements

  • al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh: The most comprehensive Islamic historical encyclopedia: twelve volumes spanning 4,600 years.
  • Usd al-Ghāba: A complete seven-volume dictionary of 7,554 male and female companions of the Prophet.
  • al-Lubāb fī Tahdhīb al-Ansāb: An abridgement of al-Samʿani's Kitāb al-Ansāb and a standard reference in Arab genealogy.
  • al-Tārīkh al-Bāhir on the Atabeg State: A detailed history of the Zengid atabegs of Mosul.

The Lands of Ibn al-Athir

  • Jazirat ibn ʿUmar — His birthplace on the Tigris.
  • Mosul — His adopted city and burial place.
  • Baghdad — A station of his scholarly journey.
  • Aleppo — He visited it in the service of the Zengids and the Ayyubids.
  • Damascus — A stop on Saladin's campaigns.
  • Jerusalem — He witnessed its liberation after Hattin.

Quotes & Legacy

  • History is the mirror of nations: whoever does not see himself in it is lost. — From the preface to al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh.
  • Among the Kurds I have seen only courage, chivalry, and generosity. — In his description of Saladin's men.
  • It was a tremendous year, the like of which the world had never seen — a foreboding of the Mongol fall of Baghdad, before he lived to see it. — A premonition recorded in al-Kāmil.

LEGACY

  • Al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh has been printed dozens of times and its volumes translated into English, French, and Russian. Scarcely a university in the East is without a copy. Schools and colleges in Mosul, Hewlêr, and Damascus bear his name, and Western scholarship on the Crusades rests above all on his testimony.

SOURCES

  • D. S. Richards · The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr for the Crusading Period · 2006-2008 · Ashgate, 3 vols
  • Carl Brockelmann · Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur · 1937 · Brill, Leiden
  • Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) — Ibn al-Athīr · Brill
  • ابن خلكان · وفيات الأعيان · 1274 م