An Ayyubid Notable and His World: Ibn Al-'adīm and Aleppo as Portrayed in His Biographical Dictionary of People Associated with the City (Islamic History and Civilization)

This book examines the life and milieu of the thirteenth-century northern Syrian statesman and author Ibn al-'Adīm, as reflected in his principal work, the dictionary of people associated with his native Aleppo, the Bughyat al-ṭalab fī ta'rīkh ḥalab . The book is an examination of the text, in particular Ibn al-'Adīm's biographies of his contemporaries, and a discussion of topics suggested by the material. These include the influence of different groups within Aleppo, why and how the dictionary was written, and the personality of the author himself. The study adds social, literary and human dimensions to our knowledge of the place and period. It is also a lucid guide to a long neglected source, the extant Arabic text which has only recently been published in full. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Note 12 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Ibn al-ʿAdīm and the Bughyat al-ṭalab fi taʾrīkh Ḥalab 14 1.2 Northern Syria in Ibn al-ʿAdīm’s lifetime 15 1.3 The Bughyah: form and content 19 1.4 The Bughyah and the development of Arabic prosopography 20 1.5 The Bughyah: possibilities and constraints 26 2 Selected Contemporary Notices 33 2.1 Choice and presentation 33 2.2 List of subjects 36 2.3 Notices 38 3 The world of the Bughyah 135 3.1 The religious notables of Aleppo and the ruler 135 3.2 Landlords 138 3.3 Schoolmen 143 3.4 Mystics 150 4 The Bughyah: official reflections 157 5 The gathering of the Bughyah 164 5.1 Ibn al-ʿAdīm’s diplomatic travels 164 5.2 The work of a grand collector 167 6 The penning of the Bughyah 179 6.1 The writing up of a lifetime’s collecting 179 6.2 The later history of the manuscripts 187 7 The Bughyah: personal reflections 189 7 .1 Likes and dislikes 189 7 .2 Theory and practice 200 7.3 An anthologer’s style 205 8 Conclusion 209 Appendices 212 A. Publishing history of the Bughyah 212 B. Re-ordered list of the contents of the topographical introduction 215 Bibliography 219 Indices 231 INDEX TO PEOPLE 231 INDEX TO PLACES 238 INDEX TO TITLES 243 INDEX TO TOPICS IN THE SELECTED CONTEMPORARY NOTICES 244

This book examines the life and milieu of the thirteenth-century northern Syrian statesman and author Ibn al-‘Adīm, as reflected in his principal work, the dictionary of people associated with his native Aleppo, the Bughyat al-ṭalab fī ta’rīkh ḥalab.
The book is an examination of the text, in particular Ibn al-‘Adīm's biographies of his contemporaries, and a discussion of topics suggested by the material. These include the influence of different groups within Aleppo, why and how the dictionary was written, and the personality of the author himself.
The study adds social, literary and human dimensions to our knowledge of the place and period. It is also a lucid guide to a long neglected source, the extant Arabic text which has only recently been published in full.

This book examines the life and milieu of the thirteenth-century northern Syrian statesman and author Ibn al-Adim, as reflected in his principal work, the dictionary of people associated with his native Aleppo, the Bughyat al-talab fi tarikh Halab. The book is an examination of the text, in particular Ibn al-Adim's biographies of his contemporaries, and a discussion of topics suggested by the material. These include the influence of different groups within Aleppo, why and how the dictionary was written, and the personality of the author himself. The study adds social, literary and human dimensions to our knowledge of the place and period. It is also a lucid guide to a long neglected source, the extant Arabic text of which has only recently been published in full. This study of a long neglected source and its author adds significantly to our knowledge of northern Syria on the eve of the Mongol invasion. It is also an invaluable guide to the recently published Arabic text.