Deaths of Eminent Men and the Sons of the Epoch

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wafayat al-A'yan
AuthorIbn Khallikan
CountryIraq
LanguageArabic
SubjectHistory, Biography
Publication date
13th century

Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch (

Arabic: وفيات الأعيان وأنباء أبناء الزمان, romanized: Wafayāt al-Aʿyān wa-Anbāʾ Abnāʾ al-Zamān), is an eight-volume biographical reference dictionary of Islamic scholarship and literature authored by Ibn Khallikan and completed in 1274.[1]

Content

Ibn Khallikan collected 860 of leading personalities and scholars.

caliphs, it is primarily a literary work. The author selected authentic material for his biographies and with his intelligence and scholarship, he decided to write with an elegant language enriched with poetry and anecdotes of Muslim life. His book served as a valuable reference for his contemporaries and carries fragments from earlier biographies that no longer exist.[1][3]

Translation

An English translation by William McGuckin de Slane, in four volumes, published between 1801 and 1878, runs to over 2,700 pages.[4]

Reception

The British scholar Reynold A. Nicholson called it the "best general biography ever written".[5]

Influence

Ibn Khalikan's work influenced and encouraged two of his contemporary historians to follow his path: Al-Kutabi al-Halabi (d. 764.1326), who finished Ibn Khalikan's work with his work Fatwat al-Watfayat composing of 506 biographies: and Al-Safadi who wrote a book called Al-Wafi bi'l-Wafayat composing around 14,000 biographies. Finally, Al-Dimashqi (d. 726/1326 who authored Nukhbat ad-dahr fi 'aja'ib al-Barr Wal-Bahr.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Ibn Khallikān". 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  2. ^ a b El Hareir, Idris; Mbaye, Ravane (2011). The Spread of Islam Throughout the World. UNESCO Pub. p. 295.
  3. ISBN 9780786447138
    .
  4. ^ "Ibn Khallikan". Humanistic Texts.org. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  5. ISBN 0810861615
    .
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