Ibn Khallikan
Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm Abu ’l-ʿAbbās S̲h̲ams al-Dīn al-Barmakī al-Irbilī al-S̲h̲āfiʿī, ibn Khallikān[2] (1211 – 1282) was a 13th century Shafi'i Islamic scholar who compiled the celebrated biographical encyclopedia of Muslim scholars and important men in Muslim history, Wafayāt al-Aʿyān wa-Anbāʾ Abnāʾ az-Zamān ('Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch').[3]
Shams al-Dīn Abū Al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Khallikān (ابن خلكان) | |
|---|---|
| Title | Chief Judge |
| Personal | |
| Born | September 22, 1211 |
| Died | October 30, 1282 (aged 71) |
| Religion | Islam |
| Region | Middle East |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i[1] |
| Notable work(s) | Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch |
Life
Ibn Khallikān was born in Erbil on September 22, 1211 (11 Rabī’ al-Thānī, 608), into a respectable family that claimed descent from Barmakids,[2] an Iranian dynasty of Balkhi origin.[4] His primary studies took him from Arbil, to Aleppo and to Damascus,[5] before he took up jurisprudence in Mosul and then in Cairo, where he settled.[6] He gained prominence as a jurist, theologian and grammarian.[6] An early biographer described him as "a pious man, virtuous, and learned; amiable in temper, in conversation serious and instructive. His exterior was highly prepossessing, his countenance handsome and his manners engaging."[7]
He married in 1252[6] and was assistant to the chief judge in Egypt until 1261, when he assumed the position of chief judge in Damascus.[5] He lost this position in 1271 and returned to Egypt, where he taught until being reinstated as judge in Damascus in 1278.[5] He retired in 1281[6] and died in Damascus on October 30, 1282 (Saturday, 26th of Rajab 681).[5]
Deaths of Eminent Men and the Sons of the Epoch
Beginning in 1256, Deaths of Eminent Men and the Sons of the Epoch,[5][8] an eight-volume biographical reference dictionary of Islamic scholarship and literature was completed in 1274.[5] Khallikān documented the lives of notable cultural figures, the celebrated writers, scientists, religious and legal scholars. Complementary to the popular religio-political biographies of the Prophet Muhammad and of the caliphs, it is primarily a literary work.[5] An English translation by William McGuckin de Slane, in four volumes, published between 1801–1878, runs to over 2,700 pages.[9][6] The British scholar Reynold A. Nicholson called it the "best general biography ever written".[7]
References
- Lewis, B.; Menage, V.L.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (1986) [1st pub. 1971]. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume III (H-Iram) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 832. ISBN 978-9004081185.
- J.W., Fück. "Ibn Khallikan". Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_3248. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - https://www.humanistictexts.org/ibn_khallikan.htm
- Frye, R. N.; Fisher, William Bayne; Frye, Richard Nelson; Avery, Peter; Boyle, John Andrew; Gershevitch, Ilya; Jackson, Peter (1975-06-26). The Cambridge History of Iran. ISBN 9780521200936.
- "Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Ibn Khallikān". 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
- "Ibn Khallikan". Humanistic Texts.org. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
- Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, p.139. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810861615.
- Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-anbāʾ abnāʾ az-zamān
- Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary
