Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm bin Abū Bakr ibn Khallikān[a][3] (Arabic: أحمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن أبي بكر ابن خلكان; 22 September 1211 – 30 October 1282), better known as Ibn Khallikān, was a renowned Islamic historian who compiled the celebrated biographical encyclopedia of Muslim scholars and important men in Muslim history, Deaths of Eminent Men and the Sons of the Epoch (Arabic: وفيات الأعيان وأنباء أبناء الزمان, romanized: wafayāt al-ʾaʿyān wa-ʾanbāʾ ʾabnāʾ al-zamān).[4] Due to this achievement, he is regarded as the most eminent writer of biographies in Islamic history.[5]
Shams al-Dīn Abū Al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Khallikān | |
|---|---|
ابن خلكان | |
| Title | Chief Judge |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 22 September 1211 |
| Died | 30 October 1282 (aged 71) |
| Region | Middle East |
| Notable work(s) | Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i[1] |
| Creed | Ash'ari[2] |
Life
editIbn Khallikān was born in Erbil on 22 September 1211 (11 Rabīʿ al-Thānī 608 AH). He was an Arabic biographer[6] from an Arab family[7] that claimed descent from the Barmakids.[8] However, Ibn Khallikān's family has also been described to be of Kurdish origin, specifically from the Kurdish Zarzārī tribe,[9] as the family name ("Ibn Khallikān") originated from a village near Erbil and was formed "according to the Kurdish manner" (ʿalā ṭarīq al-nisba al-kurdiyya).[10]
His primary studies took him from Erbil, to Aleppo and to Damascus,[11] before he took up jurisprudence in Mosul and then in Cairo, where he settled.[12] He gained prominence as a jurist, theologian and grammarian.[12] 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."[13]
He married in 1252[12] and was assistant to the chief judge in Egypt until 1261, when he assumed the position of chief judge in Damascus.[11] He lost this position in 1271 and returned to Egypt, where he taught until being reinstated as judge in Damascus in 1278.[11] He retired in 1281[12] and died in Damascus on 30 October 1282 (Saturday, 26th of Rajab 681).[11]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ↑ Lewis, B.; Menage, V.L.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (1986) [1st pub. 1971]. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III (H-Iram) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 832. ISBN 978-9004081185.
- ↑ Schmidtke, Sabine (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford University Press. p. 556. ISBN 9780199696703.
- ↑ Fück, J.W. "Ibn Khallikan". Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_3248.
- ↑ "Ibn Khallikan". Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ↑ El Hareir, Idris; Mbaye, Ravane (2011). The Spread of Islam Throughout the World. UNESCO Pub. p. 295.
- ↑ "Ibn Khallikan". Columbia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Barmaki al-Irbili ash-Shafii, 1211–82,Arabic biographer, born in Erbil, Iraq. Ibn Khallikan lived and served as a judge and scholar in Mamluk Egypt and Syria.
- ↑ "Ibn Khallikān". Universalis. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
Born in Irbil (Arbela in eastern Mesopotamia) to a prominent Arab family, Ibn Khallikān spent most of his life in Syria
- ↑ "Ibn Khallikān". Encyclopedia of Islam. Brill. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm Abu 'l-ʿAbbās Shams al-Dīn al-Barmakī al-Irbilī al-Shāfiʿī, Arabic biographer, born 11 Rabīʿ II 608/22 September 1211 at Irbil in a respectable family that claimed descent from the Barmakids.
- ↑ James, Boris (2021). Genèse du Kurdistan: Les Kurdes dans l'Orient mamelouk et mongol (1250-1340) (in French). Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne. pp. 902–910, §71. doi:10.4000/books.psorbonne.108635. ISBN 979-10-351-0572-3.
La deuxième famille kurde et probablement zarzārī la plus importante... est la famille d'Ibn Ḫallikān." (The second Kurdish family—and probably the most important Zarzārī one... is the Ibn Khallikān family.)
- ↑ James, Boris (2021). Genèse du Kurdistan: Les Kurdes dans l'Orient mamelouk et mongol (1250-1340) (in French). Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne. pp. 902–910, §74. doi:10.4000/books.psorbonne.108635. ISBN 979-10-351-0572-3.
"Dans la notice d'Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar... l'oncle de Šams al-Dīn, il est indiqué que le nom d'Ibn Ḫallikān venait... « à la manière de la nisba kurde [ʿala ṭarīq al-nisba al-kurdiyya] »." (In the notice of Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar... the uncle of Shams al-Dīn, it is indicated that the name Ibn Khallikān came... "in the manner of the Kurdish nisba.")
- 1 2 3 4 "Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Ibn Khallikān". 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ibn Khallikan". Humanistic Texts.org. Archived from the original on 20 October 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ↑ Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, p.139. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810861615.
Bibliography
edit- Ibn Khallikan (1842–1871). Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, Translated from the Arabic (4 vols.). Translated by Baron Mac Guckin de Slane. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.