Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maḳdisī (10 January 1203 – 13 June 1267) was an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

historian. Abū Shāma was born in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, where he passed his whole life save for one year in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, a fortnight in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and two pilgrimages to the Ḥijāz. He was an eyewitness to and provides the most precise information about the siege of Damascus in May–June 1229. He received a diverse

Sunnī Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

education and wrote on a variety of topics. In 1263, he became a professor in the Damascene

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s of al-Rukniyya and al-Ashrafiyya. He died five years later in Damascus. Five works by Abū Shāma survive. All the rest have been lost, some in a fire that destroyed his library. He is best known today for his three historical writings, especially his two volumes on

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in the

Zengid The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turkic origin, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia on behalf of the Seljuk Empire and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli ...

and

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...

periods: *''Kitāb al-rawḍatayn fī akhbār al-dawlatayn al-Nūriyya wa-l-Ṣalāḥiyya'' (The Book of the Two Gardens, Concerning Affairs of the Reigns of Nūr al-Dīn and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn), a chronological account of the reigns of Nūr al-Dīn (1146–1174) and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (1174–1193). He is careful to cite his sources. His main ones are ''al-Barḳ al-Shāmī'' of ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī, ''Sīrat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn'' of

Ibn Abī Ṭayy Ibn Abi Tayyi (Arabic: إبن أبي طيء) Yaḥyā Abū Zakariyyā ibn Ḥamīd al-Najjār (1180–1228) was a Shi'i historian and poet from Aleppo. Known for his ''Universal History,'' which is mostly lost, and is known to us through excerpts ...

and the epistles (''Rasāʾil'') of al-Ḳāḍī al-Fāḍil. He usually quotes his sources verbatim, with the exception of ʿImād al-Dīn. *''al-Dhayl ʿalaʾl-rawḍatayn'' (Sequel to the Two Gardens), a continuation of the previous work down to contemporary events. His main source in the first part is the ''Mirʾāt al-Zamān'' of

Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī Shams al-Din Abu al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn Kizoghlu (c. 581AH/1185–654AH/1256), famously known as Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī ( ar, سبط ابن الجوزي ) was a notable preacher and historian. Title He is the grandson of the great Hanbali scholar A ...

and in the second part himself as eyewitness. *''Taʾrīkh Dimashḳ'' (History of Damascus), a summary of the eponymous work of

Ibn ʿAsākir Ibn Asakir ( ar-at, ابن عساكر, Ibn ‘Asākir; 1105–c. 1176) was a Syrian Sunni Islamic scholar, who was one of the most renowned experts on Hadith and Islamic history in the medieval era. and a disciple of the Sufi mystic Abu al-Najib ...

(died 1175). It survives in two versions. Abū Shāma's works are important sources for the history of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. There are partial translations in French and German. Abū Shāma also wrote commentaries on: *the ''Ḳaṣīda al-Shāṭibiyya'' of al-Shāṭibī (died 1194) *seven poems on

Muḥammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

by his teacher ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (died 1245)

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* * * {{Authority control 1203 births 1267 deaths People from Damascus 13th-century Syrian historians