Ibn Khallikan

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
Born	22 September 1211 Erbil
Died	30 October 1282(1282-10-30) (aged 71) Damascus, Mamluk Sultanate
Religion	Islam
Region	Middle East
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Shafi'i[1]
Creed	Ash'ari[2]
Notable work(s)	Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch

Life

Ibn Khallikān was born in Erbil on 22 September 1211 (11 Rabī’ al-Thānī, 608), into a family that claimed descent from Barmakids,^[3] an Iranian dynasty from Balkh.^[6]

His primary studies took him from Erbil, to Aleppo and to Damascus,^[7] before he took up jurisprudence in Mosul and then in Cairo, where he settled.^[8] He gained prominence as a jurist, theologian and grammarian.^[8] 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."^[9]

He married in 1252^[8] and was assistant to the chief judge in Egypt until 1261, when he assumed the position of chief judge in Damascus.^[7] He lost this position in 1271 and returned to Egypt, where he taught until being reinstated as judge in Damascus in 1278.^[7] He retired in 1281^[8] and died in Damascus on 30 October 1282 (Saturday, 26th of Rajab 681).^[7]

Notes

1. Also known as Abū ʾl-ʿAbbās S̲h̲ams al-Dīn al-Barmakī al-Irbilī al-S̲h̲āfiʿī (Arabic: أبو العباس شمس الدين البرمكي الأربلي الشافعي)

References

1. 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.
2. Schmidtke, Sabine (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford University Press. p. 556. ISBN 9780199696703.
3. J.W., Fück. "Ibn Khallikan". Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_3248.
4. "Ibn Khallikan". Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
5. El Hareir, Idris; Mbaye, Ravane (2011). The Spread of Islam Throughout the World. UNESCO Pub. p. 295.
6. Frye, R. N.; Fisher, William Bayne; Frye, Richard Nelson; Avery, Peter; Boyle, John Andrew; Gershevitch, Ilya; Jackson, Peter (26 June 1975). The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521200936.
7. "Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Ibn Khallikān". 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
8. "Ibn Khallikan". Humanistic Texts.org. Archived from the original on 20 October 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
9. Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, p.139. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810861615.

Bibliography

• 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.