8vo. 408 pp., 9 pp. (contents). Arabic text within borders, Abu al-Feda’s text printed on lower part of each page, modern hard back binding, few wormholes affecting lower margin of first few leaves without text loss, title page soiled & foxed, occasional foxing throughout, Matba’at Muhammad Matar, Cairo, 1337 A. H./ 1919.

Synopsis

Al-Tabari (839-923 AD) was an influential scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur’an. Today, he is best known for his expertise in Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence and world history, but he has been described as ‘an impressively prolific polymat’. He wrote on such subjects as poetry, lexicography, grammar, ethics, mathematics, and medicine.
This is one of his important historical treatise known as Tafsir al-Tabari and his historical chronicle Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings), often referred to Tarikh al-Tabari.
The second text in this volume is by Abu al-Fida (1273 – 1331), a historian, geographer and local governor of Hama. He was a prince of the Ayyubid dynasty and the author of several works including this history treatise.