4to. iv Introduction in French, 40 pp., + 111 pp., of Arabic text, 2 plates, modern hard back binding, edited & introduced by Ahamd Zeki Pasha, light scattered foxing mainly to end leaves, otherwise copy in very good condition, Imprimerie Bibliotheque Egyptiene, Le Caire, second edition, 1343 H/1924.

Synopsis

Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737 – 819), also known as Ibn al-Kalbi, was an Arab historian. Born in Kufa, he spent much of his life in Baghdad. He preserved in this work a description of the religious practices of the Arabs before Prophet Muhammad, together with a list of idols, shrines, and holy places. With the increasing recognition of the influence of pagan Arabia upon the religious traditions of Islam, Ibn al-Kalbi’s work has assumed greater and greater importance.