Ibn Khallakan Arbali

Shams al-Din Abul Abbas Ahmad Khallakan, Sunni Iraqi historian (1211 – 1282) in Iraq. In 1229, went to Aleppo, then travelled to Egypt and became deputy of the judge of judges. Then in 1261, he was appointed as the judge of judges in Damascus; he also taught the seven famous schools of Damascus. In addition to judgement he studied jurisprudence and methodology. The following are his great masters:
1- Sharaf al-Din Abul Fazl Mone’h (jurisconsult)
2- Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Khallakan ####
3- Sheikh Abu Ja’far Hebat Allah (in Hadith)
4- Sheikh Athir al-Din Mufazzal Abhari (in ethics)

Ibn Khallakan emigrated to many different places and had relationship with many scholars. He was appreciated by some of the poets who were contemporary with, such as: “Rashid al-Din Fareqi” , “Sa’d al-Din Fareqi” and “Noor al-Din Mos’ab”. He was highly expert at history, Arabic literature and syntax. There are left some nice poems, which show his skill in saying lyric poems.It is said that he knew 17 Diwans (book of collected poems) by heart. His prominent work is “Wafayat al-A’yan”, he started writing the book in 1256 in Cairo and finished it in 1274. The book is on biography of 846 Islamic and Iranian scholars, theosophist, Ministers and amirs. “Wafayat al-A’yan” is one of the greatest and most useful books on the science Rejal (an Islamic science on knowing the narrators of Hadith). Three great groups were not mentioned in the book: Companions of the Prophet , Tabe’ein (the group who followed companions of the Prophet) and all caliphs. Because the author believed that information on the mentioned groups was much and easily available. The book has been translated into Persian by “Zahir al-Din Ardebili. It has also been translated into other languages such as: British, French and Turkish.

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