Yaqubi History

Yaqubi History is one of the oldest general history books in Arabic. It is a brief history of the world from the first to the 9th century, written by great famous historian Yaqubi. The author applies the Holy Koran as an Islamic source and also the Gospel in compiling this history book.

The author
Ahmad Ibn Abi Yaqub, renowned Arab historian and geographer; d. 897. His fame is based on his Book of the countries, a geographical work for which he had been#### collecting material by research in literature and making inquiries of travelers. His style is simple and his texts free from fables. He also wrote a history of the world, which he brought down to the year 872.

Structure of the book
The account of the prophets from Adam to Jesus the Prophets, then a brief history of the nations and kings of the world are mentioned. In the section, “the kings of Iran”, the culture and history of Iran and the method of governing the country in time of Sasanids (name of a dynasty in Iran) are concerned. There are invaluable information on the kings of Mosul, Nineva, Babel, India, Greece, Rome, Chin, Egypt, Africa, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The second volume concerns the Islamic history: the Holy Prophet’s life from his birth to his divine mission, the Arab ambassadors, the Prophet’s wives, his letters and sermons, his last hajj, his death, on the four caliphs (Imam Ali, Abu Bakr, Umar and Othman) and the Umayyads and Abbasids’ era. The specific feature of this book is the account of Shia Imams which indicates that the author was a Shia. Yaqubi History was published in 1960. It was translated into Persian by “Ibrahim Ayati”.

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