Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi

Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi (581–647 AH / 1185–1250 CE) was a Maliki historian from Marrakesh, best known for his historical work al-Mujib fi Talkhis Akhbar al-Maghrib ("The Admirable Summary of the History of the Maghrib") Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Life and travels

Muhyi al-Din Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid ibn Ali al-Tamimi al-Marrakushi was born in Marrakesh on 7 Rabi' al-Thani 581 AH, during the early reign of the Almohad ruler Abu Ya'qub Yusuf Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He belonged to an Arab family of wealth and status al-Alam lil-Zirikli. At the age of nine, he left Marrakesh for Fes, where he studied the Quran and Arabic grammar under prominent scholars of the city Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…. After alternating between Fes and Marrakesh, he crossed over to al-Andalus at the beginning of 603 AH at the age of twenty-two, where he engaged with leading scholars across various disciplines Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.

Al-Marrakushi later departed the Islamic West by sea for the East, a departure that was not by his own choice and may have been compelled by political reasons al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. He arrived in Egypt in 613 AH and performed the Hajj in the Hijaz in 620 AH al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. His travels through the eastern Islamic lands also took him to the Levant and Iraq, where he settled in Baghdad al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. He died in 647 AH (1249–1250 CE) Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Scholarly standing

While residing in Baghdad in 621 AH, al-Marrakushi dictated al-Mujib fi Talkhis Akhbar al-Maghrib at the request of a vizier in the inner circle of the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. The book provided a comprehensive chronicle of the geography, political history, and rulers of the Islamic West and al-Andalus, with special focus on the Almohad dynasty up to 621 AH al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1. It is considered the earliest surviving comprehensive history to treat the Maghrib as an integrated geographic and political entity al-Nubugh al-Maghribi fi ….