Akhbar al-Zaman

Akhbar al-Zaman (The History of Time) is a major historical and geographical chronicle authored by the historian and geographer Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Masudi (d. 346 AH / 957 CE; also reported 345 AH) Shadharat al-Dhahab fi Ak…+1. Originally composed as an encyclopedic universal history encompassing the physical earth, ancient nations, and historical chronicles, it served as the foundational source from which al-Masudi later derived his intermediate and concise historical treatises Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.

Composition and Scale

The full original title of the work is recorded in Muruj al-Dhahab as Akhbar al-Zaman wa-man abadahu al-hidthan min al-umam al-madiya wa-l-ajyal al-khaliya wa-l-mamalik al-da'ira (The History of Time and Those Annihilated by Events Among Past Nations, Vanished Generations, and Extinct Kingdoms) Akhbar al-Zaman+1. It was the first and largest historical compilation prepared by al-Masudi Akhbar al-Zaman+1. Classical bibliographical sources record that it was arranged into thirty distinct arts or disciplines (fann) and spanned thirty volumes Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.

Because of its monumental length, al-Masudi subsequently produced an abridgment entitled al-Kitab al-Awsat (The Intermediate Book), and later condensed both works into his better-known surviving history, Muruj al-Dhahab (The Meadows of Gold), which he commenced around 332 AH Akhbar al-Zaman+1. Al-Masudi regularly praised Akhbar al-Zaman across his later writings, referring readers to it for detailed geographical demonstrations, descriptions of celestial and terrestrial globes, histories of the Lakhmid kings of al-Hira, the migrations and conflicts of the Slavs, and complex philosophical topics al-Tanbih wa al-Ishraf+1.

Scope and Structure

According to classical descriptions, the original grand history opened with the shape and configuration of the earth, its cities, mountains, seas, rivers, minerals, and monumental ancient buildings Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1. It then treated cosmology, the origins of human lineage, the division of inhabited climates, and differences among various human races Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…. This was followed by narratives of ancient rulers, vanished nations, past generations, and the biblical and prophetic traditions, before proceeding to a year-by-year annalistic record of Islamic history down to the author's era Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.

Transmission and Extant Text

The vast majority of the original thirty-volume work was lost over the centuries, with classical bibliographies noting that only a single manuscript volume remained preserved in the Vienna library Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1.

A single-volume text has circulated and been published under the variant title Akhbar al-Zaman wa-man abadahu al-hidthan wa-aja'ib al-buldan wa-l-ghamir bi-l-ma' wa-l-umran Akhbar al-Zaman+1. This surviving short version focuses on the creation, natural wonders of seas and lands, the early antediluvian generations and prophets from Seth and Idris to Noah and his descendants, and heavily emphasizes the legendary and ancient history of Egypt—including its early kings, the building of the Pyramids, talismans, and accounts of Egyptian sorcerers and priests Akhbar al-Zaman+1.

Scholars and editors have observed significant discrepancies between this short text and the vast universal chronicle described by al-Masudi, noting that it omits topics he explicitly stated were in Akhbar al-Zaman and contains passages that historians like al-Maqrizi elsewhere attributed to Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah Akhbar al-Zaman+1. Nonetheless, the printed volume remains closely linked with al-Masudi's name in modern scholarship and publication Akhbar al-Zaman+1.