Akhbar wa Tarajim Andalusiyya
- Author died
- 576 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Thaqāfah
Akhbar wa Tarajim Andalusiyya (Andalusian Accounts and Biographies) is a collection of biographical entries and historical-literary reports on Andalusian figures, extracted from the biographical dictionary Mu'jam al-Safar by the hadith scholar Abu Tahir al-Silafi (d. 576 AH / 1180 CE) and edited by Ihsan Abbas.
Background and Origin
Abu Tahir al-Silafi compiled three major biographical dictionaries (ma'ajim), of which Mu'jam al-Safar was devoted to the scholars, travelers, and notable figures he encountered outside Isfahan and Baghdad. During his residence of over sixty years in Alexandria, which served as a major transit port and haven for pilgrims, merchants, scholars, and Andalusian emigrants fleeing unrest in the Iberian Peninsula, al-Silafi maintained extensive ties with Andalusian scholars, transmitted their works, and recorded their biographies, poetry, and transmissions.
Because surviving manuscripts of Mu'jam al-Safar suffered from gaps and disarrangement—originating from unfinalized draft slips (judhadhat) left by al-Silafi—Ihsan Abbas extracted all entries and reports pertaining specifically to al-Andalus and its scholars to publish them as a specialized collection.
Content and Method
The work compiles first-hand entries documented by al-Silafi through personal meetings with Andalusian scholars, poets, travelers, and correspondents, as well as accounts narrated to him about earlier Andalusian figures. It records:
- Biographical data, scholarly lineages, and hadith transmissions.
- Poetic recitations and literary anecdotes transmitted by Andalusian poets and men of letters, including al-A'ma al-Tutili, Ibn Sara al-Shantarini, and Ibn al-Haddad.
- Social and linguistic observations, such as Andalusian dialect terms and personal encounters with merchants and ascetics.
Al-Silafi applied hadith-oriented precision to recording these materials, noting exact chains of transmission (isnad) and dates of encounter. Later biographical and geographical compilations, such as Yaqut al-Hamawi's Mu'jam al-Buldan and al-Qifti's Inbah al-Ruwah, drew substantially on the original material of Mu'jam al-Safar.
Manuscripts and Publication
The primary source used for the edition was a manuscript held at the Arif Hikmat Library in Medina (MS No. 176 Hadith), transcribed in 1239 AH by 'Abd al-Hafiz ibn Muhammad Salih Hammada from draft leaves in al-Silafi's own hand, comprising 239 folios. A microfilm copy was provided by the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts of the Arab League. Another incomplete and disordered copy was preserved at Dar al-Kutub in Cairo.
The edition prepared by Ihsan Abbas was first published in Beirut by Dar al-Thaqafa in 1963, followed by a second edition in 1399 AH / 1979 CE.
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