al-Bustan al-Jami li-Jami Tawarikh Ahl al-Zaman
- Author died
- 597 AH
- Editions
- Al-Maktaba Al-Asriyya lil-Tiba'a wal-Nashr
al-Bustan al-Jami li-Jami Tawarikh Ahl al-Zaman (The Comprehensive Garden of All Chronicles of the People of Time) is an annalistic universal chronicle written in 592 AH (1196 CE) by an anonymous historian, though traditionally attributed on manuscript title pages to the secretary and historian al-Imad al-Isbahani (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE) .
Composition and Authorship
The author states in the preface that he composed the book at the request of an esteemed associate who wished for a concise historical work to read for reflection and comfort in solitude . The work explicitly indicates in its text that it was being written in 592 AH and extends up to the conclusion of events in 593 AH (1197 CE) .
Although manuscript title pages identify the author as "al-Qadi al-Imad al-Din Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Hamid al-Isbahani," modern scholars have determined that the work cannot be by the famous Ayyubid chancery official and historian al-Imad al-Isbahani . The chronicle lacks the rhymed prose (saj') characteristic of al-Imad's style, contains grammatical and stylistic deficiencies uncharacteristic of a master prose stylist, and reports details concerning Saladin that diverge from or do not appear in al-Imad's authentic chronicles . It also contains notable chronological errors in the death dates of prominent historical figures—such as placing the death of the grammarian Sibawayh in 161 AH rather than 180 AH, and that of al-Bukhari in 193 AH rather than 256 AH . The author's use of Syriac month names (such as Haziran and Tammuz) and his detailed reports on northern Syria, Iraq, and Egypt suggest an origin in the Levant or Upper Mesopotamia, likely with periods of residence in Aleppo and Egypt .
Scope, Method, and Content
The chronicle covers universal history from pre-Islamic and biblical antiquity, the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and the early caliphate, proceeding year by year through the Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, and Ayyubid periods . Its geographic range encompasses events across the Islamic world and beyond, including Iraq, the Levant, the Hijaz, Yemen, Egypt, North Africa, al-Andalus, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus, Constantinople, Khurasan, and India .
The author dispenses with chains of transmission (isnads) and explicitly cites sources such as al-Tabari's Tarikh al-Rusul wa-l-Muluk, Jewish historical accounts, and Zubdat al-Fikra by al-Hasan al-Thawri . He also draws upon works by Ibn Qutayba, Ibn Sa'd, al-Baladhuri, Hamza al-Isfahani, and al-Quda'i, among others . Alongside political events and obituaries, the text devotes substantial attention to rare regional reports, official correspondence, astrological phenomena, and natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, droughts, plagues, and fluctuations of the Nile .
Reception and Editions
The work was utilized by 7th-century AH historians, notably Ibn Khallikan (d. 681 AH / 1282 CE), who cited data from it in Wafayat al-A'yan referring to its author simply as "the author of al-Bustan" without naming him . In the Mamluk era, the historian Ibn Aybak al-Dawadari (d. c. 737 AH / 1336 CE) quoted long passages from it verbatim across multiple volumes of his chronicle Kanz al-Durar wa-Jami al-Ghurar .
The text is preserved in two known manuscripts:
- Topkapı Palace, Sultan Ahmed III Collection (Istanbul), MS 2959, an ornate library copy .
- Bodleian Library at Oxford University, MS Hunt. 172, a composite copy containing al-Bustan up to 593 AH followed by later continuations .
The French orientalist Claude Cahen edited and published the portion of the Istanbul manuscript covering the period from 490 AH onward under the title Une chronique syrienne du VIe/XIIe siècle in the Bulletin d'études orientales (1937–1938) . A complete critical edition of the chronicle based on both manuscripts was prepared by Umar Abd al-Salam Tadmuri and published in one volume (566 pages) by al-Maktaba al-Asriyya in Sidon and Beirut in 1423 AH (2002 CE) .
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