al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sirat al-Sultan al-Malik al-Mansur

al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sirat al-Sultan al-Malik al-Mansur (The Transmitted Merit from the Biography of Sultan al-Malik al-Mansur) is a historical chronicle by the Egyptian chancery clerk and scholar Shafi b. Ali (649–730 AH / 1252–1330 CE), dedicated to the biography and reign of the Mamluk Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…+1.

Subject and Scope

The work serves as a primary contemporary source for the history of the Mamluk Sultanate and its relations with the Crusaders, Mongols, and Armenians al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…. Although centered on the twelve-year reign of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun (r. 678–689 AH / 1279–1290 CE), the narrative spans approximately sixty-five years al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…+1. It begins when Qalawun was fourteen years old and entered the service of the Ayyubid Sultan al-Salih Ayyub, and proceeds through the reigns of Shajar al-Durr, Izz al-Din Aybak, al-Zahir Baybars, al-Sa'id Barakah, and Salamish, up to Qalawun's accession to the sultanate al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…. The text extends beyond Qalawun's death in 689 AH into the year 690 AH (1291 CE), covering the conquest and recapture of Acre, Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut from the Crusaders during the reign of Qalawun's son, al-Ashraf Khalil al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir….

Contents and Methodology

Shafi' b. Ali composed the biography as a contemporary witness and participant in several of the events described al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…. He was present at the Battle of Homs in 680 AH (1281 CE) against the Mongols, where he was wounded by an arrow; he included in the book his official victory announcement (al-insha' bi-l-fath) as well as panegyric poetry celebrating Qalawun's triumph al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir….

The book incorporates original documentary material from the era of the Crusades, reproducing official texts of royal correspondence, diplomatic letters, and treaties concluded between the Mamluk state and surrounding powers, several of which are not preserved in any other source al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…. It also contains literary and poetic contributions characteristic of Mamluk administrative prose al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir….

Manuscript and Publication

The work is preserved in a unique manuscript held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford (MS Bodl. 424), comprising 136 folios written in clear Thuluth script al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…. The manuscript was originally produced as a presentation copy (nuskha khaza'iniyya) designated for the royal library of Sultan Qalawun al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…. It was edited by Umar Abd al-Salam Tadmuri and published in a single volume (216 pages) by al-Maktaba al-Asriyya in Beirut in 1418 AH / 1998 CE al-Fadl al-Mathur min Sir…+1.