al-Jughrafiya

al-Jughrafiya (Geography), also known as Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā fī al-aqālīm al-sabʿa and Basṭ al-arḍ fī al-ṭūl wa-l-ʿarḍ, is a comprehensive geographic treatise composed by the Andalusian scholar Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (610–685 AH / 1214–1286 CE; other reports place his death in 672 AH or 673 AH) Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1. The work combines mathematical, descriptive, and regional geography, organizing the inhabited world into latitudinal climates and longitudinal sections while providing coordinate tables and ethnographic observations Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.

Structure and Scope

The author begins with a cosmological and mathematical introduction, stating that the Earth is a sphere enveloped by water, situated at the center of the celestial spheres, with a circumference of 360 degrees, where every degree and a half equals 100 miles, and one mile equals 4,000 cubits al-Jughrafiya. The inhabited Earth spans 180 degrees in longitude, beginning in the west at the Fortunate Isles (the Canary Islands) in the Atlantic Ocean and terminating in the east at the islands of Sīlī (Japan) Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. In latitude, human settlement covers 80 degrees from its southernmost limit to its northernmost reach, beyond which habitation ceases due to extreme heat in the south and extreme cold in the north al-Jughrafiya.

The treatise divides the inhabited world into nine overarching divisions:

• An equatorial and sub-equatorial region extending sixteen degrees south of the equator al-Jughrafiya.
• The Seven Climates (al-aqālīm al-sabʿa), arranged consecutively north of the equator Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.
• A ninth division encompassing the northernmost inhabited territories beyond the Seventh Climate al-Jughrafiya.

Each climate is subdivided into ten longitudinal sections from west to east, within which the author systematically catalogues cities, rivers, mountains, and coastal stations Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.

Methodology and Sources

The treatise integrates the Ptolemaic cartographic scheme popularized in the Islamic west by al-Sharif al-Idrisi with updated regional data Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. For significant localities and landmarks, Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi provides numerical coordinates of longitude and latitude down to degrees and minutes, structured so that a complete world map could be drafted from the text Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.

Beyond mathematical coordinates, the book incorporates descriptive geography covering physical topography, trade routes, navigation landmarks, economic products, regional fauna and flora, and local religious practices al-Jughrafiya+1. Ibn Sa'id drew upon earlier authorities, including al-Mas'udi, while incorporating contemporary reports, most notably the travel logs of Ibn Fatima, who explored the coasts and interior of Africa and the Indian Ocean basin Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1. The book also records political and demographic transformations in North Africa following the rise of the Almohad Caliphate Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al….

Reception and Manuscripts

The geographical tables and regional descriptions in al-Jughrafiya served as a key source for later geographers and historians, such as Abu al-Fida' in his Taqwim al-buldan Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. Manuscripts of the work are preserved in European collections, including the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (Arabe 2234) and the British Museum (Or. 1524), alongside abridgments such as the Bodleian Library manuscript bearing the title Kitāb basṭ al-arḍ fī ṭūlihā wa-l-ʿarḍ Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…. The text was edited and printed in Tetouan in 1958 under the title Basṭ al-arḍ fī al-ṭūl wa-l-ʿarḍ and in Beirut in 1970 as Kitāb al-Jughrāfiyā Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1.