al-Mustafad min Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad
- Author died
- 749 AH
- Editions
- T al-Ilmiyya
al-Mustafad min Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad (What Is Benefited from the Continuation of the History of Baghdad) is a biographical compilation by the Egyptian traditionist and historian Ibn Aybak al-Dumyati (700–749 AH / 1300–1348 CE), consisting of selected biographies extracted from Ibn al-Najjar's biographical continuation of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's history .
Background and Composition
The book is an abridged selection (intiqa') made by Abu al-Husayn Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Aybak ibn 'Abd Allah al-Husami al-Dumyati from the voluminous biographical history of Baghdad composed by Muhibb al-Din Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn al-Najjar (d. 643 AH) . Ibn al-Najjar had titled his extensive work al-Tarikh al-Mujaddad li-Madinat al-Salam wa-Akhbar Fudala'iha al-A'lam wa-man Waradaha min 'Ulama' al-Anam, combining the earlier continuations of Ibn al-Sam'ani and Ibn al-Dubaythi alongside extensive additional material . Ibn Aybak al-Dumyati compiled his selection directly from Ibn al-Najjar's history, producing a concentrated collection of biographical entries for notable figures and scholars associated with Baghdad .
Structure and Content
The work is organized into eight parts (ajza'), preserved in an autograph manuscript penned by Ibn Aybak al-Dumyati in a single volume at Dar al-Kutub in Egypt . Each biographical entry typically documents the subject's full name, lineage, legal affiliation, scholarly teachers, transmissions, literary selections or poetry, and precise dates of birth and death, closing with the record of burial locations in Baghdad . The text is arranged alphabetically, spanning from early alphabetical entries up to letters such as ha' .
Significance and Editions
Because the vast majority of Ibn al-Najjar's original multi-volume history was lost—with only two volumes surviving in manuscript form—Ibn Aybak al-Dumyati's selection remains an indispensable primary witness to portions of Ibn al-Najjar's biographical material . It was utilized by later scholars, including Ibn Qutlubugha, to verify citations and extract entries transmitted through Ibn al-Najjar .
The text was edited by Qaysar Abu Farah (Caesar Abu Faraj) and published by the Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-'Uthmaniyya in Hyderabad, and has subsequently been reprinted in Beirut alongside other continuations and supplements to Tarikh Baghdad .
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