al-Rawd al-Basim fi Hawadith al-Umr wa al-Tarajim
- Author died
- 920 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktabah al-‘Aṣrīyah
al-Rawd al-Basim fi Hawadith al-Umr wa al-Tarajim (The Smiling Meadow on the Events of Lifetime and Biographical Notices) is a major annalistic history and biographical work by the Hanafi scholar and historian Abd al-Basit al-Malti (844–920 AH / 1440–1514 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Known as al-Malti's grand chronicle (al-tarikh al-kabir), the work was designed to document contemporary history starting from the year of the author's birth in 844 AH . In his introduction, al-Malti states that he compiled this chronicle to serve as an accurate record of unfolding political events and obituaries . He also noted that it was suitable to serve as a continuation (dhayl) to earlier major historical works, specifically referencing the chronicles of Badr al-Din al-Ayni, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and al-Maqrizi . The colophon of the fourth surviving volume notes that the author completed writing it on Monday, 18 Rabi' al-Awwal 890 AH .
Structure and Scope
The work is organized annalistically by year (murattab ala al-sinin) . Under each year, the author first records the notable events (al-hawadith or al-mutajaddidat), followed by the biographical notices of prominent figures who died during that year (al-wafayat) .
The original work was significantly larger than what has survived; only four volumes are extant from a unique manuscript, containing several substantial lacunae :
- Volume 1: Opens with events from 844 AH and covers up to 850 AH, though it is missing several sections, including the obituaries of 846 AH, the events and obituaries of 847 AH, and portions of 845, 849, and 850 AH .
- Lacuna: A gap of fourteen full years, from the start of 851 AH to the end of 864 AH, is missing between the first and second surviving volumes .
- Volume 2: Contains events from 865 AH to 868 AH .
- Volume 3: Covers the remaining obituaries of 868 AH through the events of 872 AH .
- Volume 4: Covers the remainder of 872 AH up to the end of the obituaries of 874 AH .
A distinctive feature of the chronicle is the inclusion of the author's extensive firsthand travel narrative (rihla) through North Africa (including Tunis, Qayrawan, Constantine, Bejaia, Tlemcen, and Oran) between 866 and 871 AH, as well as accounts related to the Emirate of Granada .
Reception and Transmission
Al-Malti drew upon al-Rawd al-Basim when compiling his shorter chronicle, Nayl al-Amal fi Dhayl al-Duwal . His student Ibn Iyas described the work as one of al-Malti's finest compositions . The bibliographer Hajji Khalifa recorded the work under the title al-Rawd al-Basim fi Akhbar Man Mada min al-Awalim, attributing it simply to "Ibn Khalil" . On the cover of the first volume of the surviving manuscript, the title was inscribed as Kitab al-Tawarikh al-Mulukiyya fi al-Hawadith al-Zamaniyya in the hand of Jamal al-Din ibn al-Shihna .
The unique four-volume manuscript is preserved in the Vatican Library (MS Vatican Arab 728 and 729 / Borg/Ass 124) . Portions of its travel narrative were studied and published in the 1930s by European scholars, including Giorgio Levi Della Vida on Granada and Robert Brunschvig on North Africa . A photographic reproduction was acquired and indexed by Ahmad Taymur Pasha before entering the Egyptian National Library, and the full surviving text was later edited and published by Umar Abd al-Salam Tadmuri .
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