al-Yawaqit wa al-Darb fi Tarikh Halab
- Author died
- 732 AH
- Editions
- al-Yawaqit wa al-Darb fi Tarikh Halab
al-Yawaqit wa al-Darb fi Tarikh Halab (The Rubies and Struck Coinage in the History of Aleppo) is an abridged historical work on Aleppo attributed to Ismail Abu al-Fida .
Authorship and Content
The compiler opens the text identifying himself as Ismail Abu al-Fida and describes the work as an extraction of choice material from Zubdat al-Halab fi Tarikh Halab by Kamal al-Din Abu Hafs 'Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Jaradah al-'Uqayli, known as Ibn al-'Adim . Little is known for certain regarding the compiler's identity, as numerous individuals bore the name Ismail and the kunya Abu al-Fida; however, he has been conjectured to be the Ayyubid ruler of Hama, al-Malik al-Mu'ayyad Abu al-Fida (d. 732 AH / 1331 CE), author of al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar and Taqwim al-Buldan .
The book draws directly from Ibn al-'Adim's chronicle, covering pre-Islamic traditions—including accounts concerning the naming of Aleppo and its connection to the prophet Ibrahim—and tracing events down to the year 405 AH with minimal abridgment .
Manuscript and Publication
The work is preserved in a unique manuscript held at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford (MS 836-36), a photographic reproduction of which is deposited at the Institute of Arabic Scientific Heritage at the University of Aleppo (no. 145) . It was edited by Muhammad Kamal and Falih al-Bakkur and published by Dar al-Qalam al-'Arabi in Aleppo in 1410 AH (with editions also dated 1408 AH / 1989 CE), comprising 185 pages .
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