Majma al-Adab fi Mujam al-Alqab
- Author died
- 723 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Ṭibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr - Wizārat al-Thaqāfah wa-al-Irshād al-Islāmī
Majma al-Adab fi Mujam al-Alqab (The Compendium of Literature on the Dictionary of Titles) is a biographical dictionary by the Iraqi historian and librarian Ibn al-Fuwati (d. 723 AH / 1323 CE) organized according to honorific titles (alqab) .
Composition and Scope
Ibn al-Fuwati composed the original work on an expansive scale; bibliographers such as Hajji Khalifa and Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi noted that it spanned fifty volumes . It is referred to in various sources under slightly differing titles, including Majma al-Adab fi Mujam al-Asma ala Mujam al-Alqab and Talkhis Majma al-Adab fi Mujam al-Alqab . Ibn al-Fuwati abridged the massive compilation into a summary estimated between six and eight volumes, of which only two volumes survived .
The dictionary covers biographical entries for prophets, saints, rulers, scholars, poets, and notables across eras who held distinct titles . It serves as a major source for figures of the 6th and 7th centuries AH, particularly those from Iraq and the eastern Islamic lands during the Mongol period, preserving extensive historical, literary, and epistolary information . Ibn al-Fuwati utilized over 150 historical and literary works as well as his own firsthand notes and transmissions .
Structure and Organization
The work is organized alphabetically by honorific titles (alqab), and within each title, biographies are arranged alphabetically by personal names (asma) . Ibn al-Fuwati designed the entries using a distinctive tabular format across facing pages:
- The right-hand page contains designated columns for the subject's title, kunya and given name, father's name, ancestry, nisba, and specialization or office .
- The opposite page provides the biographical narrative corresponding to each entry in the grid .
The author did not limit his entries strictly to Islamic-era figures or men; he included pre-Islamic titles, such as al-Qayl for Wa'il ibn Hujr and al-Qamar for Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, and devoted separate sections to women with titles .
Manuscripts and Editions
Only two volumes of Ibn al-Fuwati's holograph abridgment have survived:
- Volume 4: Preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, dated to 712 AH in the author's hand . It is missing its beginning, opening with those titled Izz al-Din and concluding with the letter Qaf at the title al-Qayl, containing over 2,500 entries .
- Volume 5: Preserved in Lahore in the collection of Muhammad Shafi', covering the letters Kaf, Lam, and Mim, though missing its end .
Portions of Volume 5 and the beginning of Volume 4 were first published by Muhammad Abd al-Quddus al-Qasimi between 1939 and 1947 in installments in the Lahore-based Oriental College Magazine . Volume 4 was subsequently edited by Mustafa Jawad and published in Damascus in four parts between 1962 and 1967 . A later edition incorporating the available volumes was edited by Muhammad al-Kazim .
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