Midmar al-Haqa'iq wa Sirr al-Khala'iq
- Author died
- 617 AH
- Editions
- ʿĀlam al-Kutub
Midmar al-Haqa'iq wa Sirr al-Khala'iq (The Arena of Truths and the Secret of Creation) is a multi-volume annalistic history attributed to the Ayyubid ruler of Hama, al-Malik al-Mansur Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Shahanshah (d. 617 AH / 1220–1221 CE) .
Authorship and Attribution Debate
While several historical biographical dictionaries treat the work as the direct composition of al-Malik al-Mansur, its authorship has been a subject of discussion among classical historians . Shihab al-Din al-Qusi stated that he read a portion of Midmar al-Haqa'iq wa Sirr al-Khala'iq before al-Malik al-Mansur, praising it as a substantial and precious compilation demonstrating its author's erudition .
In contrast, the bibliographer Hajji Khalifa maintained that the book was written for al-Malik al-Mansur by a contemporary scholar rather than by the prince himself, noting that some chroniclers mistakenly attributed it directly to the ruler based on inferences from Abu al-Fida's al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar . Similarly, Ibn al-Adim preserved a report from Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Jarada stating that al-Mansur possessed limited scholarly training and employed groups of scholars to compose treatises under his name . In another attribution variant, the chronicler Ibn al-Dawadari credited the philosopher and jurist Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, who lived under al-Mansur's patronage in Hama, as the compiler of Kitab al-Midmar .
Scope, Structure, and Contents
The work was arranged chronologically by year (annalistic format) and served as a comprehensive chronicle of world and regional history . In addition to broad historical narratives, the text documented contemporary records, including biographical notices and listings of the prominent scholars, jurists, poets, and dignitaries who visited or resided at the court in Hama .
Sources diverge regarding the original size of the complete chronicle:
- Ibn Wasil and al-Maqrizi describe the work (also titled Midmar al-Haqa'iq fi Tarikh al-Khala'iq) as comprising approximately twenty large volumes .
- Other accounts, including those of Badr al-Din al-Ayni, Ibn al-Dawadari, and modern bibliographies, record it as a ten-volume work .
Preservation and Modern Edition
Much of the extensive multi-volume compilation is lost, but an extant manuscript section covering the years 575–584 AH (1179–1188 CE)—a pivotal decade detailing the campaigns of Saladin—was edited by Hasan Habashi and published in Cairo in 1968 CE .
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