Mufarrij al-Kurub fi Akhbar Bani Ayyub
- Author died
- 697 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub wa-al-Wathāʾiq al-Qawmiyyah - al-Maṭbaʿah al-Amīriyyah
Mufarrij al-Kurub fi Akhbar Bani Ayyub (The Dispeller of Sorrows Regarding the Reports of the Ayyubid Dynasty) is a comprehensive chronicle of the Ayyubid dynasty composed by the historian and scholar Ibn Wasil (604–697 AH / 1208–1298 CE) . Dedicated to al-Malik al-Mansur (Sayf al-Din Muhammad II), the Ayyubid ruler of Hama, the work details the rise, reign, and decline of the Ayyubid rulers across Egypt and the Levant .
Scope and Composition
The chronicle covers the origins and lineage of the Ayyubids, their military campaigns, political rivalries, and eventual fall, alongside the wider history of the Near East in the sixth and seventh centuries AH, including the Crusades and the Mongol invasions . Ibn Wasil authored the work for the library of al-Malik al-Mansur, the ruler of Hama who patronized scholars and in whose court the author resided for many years .
Method and Sources
Ibn Wasil divided his historical methodology according to his temporal proximity to the events:
- Earlier period (up to 628 AH): Because he was too young to personally witness these events, Ibn Wasil relied primarily on earlier written sources . His principal references included Ibn al-Athir's al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (The Complete History), the writings of al-Imad al-Isfahani, the letters of the vizier Diya al-Din Ibn al-Athir, and the continuation of Ibn al-Jawzi's al-Muntazam by Ibn al-Qadisi .
- Later period (from 629 AH onward): The author based his narrative directly on his own eyewitness observations, his personal involvement in administrative and diplomatic missions—such as serving as an envoy for the ruler of Hama to the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim bi-Llah in 641 AH—and oral reports gathered from reliable contemporary figures .
Throughout the work, Ibn Wasil exercised critical scrutiny, comparing divergent accounts, assessing evidence, and introducing his own corrections and scholarly judgments with the phrase qultu ("I say") . He also incorporated numerous official documents and state correspondence, including letters composed by al-Imad al-Isfahani, Diya al-Din Ibn al-Athir, and the vizier Safi al-Din Ibn Shukr, as well as marriage contract sermons from the period .
Reception and Editions
Mufarrij al-Kurub became a primary authority on the Ayyubid period for subsequent historians, who quoted and drew upon it extensively, including Abu al-Fida, al-Dhahabi, al-Maqrizi, and Ibn Taghribirdi .
The text was preserved in manuscripts held in libraries including Cambridge University Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and the Mulla Chalabi collection in Istanbul . It was prepared for modern publication under the initial editorship of Jamal al-Din al-Shayyal and continued by Hasanayn Muhammad Rabi' under the review of Sa'id Abd al-Fattah Ashur .
Answer updated