Tabaqat Sulaha al-Yaman = Tarikh al-Burayhi
- Author died
- 904 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Irshad
Tabaqat Sulaha al-Yaman (The biographical layers of the righteous of Yemen), also widely known as Tarikh al-Burayhi (The history of al-Burayhi), is a biographical dictionary by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Burayhi al-Saksaki (d. 904 AH / 1498–1499 CE) that documents the scholars, jurists, ascetics, and righteous notables of Yemen .
Composition and Purpose
The book is an abridgment (mukhtasar) made by al-Burayhi from his larger source work, al-Tarikh al-Kabir (The large history), which he compiled to chronicle the biographies of scholars and righteous figures in Yemen . The text primarily focuses on notables who gained renown during the 9th Hijri century, though it also includes entries for individuals who died in the late 8th Hijri century, as well as foreign scholars who traveled to or settled in Yemen during that era . Al-Burayhi intended the work as a historical reminder based on events and figures he personally witnessed or learned about through reliable eyewitness accounts, and he abridged it by omitting repetitive and lengthy poetic panegyrics included in his original draft .
Structure and Scope
Al-Burayhi organized the biographical entries geographically across Yemeni regions rather than chronologically or alphabetically:
- Sana'a and Adjacent Regions: Beginning with the Shafi'i scholars and sayyids of Sana'a, the work covers adjacent districts including Haraz, Milhan, Bura', Raymah, and Wusab .
- Mikhlaf Ja'far and the Highlands: The second major regional division covers the central mountainous areas, including Ba'dan, al-Suhul, Ibb, Bani Sayf, Bani Hubaysh, al-Shawafi, Jiblah, Ma'shar al-Ta'kur, Jabal Sawraq, and Dhu al-Sufal .
- Southern Cities and Coastal Towns: The final portion covers figures of southern and coastal Yemen, concluding with the scholars and notables of Taiz, Zabid, Mawza', al-Mukha (Mocha), and Aden .
Content and Method
Within each regional division, entries detail the subjects' lineages, teachers, students, judicial appointments (qada), teaching posts at various schools (madrasas), and devotional lives . Al-Burayhi provides substantial coverage of prominent scholarly families, notably his own clan, the Banu al-Burayhi, whose members served as judges and professors in Ibb, Dhu al-Sufal, and Taiz . The biographies record Sufi lineages, spiritual practices, reported wonders (karamat), and interactions between local jurists and Rasulid rulers or state officials .
Editions
The work was edited by the Yemeni scholar Abd Allah Muhammad al-Habashi and published under the title Tabaqat Sulaha al-Yaman al-Ma'ruf bi-Tarikh al-Burayhi in Beirut (1983) and in Sana'a by Maktabat al-Irshad .
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