Tarikh Abi Zuraa al-Dimashqi
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Majma‘ al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah
Tarikh Abi Zuraa al-Dimashqi (The History by Abu Zur'a al-Dimashqi), also recorded under the descriptive title al-Tarikh wa-Ilal al-Rijal (History and Deficiencies of Transmitters), is a biographical and historical work compiled by the Syrian traditionist Abu Zur'a al-Dimashqi (d. 281 AH / 894–895 CE; variant death dates include c. 280 AH and 282 AH) . The text functions as both an early Islamic chronicle and a specialized manual of narrator evaluation (ilm al-rijal) and generational classes (tabaqat) .
Scope and Content
The work opens with early Islamic historical material, including the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs . It documents chronological milestones of the early Islamic conquests, such as the fall of Damascus in Rajab of 14 AH and the Battle of al-Yarmuk in 15 AH .
A central focus of the compilation is the documentation of the Companions, the Successors (al-tabiʿun), and subsequent generations of scholars who lived, transmitted hadith, or died in al-Sham (the Levant) and neighboring regions . Abu Zur'a organizes regional figures into generational ranks—such as the second tier of Syrian Successors—and records exact death dates, biographical notices, critical evaluations of reliability (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil), and remarks on defects in chains of transmission (ilal) .
Transmission and Manuscripts
The primary surviving recension of the text was transmitted from the author by his student Abu al-Maymun Abd al-Rahman ibn Rashid al-Bajali .
Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in several collections, including:
- The Fatih Library in Istanbul (MS 4210 / 4250) .
- The Bayezid Umumi Library in Istanbul (MS 1047), which preserves an audition note (qayd al-sama') dated to 401 AH .
- The Zahiriyya Library in Damascus .
Modern Editions
The work was edited by Shukr Allah Ni'mat Allah al-Qujani—originally as a master's thesis presented to the College of Arts at the University of Baghdad—and published in two volumes by the Arab Academy of Damascus (Majma al-Lughah al-Arabiyyah bi-Dimashq) in 1980 . Another edition, annotated by Khalil al-Mansur, was published in Beirut by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah in 1417 AH / 1996 CE .
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