Unwan al-Zaman bi-Tarajim al-Shuyukh wa al-Aqran j. 1-5
- Author died
- 885 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub wa-al-Wathāʾiq al-Qawmiyyah
Unwan al-Zaman bi-Tarajim al-Shuyukh wa al-Aqran (The Inscription of the Era on the Biographies of Teachers and Peers) is a biographical dictionary by the Shafi'i scholar, exegete, and historian Burhan al-Din al-Biqai (809–885 AH / 1406–1480 CE), chronicling prominent men and women of the ninth Islamic century (fifteenth century CE) .
Scope, Structure, and Method
The work compiles hundreds of biographical entries on scholars, peers, and contemporaries living across Egypt and the Levant under the Mamluk Sultanate . Entries are arranged in alphabetical order according to the names of the subjects .
For his teachers, al-Biqa'i provides extensive accounts detailing his personal associations with them, the branches of learning and specific books he studied under their instruction, the nature of his readings, and the various licenses (ijāzāt) they granted him . For contemporaries and peers, the dictionary records genealogies, dates of birth and death, and narrative evaluations of their careers and characters .
Abridgment and Related Works
In Damascus in 884 AH, al-Biqa'i compiled an abridged and complementary version titled Unwan al-Unwan bi-Tajrid Asma' al-Shuyukh wa-Ba'd al-Talamidha wa-l-Aqran . While the abridgment condensed the original entries primarily to names, lineages, birth dates, and death dates, it expanded its coverage by incorporating entries on his own students as well as several contemporaries who were not mentioned in the original Unwan al-Zaman .
Reception and Critique
Al-Biqa'i's primary teacher, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, endorsed Unwan al-Zaman, addressing the author as "the shaykh, the imam, the unique scholar, the proficient, versatile, verifying hadith master" .
Following al-Biqa'i's death, his fellow student and rival Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi examined the work and subjected it to sharp critique in his biographical dictionary al-Daw' al-Lami' . Al-Sakhawi contended that al-Biqa'i exceeded proper bounds in his characterizations of people and altered his assessments when individuals opposed his interests—citing as an example his revised entry on al-Amin al-Aqsara'i—asserting that his praise and dispraise were compromised . The bibliographer Haji Khalifa noted that al-Sakhawi's condemnation of the book reflected their mutual rivalry as classmates . Despite his criticisms, al-Sakhawi made extensive use of Unwan al-Zaman as an earlier source for his own biographical compilations .
Manuscripts and Publication
The work survived in non-autograph scribal manuscripts, including a copy held in the Taymuriyya collection (no. 1119) and a photographic reproduction of a copy preserved in the 'Arif Library in Medina . It was edited by Hasan Habashi and published in Cairo by Dar al-Kutub wa-l-Watha'iq al-Qawmiyya .
Answer updated