- Ibn Athir
Ibn Athīr is the family name of three brothers, all famous in
Arabian literature , born at Jazīrat ibn Umar in "Cizre" nowadays in south-easternTurkey .Brothers
Majd ad-Dīn
The eldest brother, known as Majd ad-Dīn (1149-1210), was long in the service of the amir of
Mosul , and was an earnest student of tradition andlanguage . Hisdictionary of traditions (Kitāb an-Ni/zdya) was published atCairo (1893 ), and his dictionary of family names ("Kitāb ul-Murassa") has been edited byFerdinand Seybold (Weimar,1896 ).Diyā' ad-Dīn
The youngest brother, known as Diyā' ad-Dīn (1163-1239), served
Saladin from1191 on, then his son,al-Malik al-Afdal , and was afterwards inEgypt ,Samosata ,Aleppo ,Mosul andBaghdad . He was one of the most famous aesthetic and stylistic critics in Arabian literature. His "Kitab al-Matlial", published by theBulaq Press in 1865 (cf. "Journal of the German Oriental Society", xxxv. 148, andIgnaz Goldziher 's "Abhandlungen", i. 161 sqq.), contains some very independent criticism of ancient and modernArabic verse . Some of his letters have been published byDavid Samuel Margoliouth "On the Royal Correspondence of Diyā' ad-Dīn al-Jazarī" in the "Actes du dixieme congrès international des orientalistes", sect. 3, pp. 7-2 I.Ali ibn al-Athir The most famous brother was
Ali ibn al-Athir (May 13 ,1160 -1233 ), who devoted himself to the study of history and Islamic tradition. At the age of twenty-one he settled with his father in Mosul and continued his studies there. In the service of the amir for many years, he visited Baghdad andJerusalem and laterAleppo andDamascus . He died in Mosul. His world history, the al-Kāmil fi t-tarīkh, extends to the year 1231. It has been edited by Carl Tornberg, "Ibn al-Athīr Chronicon quod perfectissinum inscribitur" (14 vols., Leiden, 1851-1876). The first part of this work up to A.H. 310 (A.D. 923) is an abbreviation of the work ofTabarī with minor additions. Ibn Athīr also wrote a history of theAtabeg s of Mosul "at-Tarīkh al-atabakīya", published in the "Recueil des historiens des croisades " (vol. ii., Paris); a work ("Usd al-Ghdba") giving an account of 7500 companions of the prophet Muhammad (5 vols., Cairo, 1863), and a compendium (the "Lubāb") of Samani's Kitāb ui-A n.~db (cf.Ferdinand Wüstenfeld 's "Specimen el-Lobabi", Gottingen, 1835).ee also
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Islam
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