History of the Prophets and Kings
The History of the Prophets and Kings (Arabic: تاريخ الرسل والملوك Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, popularly known Tarikh al-Tabari or Tarikh Tabari, Persian: تاریخ طبری) is an Arabic historical chronicle written by the Persian[1] author and historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari died 310H (838-923) from the Creation to AD 915, and contains detail concerning Muslim and the Middle Easern history. A al-Sila, appendix[2] or continuation,[3] was written by Abu Abdullah b. Ahmad b. Ja'far al-Farghani, a Turk student of al-Tabari.[4][5]
Editions
Various editions of the Annals include:
- An edition published under the editorship of M.J. de Goeje in three series, comprising thirteen volumes, with two extra volumes containing indices, introduction and glossary (Leiden, 1879–1901).
- A Persian digest of this work, made in 963 by the Samanid scholar al-Bal'ami, translated into French by Hermann Zotenberg (vols. i.-iv., Paris, 1867–1874).
- An English translation in 39 volumes (plus index), published by the State University of New York Press from 1985 through 2007. Various editors and 29 translators. ISBN 978-0-7914-7249-1 (hc), ISBN 978-0-7914-7250-7 (pb), Author: Tabari (various translators), Publisher: SUNY Press [6]
Here is the list of titles for the 40-volume edition:
- Vol. 01 General Introduction & from the Creation to the Flood (Franz Rosenthal)
- Vol. 02 Prophets & Patriarchs (William Brinner)
- Vol. 03 The Children of Israel (William Brinner)
- Vol. 04 The Ancient Kingdoms (Moshe Perlmann)
- Vol. 05 The Sassanids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen (C.E. Bosworth)
- Vol. 06 Muhammad at Mecca (W.M. Watt and M.V. McDonald)
- Vol. 07 The Foundation of the Community - Muhammad at al-Madina, A. D. 622-626 (M.V. McDonald)
- Vol. 08 The Victory of Islam (Michael Fishbein)
- Vol. 09 The Last Years of the Prophet: The Formation of the State, A.D. 630-632-A.H. 8-11 (Ismail Poonawala)
- Vol. 10 The Conquest of Arabia, A. D. 632-633 - A. H. 11 (Fred M. Donner)
- Vol. 11 The Challenge to the Empires (Khalid Blankinship)
- Vol. 12 The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah & the Conquest of Syria & Palestine (Yohanan Friedmann)
- Vol. 13 The Conquest of Iraq, Southwestern Persia, & Egypt: The Middle Years of 'Umar's Caliphate, A.D. 636-642-A.H. 15-21 (Gautier H.A. Juynboll)
- Vol. 14 The Conquest of Iran, A. D. 641-643 - A. H. 21-23 (G. Rex Smith)
- Vol. 15 The Crisis of the Early Caliphate: The Reign of Uthman, A. D. 644-656 - A. H. 24-35 (R. Stephen Humphreys)
- Vol. 16 The Community Divided: The Caliphate of Ali I, A. D. 656-657-A. H. 35-36 (Adrian Brockett)
- Vol. 17 The First Civil War: From the Battle of Siffin to the Death of Ali, A. D. 656-661-A. H. 36-40 (G.R. Hawting)
- Vol. 18 Between Civil Wars: The Caliphate of Mu'awiyah 40 A.H., 66 A.D.-60 A.H., 680 A.D. (Michael G. Morony)
- Vol. 19 The Caliphate of Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah, A. D. 680-683 - A. H. 60-64 (I.K.A. Howard)
- Vol. 20 The Collapse of Sufyanid Authority & the Coming of the Marwanids: The Caliphates of Mu'awiyah II & Marwan I (G.R. Hawting)
- Vol. 21 The Victory of the Marwanids, A. D. 685-693-A. H. 66-73 (Michael Fishbein)
- Vol. 22 The Marwanid Restoration: The Caliphate of 'Abd al-Malik: A.D. 693-701 - A.H. 74-81 (Everett K Rowson)
- Vol. 23 The Zenith of the Marwanid House: The Last Years of 'Abd al-Malik & the Caliphate of al-Walid A.D. 700-715-A.H. 81-95 (Martin Hinds)
- Vol. 24 The Empire in Transition: The Caliphates of Sulayman, 'Umar, & Yazid, A. D. 715-724-A. H. 96-105 (Stephan Powers)
- Vol. 25 The End of Expansion: The Caliphate of Hisham, A.D. 724-738-A.H. 105-120 (Khalid Blankinship)
- Vol. 26 The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate: Prelude to Revolution, A.D. 738-744 - A.H. 121-126 (Carole Hillenbrand)
- Vol. 27 The Abbasid Revolution, A. D. 743-750 - A. H. 126-132 (John Alden Williams)
- Vol. 28 The Abbasid Authority Affirmed: The Early Years of al-Mansur (Jane Dammen McAuliffe)
- Vol. 29 Al-Mansur & al-Mahdi, A.D. 763-786-A.H. 146-169 (Hugh Kennedy)
- Vol. 30 The Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi & Harun al-Rashid, A. D. 785-809 - A. H. 169-192 (C.E. Bosworth)
- Vol. 31 The War Between Brothers, A. D. 809-813 - A. H. 193-198 (Michael Fishbein)
- Vol. 32 The Absolutists in Power: The Caliphate of al-Ma'mun, A.D. 813-33 - A.H. 198-213 (C.E. Bosworth)
- Vol. 33 Storm and Stress Along the Northern Frontiers of the Abbasid Caliphate (C.E. Bosworth)
- Vol. 34 Incipient Decline: The Caliphates of al-Wathig, al-Mutawakkil & al-Muntasir, A.D. 841-863-A.H. 227-248 (Joel L Kraemer)
- Vol. 35 The Crisis of the Abbasid Caliphate (George Saliba)
- Vol. 36 The Revolt of the Zanj, A. D. 869-879 - A. H. 255-265 (David Waines)
- Vol. 37 The Abbasid Recovery: The War Against the Zanj Ends (Philip M Fields)
- Vol. 38 The Return of the Caliphate to Baghdad: The Caliphate of al-Mu'tadid, al-Muktafi & al-Muqtadir, A.D. 892-915 (Franz Rosenthal)
- Vol. 39 Biographies of the Prophet's Companions & Their Successors: al-Tabari's Supplement to His History (Ella Landau-Tasseron)
- Vol. 40 Index (Prepared by Alex V Popovkin under the supervision of Everett K Rowson)
Content
The main purpose of Tabari was to write history according to the science of narration. That is to say he quotes the narrator without interfering in any way.[7][8]
Among its content can be found:
- Hadith of the pen and paper
- Information about Zayd al-Khayr
- Information about Utbah ibn Ghazwan
- Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr being the first to attack in the killing of Uthman.
- Some hadith regarding Aisha's age at marriage.
See also
References
- ^ Gaston Wiet, etc, "The Great Medieval Civilizations: cultural and scientific development. Volume 3. The great medieval civilizations. Part 1", Published by Allen and Unwin, 1975. pg 722:In the meantime another author, Tabari, Persian by origin, had been unobtrusively at work on two monumental pieces of writing, a commentary on the Koran ..
- ^ Autonomous Egypt from Ibn Tulun to Kafur, 868-969, Thierry Bianquis, The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1, ed. M. W. Daly, Carl F. Petry, (Cambridge University Press, 1998), 98.
- ^ History and Historians, Claude Cahen, Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period, 203
- ^ History and Historians, Claude Cahen, Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period, ed. M. J. L. Young, J. D. Latham, R. B. Serjeant, (Cambridge University Press, 1990), 203.
- ^ Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari Vol. 1: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood, transl. Franz Rosenthal, (State University of New York Press, 1989), 7.
- ^ SUNY Press :: History of al-Tabari
- ^ Tarikh Al-Tabari. Vol. 1. pp. 7–8.
Let the reader be aware that whatever I mention in my book is relied on the news that were narrated by some men. I had attributed these stories to their narrators, without inferring anything from their incidents
- ^ Tarikh Al-Tabari. Vol. 1. p. 8.
If a certain man gets horrified by a certain incident that we reported in our book, then let him know that it did not come from us, but we only wrote down what we received from the narrators