al-Aʻlām (Arabic: الأعلام), fully known as al-Aʻlām: Qāmūs Tarājim li-Ashhar al-Rijāl wa-al-Nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa-al-Mustaʻribīn wa-al-Mustashriqīn (Eminent Personalities: A Biographical Dictionary of Noted Men and Women among the Arabs, the Arabists and the Orientalists) is a biographical work by the Syrian Arab historian, Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli. Written in the Arabic language, the work features biographies for more than a hundred influential people of Arabia, both historic and modern.

al-Aʻlām
The work in 8 volumes, as published by Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malayin in 1978–1979
AuthorKhayr al-Din al-Zirikli
Original titleal-Aʻlām: Qāmūs Tarājim li-Ashhar al-Rijāl wa-al-Nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa-al-Mustaʻribīn wa-al-Mustashriqīn
LanguageArabic
GenreBiography
Publication date
First Edition published in 1926–1927
Publication placeEgypt, Lebanon

Summary

edit
 
A portrait of Saad Zaghloul, taken from his biography in al-A'lam

al-A'lam is a compilation of biographies of the prominent figures in the Arabian Peninsula from pre-Islamic ancient times until contemporary times (the 19th–20th centuries).[1] The placement of each biography is by alphabetical order and date of death. For example, in the book, the biography of 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Jumahi (died 625 CE) is directly above that of 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah (died 745 CE).[2] Among the notable figures mentioned in the book include the pre-Islamic knight Abu Layla al-Muhalhel and the early Muslim revert, Abu Bakr.

Publication history

edit

The first edition of al-A'lam was published in Egypt between 1926 and 1927. The second edition of al-A'lam was then published again in the 1950s, with added portraits and illustrations, as well as being printed in 10 volumes.[3] A revised of al-A'lam was then printed in 8 volumes and published by the Lebanon-based Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malayin publishing house between the years 1978–1979. The same publishing house also would reprint the work in 7 volumes in 2002.[4]

Commentary

edit

Ahmad Alawinah, a Jordanian researcher and historian, wrote a commentary on al-A'lam that was titled Tawshīḥ kitāb al-A‘lām li-Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī. In his commentary, he gives criticism and praise of al-Zirikli's writings and also adds on to missing information in the biographies.[5]

An annotated version of al-A'lam was later written by the academic Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Rashid and published in Jordan in the year 2014.[6]

edit

Below is a gallery of portraits and illustrations of individuals that were featured in al-A'lam.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Between the al-A'lam of al-Zirikli and the Sahra' al-Suwayyan". Al Eqtisadiah. 5 April 2019. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019.
  2. ^ al-Zirikli (2002). al-A'lam (in Arabic) (7th ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin.
  3. ^ al-Zirikli (1954). al-A'lam (in Arabic) (2nd ed.). Cairo, Egypt: al-Sahafat al-Arabiyya.
  4. ^ al-Zirikli (2002). al-A'lam (in Arabic) (7th ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin.
  5. ^ Alawinah, Ahmad (2013). Tawshīḥ kitāb al-A‘lām li-Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Kuwait: Maktabat wa-Markaz Fahd ibn Muḥammad ibn Nāyif al-Dabbūs lil-Turāth al-Adabī.
  6. ^ al-Rashid, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (2014). I‘lām bi-taṣḥīḥ kitāb al-A‘lām lil-‘alāmah Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Amman, Jordan: Dār al-Fatḥ lil-Dirāsāt wa-al-Nashr.