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.
 The work in 8 volumes, as published by Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malayin in 1978–1979 | |
| Author | Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli |
|---|---|
| Original title | al-Aʻlām: Qāmūs Tarājim li-Ashhar al-Rijāl wa-al-Nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa-al-Mustaʻribīn wa-al-Mustashriqīn |
| Language | Arabic |
| Genre | Biography |
Publication date | First Edition published in 1926–1927 |
| Publication place | Egypt, Lebanon |
Summary
edit
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
editThe 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
editAhmad 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]
Gallery
editBelow is a gallery of portraits and illustrations of individuals that were featured in al-A'lam.
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Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, a Muslim scholar and pioneer of Salafism -
Gebrail Dallal, a Syrian author and poet -
Khalil al-Khuri, the owner of Hadiqat al-Akhbar -
Suleiman al-Halabi, the man who assassinated Jean-Baptiste Kléber -
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Hamdi al-Pachachi, the Prime Minister of Iraq (r. 1944–1946) -
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Syrian Salafi scholar, Tahir al-Jazairi
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ al-Zirikli (2002). al-A'lam (in Arabic) (7th ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin.
- ^ al-Zirikli (1954). al-A'lam (in Arabic) (2nd ed.). Cairo, Egypt: al-Sahafat al-Arabiyya.
- ^ al-Zirikli (2002). al-A'lam (in Arabic) (7th ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.