Ibn al-Athir

Ibn al-Athir is the family name of three brothers. They were renowned Islamic historians and writers, and were born in Cizre (Jazīrat ibn Umar) in present-day southeastern Turkey.

Origin of the family

The family belonged to an Arab family from the Shaybanid branch of the Bakr b. Wail tribe, one of the great tribes of the Arabs, which had settled in Iraq during the Islamic conquests. Later, while living in Shahrizor in the 10th century, they migrated to Cizre under pressure from the Buyids.

Mecdüddin

The eldest, known by the name Mecdüddin (1149 - 1210), was in the service of the emir of Mosul and an important researcher and observer of tradition and language. The tradition dictionary he wrote (Kitab an-Nihāya) was published in Cairo in 1893, and was also edited by Ferdinand Seybold under the title (Kitab ul-Murassa) (Weimar, 1896).

Ziyâeddin

The youngest of the three brothers, Ziyâeddin (1163 - 1239), served Saladin (Salahaddin Eyyubi) after 1191, and later his son named al-Malik al-Afdal, and afterward was in Egypt, Samsat, Aleppo, Mosul, and Baghdad. He critiqued the aesthetic and formal style of the renowned Arabic literature. His book titled Kitab al-Mathal was printed by the Bulaq printing house in 1865.

İzeddin Ali İbnü'l-Esîr

The most renowned, the middle of the brothers, is İzeddin Ali İbnü'l-Esîr. Izz al-Din, who lived between 1160 and 1233, is an important post-medieval Muslim historian. He wrote his greatest work, titled el-Kamil fi't-Tarih (Arabic: الكامل في التأريخ, al-kāmil fī t-taʾrīḫ), in Mosul between 1230 and 1231.

In addition, Ibn al-Athir wrote a comprehensive biography (Arabic: أسد الغابة في معرفة الصحابة, Usd al-ġāba fī maʿrifati ṣ-ṣaḥāba) about the lives of the Companions (Sahaba) and their influence.

Sources

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