الأعلام للزركلي ١/٨

الأعلام: قاموس تراجم لأشهر الرجال والنساء من العرب والمستعربين والمستشرقين
تأليف: خير الدين الزركلي (1396 هـ / 1976 م)

“Al-A’lam of al-Zirikli is one of ten books that people of this century can take pride in over people of previous centuries.” (Ali al-Tantawi)

The field of writing ‘Tarajim’, biographical profiles of historically significant people, is a very important and unique genre of Islamic literature.
Many tarajim works are restricted to specialised areas, like Hadeeth narrators, members of a madhhab, experts in certain fields or people of a certain city. Al-Zirikli’s Al-A’lam, however, is the perhaps the most famous book in recent times that is not restricted to any area. As its full title states, it is “a biographical dictionary for the most famous men and women from the Arabs, Arabists and Orientalists”.

In the introduction, he outlines what he looked for in selecting people to include: notable authors, holders of a royal, political or judicial role who were influential, being a founder of a sect or school of thought, a specialist in a field, or other culturally influential figures such as poets and tribal patriarchs. Even orientalists who contributed to Arabic literature in some way are included.

Starting the work in 1916, Khayr al-Deen al-Zirikli (d. 1396) worked on his magnum opus for six decades. He was born in Beirut, grew up in Damascus, and, after leaving due to being condemned to death by the French colonisers, lived in many prominent Arab cities, before dying in Cairo.

Being active as a poet, freedom fighter, researcher, litterateur and a diplomat, his wide reading, experience and connections all contributed towards making this work arguably the most authoritative work on biographies of its kind.

The biographical profiles are ordered alphabetically according to first names and then second names.

Dr Mahmood al-Tunahi, a respected scholar of Arabic language, literature and manuscripts, lists the special features of Al-A’lam:
1. A focus on accuracy and on the most important features of the individual;
2. A succinct reference to differences of opinion in biographic details, such as names and years, while pointing out his preferred position, with references;
3. Pointing out common errors in other biographical dictionaries;
4. Consulting manuscripts, along with published books, for verifying even the smallest of details;
5. Researching through personal communication with living authorities on a matter;
6. Clearing up ambiguities surrounding certain individuals;
7. Occasionally touching on tangential academic points of benefit;
8. An active attempt to avoid partiality, especially with contemporaries;
9. Citing references;
10. Mentioning precious and rare manuscripts that he discovered in his travels
11. Inserting images of the handwriting of certain classical scholars from their surviving manuscripts, which helps manuscript researchers in identifying authors and writers of manuscripts (for example, refer to the story of how Shaykh ‘Awwamah decided to publish his critical edition of Imam Ibn Hajar’s Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb);
12. Inserting pictures of signatures of rulers and of contemporary people;
13. An eloquent writing style and an impressive command over clear and articulate language.

There are certain flaws, as with any human endeavour, such as omitting some very important individuals, most notably, many Prophets of Allah (mainly sufficing with prophets who have been considered to be Arab) and also the Ottoman sultans. This is despite the fact that many non-Arab Arabists and Orientalists, whose influence on Arabia was considerably less, are included.

This edition, by Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin, is the primary and most reliable version. Its printing was started under the author’s own supervision and completed after his death by a trusted friend. It comes in 8 volumes, including certain appendices and corrections from the author himself.

Ismaeel Books