תיאור הספר

TWO VOLUMES of three. RARE CRITICAL EDITION OF THE ORIGINAL ARABIC TEXT of Ta`rik ibn Wadih or popularly Tarikh Yaqubi - a well-known Islamic history book in two parts, written by Ahmad ibn Abu Ya`qub ibn Ja`far ibn Wahb Ibn Wadih al-Ya`qubi. The author, known as Ahmad al-Ya`qubi, or simply Ya`qubi (died 897/8), was a Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world culture in the Abbasid Caliphate, also renowned for his `Kitab al-Buldan` (Book of the Countries) - a geography book which contains a description of the Maghreb, with a full account of the larger cities and much topographical and political information. In the first part he gives a comprehensive account of the pre-Islamic and non-Islamic peoples, especially of their religion and literature (he is considered the first to give an account of the stories of Kalila and Dimna, as well as of Sindibad/Sinbad, and gives many extracts from Greece philosophers in his account of Greece). The second part contains Islamic history up to 872, and is neither extreme nor unfair, although he inherited Shi`ite leanings from his great-grandfather. The work is characterized by its detailed account of some provinces, such as Armenia and Khorasan, by its astronomical details and its quotations from religious authorities rather than poets. [BOTH VOLUMES]: 250x175mm. 230+252 pages. Softcover. Cover yellowing and slightly stained. Cover partly detached from spine/binding because the spine is tattered/partly torn and partly missing. Some pages dog-eared. Pages yellowing and rough-cut (as published). [VOL.1]: Two last page edges worn/wrinkled. [VOL.2]: Front cover upper right corner creased and tattered. [SUMMARY]: These extremely rare two volumes of the original Arabic text of an important medieval historical treatise are overall in good condition.