Shams al-Dīn Abū Al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Khallikān | |
|---|---|
ابن خلكان | |
| Title | Chief Judge |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 22 September 1211 |
| Died | 30 October 1282(1282-10-30) (aged 71) |
| Region | Middle East |
| Notable work(s) | Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i[1] |
| Creed | Ash'ari[2] |
Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm bin Abū Bakr ibn Khallikān[a][3] (Arabic:أحمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن أبي بكر ابن خلكان; 22 September 1211 – 30 October 1282), better known asIbn Khallikān, was a renowned Islamic historian who compiled the celebratedbiographical encyclopedia ofMuslim scholars and important men in Muslim history,Deaths of Eminent Men and the Sons of the Epoch (Arabic:وفيات الأعيان وأنباء أبناء الزمان,romanized: wafayāt al-ʾaʿyān wa-ʾanbāʾ ʾabnāʾ al-zamān).[4] Due to this achievement, he is regarded as the most eminent writer of biographies inIslamic history.[5]
Ibn Khallikān was born inErbil on 22 September 1211 (11Rabī’ al-Thānī, 608), into a family that claimed descent fromBarmakids,[3] anIranian dynasty fromBalkh.[6]
His primary studies took him from Erbil, toAleppo and toDamascus,[7] before he took upjurisprudence inMosul and then inCairo, where he settled.[8] He gained prominence as a jurist, theologian and grammarian.[8] An early biographer described him as "a pious man, virtuous, and learned; amiable in temper, in conversation serious and instructive. His exterior was highly prepossessing, his countenance handsome and his manners engaging."[9]
He married in 1252[8] and was assistant to the chief judge inEgypt until 1261, when he assumed the position of chief judge in Damascus.[7] He lost this position in 1271 and returned to Egypt, where he taught until being reinstated as judge in Damascus in 1278.[7] He retired in 1281[8] and died in Damascus on 30 October 1282 (Saturday, 26th of Rajab 681).[7]
