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Imad al-Din al-Isfahani | |
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%3b_Tarikh_al-Barq_al-Bana%2c_Mamluk_Syria%2c_15th_century.jpg) Manuscript of Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani'sTarikh al-Barq al-Bana. Copy made inMamluk Syria, dated 15th century | |
| Birth name | Muhammad ibn Hamid |
| Born | 1125[1] Isfahan,Seljuk Empire |
| Died | 5 June 1201[2] Damascus,Ayyubid Dynasty |
| Allegiance | Zengid dynasty Ayyubid dynasty |
| Unit | Kings Guard |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Marj Uyun Battle of Hattin Siege of Jerusalem (1187) Third Crusade |
Muhammad ibn Hamid(Persian:محمد ابن حامد,romanized: Muḥammad ibn Ḥāmid; 1125 – 20 June 1201), commonly known asImad al-Din al-Isfahani (Persian:عماد الدین اصفهانی), was a historian, scholar, andrhetorician. He left a valuable anthology ofArabic poetry to accompany his many historical works[3] and worked as a man of letters during theZengid andAyyubid period.
Muhammad was born inIsfahan, to aPersian family,[1] in the year 1125, and studied at theNizamiyya school inBaghdad. He graduated into the bureaucracy, and held jurisdiction overBasra andWasit. He then became a deputy of the vizieribn Hubayra. After the death of ibn Hubayra, he went toDamascus in 1166 CE (562Islamic Calendar) and entered the service of theqadi of Damascus, Kamal ad-Din. The qadi presented him to the ZengidNur ad-Din, who appointed him a professor in the school he had established there, which then became known as the Imadiyya school in his honour. Nur ad-Din was later appointed to be his Chancellor.
After the death of Nur ad-Din in 1174, Imad al-Din was removed from all his bureaucratic duties, and was banished from the palace. He went to live inMosul and later entered the service ofSaladin, the Sultan of Egypt during that time. When Saladin took control of Damascus, Saladin's vizier,al-Qadi al-Fadil, appointed him chancellor, and he also became al-Fadil's deputy. Although Saladin had been unsure of his talent because he was only a scribe, Imad al-Din soon became one of the sultan's favourites. As chancellor he did not have to perform the everyday duties of the chancery scribes, and he had a lot of leisure time inEgypt.
From then on he accompanied Saladin on all his campaigns. After a certain raid, he was chosen to kill one of the prisoners, but the prisoner was a child and was instead exchanged for a Muslim prisoner held by theCrusaders. Imad al-Din was present at theBattle of Marj Uyun, theBattle of Hattin, and the subsequent campaign to expel the Crusaders from the Holy Land. AtAcre, he criticised Saladin for giving away the city's treasure instead of spending it on the reconquest. AtBeirut, he became ill, but was the only scribe capable of writing the terms of surrender. He had recuperated in time to see the aftermath of theSiege of Jerusalem (1187), where he again criticised Saladin's generosity; he was also disgusted by those in charge of the ransom who took bribes, and the rich Crusader nobles who took their treasures with them rather than ransoming the poor. He was present at Acre again during theThird Crusade when the Christiansretook the city of Acre, and was among those who fled after the defeat.
After Saladin's death in 1193, he began writing his biographies of the sultan. He wrote theKitab al-Barq al-Shami, which is largely lost, save for its third and fifth volumes, but was abridged byal-Bundari and used heavily by the Muslim historiansIbn al-Athir andAbu Shama in their own chronicles. He also wroteal-Fath al-Qussi fi-l-Fath al-Qudsi, which survives. One manuscript of theBustan al-jami' attributes it to Imad al-Din, but this seems to be an error, for its information on Saladin does not align too well with that of Imad al-Din's biography.[4] He died on 5 June 1201 in Damascus.[2]
