Bibliotheca Maqriziana

Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Maqrīzī (d. 845/1442) is considered one of the great historians of the Islamic civilization. He composed works in several different genres and on a wide variety of topics (chronicles, biographical dictionaries, works and treatises on various subjects such as numismatics, metrology, mineralogy, etc.). His fame is based on his efforts to record the history of Egypt, and in particular on his acclaimed topographical history of the city of Cairo. Most of his works have survived, and, for some of them, autograph manuscripts (drafts and fair copies) or manuscripts bearing his corrections are still preserved in several libraries all around the world. Strangely enough, these essential witnesses of his works’ textual tradition are generally not taken as the starting point and the textual basis of the several editions printed in the last two centuries. Consequently, they contain many mistakes and cannot be regarded as critical editions. Moreover, only a few of the printed/edited titles are available in translation or have been the subject of thorough analyses.

Bibliotheca Maqriziana aims at remedying this. Meticulously edited by numerous specialists in the field, the series offers a definitive critical edition of the Arabic text and annotated translation (on facing pages) of a number of al-Maqrīzī’s important opuscules and major works. Each title will also include a substantive introduction as well as essential critical and explanatory notes and selective bibliographies. A facsimile of the manuscript (if autographed or corrected by al-Maqrīzī) will be added at the end of each volume offering the reader the opportunity to examine the original and to see when and where marginal notes have been added, evidencing various aspects of al-Maqrīzī’s working method.

Books in preparation: Opera minora:

1) Al-Išārah wa-l-īmāʾ ilā ḥall luġz al-māʾ. Edited by Frédéric Bauden and Antonella Ghersetti
2) Naḥl ʿibar al-naḥl. Edited by Giovanni Canova
3) Šuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr al-nuqūd. Edited by Warren Schulz
4) Al-Ilmām bi-aḫbār man bi-arḍ al-Ḥubš min mulūk al-islām. Edited by Manfred Kropp
5) Al-Išārah wa-l-iʿlām bi-bināʾ al-kaʿbah al-bayt al-ḥarām. Edited by Gerald Hawting
6) Al-Ṭurfah al-ġarībah fī aḫbār wādī Ḥaḍramawt al-ʿaǧībah. Edited by Eric Vallet
7) Al-Bayān wa-l-iʿrāb ʿan mā fī arḍ Miṣr min al-Aʿrāb. Edited by Yossef Rapoport
8) Taǧrīd al-tawḥīd al-mufīd. Edited by Radouane Attiya
9) K. al-Nizāʿ wa-l-taḫāṣum fīmā bayna Banī Umayyah wa-Banī Hāšim; K. fīhi Maʿrifat mā yaǧib li-āl al-bayt min al-ḥaqq ʿalā man ʿadāhum; K.fī Ḏikr mā warada fī Banī Umayyah wa-Banī l-ʿAbbās. Edited by Ignacio Sánchez
10) Iġāṯat al-ummah bi-kašf al-ġummah. Edited by John L. Meloy


Opera maiora:

Opera maiora:
- Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ. Edited by Paul Walker

- Al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar:
1) Chapter dealing with the idols in pre-Islamic Arabia. Edited by Yaara Perlman and Michael Lecker
2) Chapter dealing with the Greeks, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths. Edited by Mayte Penelas
3) Chapter dealing with Jesus. Edited by David Thomas and Rifaat Ebied
4) Chapter dealing with ancient Iran. Edited by Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila
5) Chapter dealing with the Northern Tribes of Arabia. Edited by Zoltan Zsombathy
6) Chapter dealing with the Ancient Prophets. Edited by Camilla Adang and Sabine Schmidtke
7) Chapter dealing with the Banū Isrāʾīl. Edited by Camilla Adang and Sabine Schmidtke
8) Al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar. Vol. V, Section 2: The Arab Thieves, Edited by Peter Webb.
9) Chapter dealing with the political and religious functions among the Arabs in the preislamic period. Edited by Harry Munt.
10) Chapter dealing with the languages of the Arabs. Edited by Antonella Ghersetti.


- Al-Sulūk li-maʿrifat duwal al-mulūk:

1) The Ayyubid Sultanate. Edited by Alex Mallett
2) The early Mamluk sultanate (Aybak-Ḫalīl, 1250-1293). Edited by Paulina Lewicka
3) The later Qalāwūnids (1341-1382). Edited by Takao Ito
4) The reigns of Barqūq and Faraǧ (1382-1412). Edited by Sami Massoud

The series has published an average of one volume per year since 2014.