Description

Muhammad ibn ʻUmar al-Waqidi (747 or 748–823) was one of the earliest historians of Islam. He was born in Medina, in present-day Saudi Arabia, and later moved to Baghdad, where he was appointed a judge by Abbasid caliphs Harun al-Rashid and his son al-Ma'mun. Al-Waqidi is best known for his histories of early Muslim conquests, and for his detailed and well-organized accounts. The two-volume book presented here contains the first part of Futūḥ al-shām (The conquest of Syria), commonly ascribed to al-Waqidi. The main text is accompanied in ...