While searching catalogues and tracing the identities of works, a notable problem emerged concerning the title and author of the book al-Juman fi Mukhtasar Akhbar al-Zaman. Different catalogues give it other titles, such as ‘Uqud al-Juman fi Mukhtasar Akhbar al-Zaman or Kitab al-Juman…, and even corruptions like al-Juman fi Akhbar al-Raman. The main difficulty is its authorship, since it is attributed to two prominent figures.
The two candidate authors
- Shihab al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Maqqari al-Tilimsani (d. 1041 AH / 1631 CE): a famous historian and man of letters from Tlemcen (Algeria), who died in Egypt.
- Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. Muhammad b. Hasan b. Hayyun al-Shutaybi al-Zarwili (d. 963 AH): a leading Sufi figure of the Maghrib.
A third name, “Muhammad b. ‘Ali al-Shatibi”, seems to result from a cataloguer's misreading of “al-Shutaybi”. The only person well known by that name is Radi al-Din Abu ‘Abd Allah (d. 684 AH), a man of letters and philologist, who is very unlikely to have written this historical work given the mismatch with his field and period.
Examining the copies
- The oldest dated copy is Fazil Ahmed Pasha no. 1068, copied in 1044 AH (only three years after al-Maqqari's death), which attributes the book to Shihab al-Din al-Maqqari.
- Vollers 670 at Leipzig University, dated 1057 AH, also attributes it to Shihab al-Din.
- The copies that attribute it to al-Shutaybi, such as Berlin (Landberg 138) and two at the Alexandria Municipal Library (1623 and 1624), all date from the late twelfth century AH onwards.
Conclusion
Although the copies attributed to al-Shutaybi may be more numerous, none is older than 1044 AH. Since the oldest dated copies were written soon after al-Maqqari's death, attribution to Shihab al-Din al-Maqqari is the more likely. The final word, however, depends on a scholarly critical edition and on finding decisive evidence. This is fertile ground for researchers, and Al-Mufahris can help locate many works of both figures.
