The origins of various peoples
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introductory Text
Chapter 2: List of Chapters
Chapter 3: The Beginning, the state of creation, and the offspring of humanity from Adam until their uncle Abraham (Ibrahim)
Chapter 4: The story of Abraham (Ibrahim), and then those who followed his time among the prophets and kings of the Children of Israel.
Chapter 5: The kingdom of 40 (years) between Solomon son of David and those who followed his time among the kings of the Children of Israel, and the prophets
Chapter 6: The people of the Interregnum (Al-Fatrah) who were between [the time of] the Messiah (Jesus) and Muhammad
Chapter 7: India, its inheritance, the beginning of its statues/idols, its history, its customs, and its worship.
Chapter 8: The mountains (or: [religious] denominations) and the seas, the beginnings of the rivers and the mountains, and the seven climates and what planets govern them, and so on.
Chapter 9: The shifting of the seas and a summary of the news about the great rivers.
Chapter 10: The news about the sea and what Al-Khamshi mentioned, and what was said about its size, its ramifications, and its gulfs.
Chapter 11: The disagreement among people regarding the ebb and flow (tide)
Chapter 12: The Roman Victory (likely the Black Sea or a related concept) and describing what was said about its length, width, beginning, and end.
Chapter 13: The Sea of Niṭus (Black Sea?), the Sea of Mābiṭus, and the gulfs of Constantinople
Chapter 14: The Sea of Al-Bāb and the Gates, the Sea of Khazarjan (Caspian Sea), and the arrangement of all the seas
Chapter 15: The kings of India, China, the Turks, and Taghroq, son of Āmūr, and the news of the Sumn and their kings
Chapter 16: The seas, what they contain, and what surrounds them, including wonders, nations, the ranks of kings
Chapter 17: The peoples and the news of the nations of the Alans, the Sarir, and the Khazar, and types of Turks and Merv’s people, and the news of Al-Bāb and the Gates, and the kings and nations around them.
Chapter 18: The kings of the Syriacs (Aramaic People).
Chapter 19: The kings of Mosul and Nineveh, who are the Assyrians.
Chapter 20: The kings of Babylon, including the Nabataeans and others, who are the Chaldeans
Chapter 21: The kings of Persia, their dynasties, their history, and summaries of their news.
Chapter 22: The kings of the factions and the scattered ones who are between the first and second dynasties of the Persians.
Chapter 30: The kings of the Romans (Byzantines) after the appearance of Islam, up to Armanūs, who was king in the year 336 (AH).
Chapter 31: Egypt, its news, its Nile River, and the news of its kings.
Chapter 32: Alexandria, its construction, its kings, its wonders
Chapter 33: The Sudanese (Black Peoples), their genealogies, the variation and types of their races, their differences in their lands, and the news of their kings
Chapter 34: The Slavs (Ṣaqāliba), their dwelling places, the news of their kings, and the dispersal of their races.
Chapter 35: The Franks, their caliphate (or rule), their kings, and summaries of their news and their wars with the people of Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)
Chapter 36: Mentioning the Mūqar (possibly Magyars or a similar northern group), their land, and their dwelling places.
Chapter 33: The genealogy of Abhar
Chapter 34: The kings of the Sasanids, who are the second Persian dynasty
Chapter 35: The kings of the Greeks (Yūnāniyyīn), their news, and what people said about the beginning of their genealogies
Chapter 36: Alexander (the Great) and ‘Āmir of India
Chapter 37: The Greek kings after Alexander
Chapter 38: The Roman kings and their history
Chapter 39: The victorious kings of the Romans, who are the kings of Constantinople
Chapter 37: The people of ‘Ād and their kings
Chapter 38: The people of Thamūd and their kings, and their uncle the prophet Ṣāliḥ
Chapter 39: The Queen and her news, and the building of the House (Al-Bayt, i.e., the Kaaba), and those who ruled over it, including the Jurhum and others, and what is connected to this chapter.
Chapter 40: Summaries of the news describing the Earth and the countries, and the desire of the souls for homelands.
Chapter 41: The dispute among people regarding the meaning for which Yemen, Iraq, Al-Shām (the Levant), and Al-Ḥijāz were named.
Chapter 42: Yemen and its genealogies, and what Al-Fās said about that.
Chapter 43: Yemen and its kings from the Tubba’s (Himyarite Kings) and others, their histories, and the extent of their years.
Chapter 44: The kings of Al-Ḥīra (in Mesopotamia), who were from Yemen and others, and their news
Chapter 45: The kings of the Levant (Al-Shām) from Yemen, specifically the Ghassanids and others
Chapter 46: The nomads among the Arabs and other nations, the nature of their nomadic residence, the Kurds of the desert (or nomads), their lineages, and a summary of their news and other matters connected to this meaning.
Chapter 47: The religions of the Arabs and their elegies (or inheritances) in the Jahiliyyah (Pre-Islamic period), their dispersal in the lands, and the news of the Companions of the Elephant (Aṣḥāb al-Fīl), the matter of the Aḥābīs, and others, and ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib, and other matters connected to this chapter.
Chapter 48: The Talhān and Sabā al-‘Aram in the land of Sabā and Ma’rib, and the dispersion of al-Zarda
Chapter 49: The years/chronologies of the Arabs and the non-Arabs (Ajam), their months, and what agreed upon or differed among them.
Chapter 50: The months of the Copts, the Syriacs, and the Chaldeans in their names, and a summary of the history and other matters connected to this meaning.
Chapter 51: The months of the Syriacs, describing their correspondence to the months of the Romans, the number of days in the year, and knowledge of the atmospheric signs (Anwā’).
Chapter 52: The months of the Persians
Chapter 53: The days of the Persians, their months, and naming their days and nights.
Chapter 48: The Arabs belief regarding the souls, concern/grief (al-hamm), and patience/endurance (al-ṣabr)
Chapter 49: The sayings of the Arabs regarding fortunes/diviners (al-‘iyādin) and the jinn (al-ghūl)
Chapter 50: The sayings of the people regarding the voices from the unseen (al-hawātif) and the soothsayers (al-kuhhān) from the Arabs and others
Chapter 51: What the Arabs believed regarding augury (al-‘iyāfah), omen-taking (al-zajr), divination (al-‘iyāfah), good omens (al-sāniḥ), bad omens (al-bāriḥ)
Chapter 52: Their deities (ālihatuhā), their descriptions, the news about what people adopted concerning that, and the limit of the speaking souls (al-nāṭiqah) other than them, and what was said about it and what is connected to this chapter.
Chapter 79: The Battle of the Camel
Chapter 80: The people of Iraq and Al-Shām (the Levant)
Chapter 81: The Ambush and the beginning of the Arbitration (Al-Taḥkīm)
Chapter 82: The Ḥarūriyyah (early Kharijites), the people of Nahrawān, who are the Shurāt
Chapter 83: The killing of Ali ibn Abi Talib
Chapter 84: Glimpses of his words and his observations (or wisdom)
Chapter 85: The caliphate of Al-Hasan ibn Ali
Chapter 72: His migration (Hijra) and summaries of what happened in his days regarding his enemies and his contentment (or piety)
Chapter 73: His birth until his death
Chapter 74: What afflicted him (or his uncle) of pains that were not memorized (or recorded) before him from anyone among mankind
Chapter 75: The caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, his genealogy
Chapter 76: The caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, his genealogy
Chapter 77: The caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, his genealogy
Chapter 78: The caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib, his genealogy
Chapter 86: ‘Ubayd and ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
Chapter 87: The days of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, his deeds, and anecdotes from his news
Chapter 88: Al-Hajjaj, his sermons (khuṭab)
Chapter 89: The days of Al-Walid ibn ‘Abd al-Malik
Chapter 90: Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik
Chapter 91: The caliphate of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam, history, and righteousness.
Chapter 92: The days of Yazid ibn ‘Abd al-Malik
Chapter 86: Mu’awiyah’s character, his politics, and interesting points (or gems)
Chapter 87: The days of Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan
Chapter 88: The Companions (Al-Ṣaḥābah), praising them, and ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Al-Abbas, and their merit
Chapter 89: The days of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, may God curse him
Chapter 90: The killing of Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and those of his family and followers who were killed.
Chapter 91: The names of his sons and daughters and the progeny of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him
Chapter 92: Yazid ibn Yazid and anecdotes of some of his deeds, and what occurred from him during the Interregnum (Al-Fatrah)
Chapter 93: The days of Mu’awiyah ibn Yazid and Marwan ibn al-Hakam and Al-Mukhtar ibn… (Heading is cut off, but the topic is clearly the early Umayyad period and figures like Al-Mukhtar).
Chapter 114: The caliphate of al-Maʾmūn
Chapter 115: The caliphate of al-Muʿtaṣim
Chapter 116: The caliphate of al-Wāthiq
Chapter 117: The caliphate of al-Mutawakkil
Chapter 118: The caliphate of al-Muntaṣir
Chapter 119: The caliphate of al-Mustaʿīn
Chapter 120: The caliphate of al-Muʿtazz
Chapter 121: The caliphate of al-Muhtadī
Chapter 122: The caliphate of al-Muʿtamid
Chapter 123: The caliphate of al-Muʿtaḍid
Chapter 124: The caliphate of al-Muktafi
Chapter 125: The caliphate of al-Muqtadir
Chapter 109: The reign of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik
Chapter 110: The reign of al-Walīd ibn Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik
Chapter 111: The reign of Yazīd ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and his brother Ibrāhīm
Chapter 112: The partisanship between the Abbasids and the Marwanids, and the strife this produced among the Umayyads.
Chapter 113: The reign of Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam
Chapter 114: The length of time of the Banū Umayya (Umayyads) rule
Chapter 115: The glorious Abbasid dynasty, with the news of Marwān
Chapter 116: The caliphate of al-Saffāḥ
Chapter 117: The caliphate of Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr
Chapter 118: The caliphate of al-Mahdī
Chapter 119: The caliphate of al-Hādī
Chapter 120: The caliphate of al-Rashīd (Hārūn al-Rashīd)
Chapter 121: The Barmakids, their history
Chapter 122: The caliphate of al-Amīn
Chapter 136: Account of the caliphate of al-Nāṣir, with a summary of his reports and conduct, and what occurred in his days.
Chapter 137: Account of the caliphate of al-Rāḍī, with a summary of his reports and conduct, and what occurred in his days.
Chapter 138: Account of the caliphate of al-Muttaqī, with a summary of his reports and conduct, and what occurred in his days.
Chapter 139: Account of the caliphate of al-Mustakfī, with a summary of his reports and conduct, and what occurred in his days.
Chapter 140: Account of the caliphate of al-Muṭīʿ, with a summary of his reports and conduct, and what occurred in his days.
Chapter 141: General account, summing up the second volume of this book, down to the present time.
Page 45
Volume 2 was finished in year 636 of the Hijra
Chapter 133: The beginning of Islam until 636
Al-Masʿūdī says: In this book are contained summaries of what this volume comprises, showing that we have mentioned in each chapter what pertains to it of the kinds of sciences, the transmission of traditions, and the history of past generations, arranged according to what has been transmitted concerning the succession of dynasties, in proportion to the extent of our presentation. We have given, in each chapter, details concerning kings, the length of their reigns, the number of their years, what was transmitted from them of poems and traditions, and, after that, the memorable events, the astonishing tales, the wonders of the ages, the reports about peoples and the differences in their customs, and what took place in the branches of knowledge in each age, with the names of the scholars and the circles in which they were seated, in whatever domain it might be.
It was narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas and others that the first thing that God Almighty created was water. His throne was over the water, and when He wanted to create for others, He brought forth from the water smoke, which rose above the water and made the heavens. Then the water dried up, making it one, then He purified it, making it seven earths in two days, on Sunday and Monday.
And God created the Earth upon the rock. And the whale is what God mentioned in His Book in the Qur’an: {And by the pen and what they inscribe}. And the whale and the water upon the rock. And the rock was upon the back of an angel, and the angel was upon a rock, and the rock was upon a man. And the fish is what God Almighty mentioned in the Qur’an: the saying of Qanan to his son, “O my son, it is (even) the weight of a mustard seed, and it is in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the trees. God brings it forth. Indeed, God is Subtle and Acquainted.” So the whale trembled, and it was shaken. The earth is covered with a Persian mountain, and it has become firm. This is the saying of God Almighty: And He cast down.
Our predecessors in our compilation and our presentation of these meanings and riches have already been mentioned.
What this book includes:
One hundred and two chapters
Thirty chapters, the first of which mentions the general objectives of this book and its sources.
It mentions what this book is composed of.
The last of which mentions the people from the beginning of Islam until the year 30 Hijri and the teachings of the Prophet.