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Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Selected Sources: Islam
Contents
General
- WEB Islamic History Sourcebook
- WEB Transmediterrane Geschichte (Transmediterranean History) [Univ of Konstanz] [Internet Archive backup here]
"Transmediterranean History" is an anthology of sources, with comments, intended to facilitate access to transmediterranean topics and their source documentation for researchers, teachers and interested parties.
The database provides source excerpts in the original and in translation, structured epochally and arranged chronologically. The texts are in original language with side-by-side German translation. Progress is being made in providing English versions." Periods covered are: Before Arab-Islamic Expansion; Aran-Islamic Expansion (7th-9th centuries); New Neighbours (9th-11th centuries); Latin Christian Expansion (11-13th centuries).
-The site has shifted from a wiki format to a PDF format which supports more authoratative referencing. Although one cannot yet rely on AI translation, the results of Google Translation on the wiki version were quite satisfactory on this site, partly because the German translations are in uncomplicated German. This link takes you to the old wiki version, and this link to the Internet Archive of the wiki version.
- 2ND Chase F. Robinson: Patricia Crone and the End of Orientalism
Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Ancient Accounts of Arabia
Accounts from Herodotus, Strabo, Dio Cassius, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Procopius.
- Pre-Islamic Arabia: The Hanged Poems, before
622 CE
The Pre-Islamic poems of Imru-Ul-Quais, Antar, and Zuhair which Muhammad allowed to remain
hanging in the Ka'aba.
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Rome and the Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs, 1984 full text PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, full text 1984 PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century, full text 1989 PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 1, Part 1 Political and Military History, full text 1995 PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 1, Part 2, Ecclesiastical History, full text 1995 PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 2, Part 1, Toponymy, Monuments, Historical Geography, and Frontier Studies, 2002 full text PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
- 2ND Irfan Shahîd: Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 2, Part 2, Economic, Social, and Cultural History, full text 2010 PDF [Dumbarton Oaks/Internet Archive]
Muhammad and Foundations -
to 632 CE
- WEB The Qur'an [Quran.com]
The Qur'an in Arabic and with the option of many other translations in English and other languages. Also audio files for each Surah. This is a
very well done site.
- The Qu'ran: Surahs 1 and 47. For full
text, see full texts page. See also
Catholic Encyclopedia: Koran and
Catholic Encyclopedia: Islam
(Concept)
- The Qur'an:
The Women: From Surah's 2 and 4, [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
- Ibn Ishaq (d. c. 773 CE): Selections from the Life
of Muhammad
- Muhammad: Last Sermon.
- The Sunnah, (traditions of the Prophet
Muhammad), excerpts.
- Hadith Selections.
- Hadith on fasting, collected by al-Bukhari (d.
870 CE)
-
2ND Philip K. Hitti: Muhammad, The Prophet of
Allah [At Oneworld]
- 2ND Montgomery Watt: Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961) Last Chapter
- 2ND Maxime Rodinson: Muhammad (New York:
Pantheon Books. 1980), pp. 38. ff, Chapter 3
Islamic Expansion and
Empire - to 750 CE
- Al-Baladhuri: The Battle of The Yarmuk and After, 636
CE
- Accounts of the Arab Conquest of Egypt, 642 CE
The Coptic account from The History of The Patriarchs of Alexandria and an Arab
account - Al-Baladhuri: The Conquest of Alexandria
- The Pact of Umar, 7th-9th Century?
- Pact of Umar (another
version), 7th-9th century CE?
- Sarim al-Din Ibrahim b. Duqmaq (d. 1406): On Yazid b. Mu’awiya (d. 683), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Shihab al-Din al-Alusi (d. 1854): On Yazid b. Mu’awiya (d. 683), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Abu Hasan al-Tabari (d. 1110): On Yazid b. Mu’awiya (d. 683), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Najda ibn Amir: An Early Kharijite Critique of the Azariqa: Najda ibn Amir’s Letter to Ibn al-Azraq, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- The Byzantine-Arabic Chronicle (8th century): full translation and analysis by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, full text [At Aymennjawad.org] [Internet Archive version here]
An early Latin language text that partly describes the rise of Islam and some of the early Muslim conquests. The original text is included in a collection of writings called Corpus Scriptorum Muzarabicorum ("Corpus of Mozarabic Writings") compiled by Juan Gil..
- Ibn Abd-el-Hakem: The Islamic Conquest of Spain .
- Al Maggari: Tarik's Address to His Soldiers, 711 CE,
from The Breath of Perfumes
- Anonymous Arab Chronicler: The Battle of Poitiers
(Tours), 732 CE
- Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Poitiers (Tours): Three
Accounts, 732 CE
- Abû Ûthmân al-Jâhiz: From The Essays, c.
860 CE
Arab Muslim views on the Zanj (Black Africans)
- Ibn Battuta (1304-1368/69):
East Africa in the 14th Century, from Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354
The Abbasid Caliphate -
after 750 CE
- Politics
- An Arab Ambassador in Constantinople, (late 10th
Century CE).
- Al-Tanûkhî: Ruminations and Reminiscences, c.
980 CE
"The Table Talk of a Mesopotamian Judge"
- Abul Hasan Ali Al-Masu'di (Masoudi) (ca. 895?-957 CE): The
Book of Golden Meadows, c. 940 CE
Masu'di - "the Arab Suetonius" or "the Arab Herodotus" -
specialized in a history which went beyond chronology to look at themes and individual
anecdotes.
- Ibn Fadlan: Risala 921 CE [At
VikingAnswerLady]
Ibn Fadlan was an Arab chronicler. In 921 C.E., the Caliph sent Ibn Fadlan with an embassy
to the King of the Bulgars of the Middle Volga. Ibn Fadlan wrote an account of his
journeys with the embassy, called a Risala. This Risala is of great value as a
history, although it is clear in some places that inaccuracies and Ibn Fadlan's own
prejudices have slanted the account to some extent.
- Ibn-Miskawaih: The Experiences of the Nations,
c. 980 CE
Power plays in the Abbasid court.
- Yakut: Baghdad Under
the Abbasids, c. 1000 CE
- Philosophy
- Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111): On the Virtues of Learning and Teaching in the Islamic Tradition, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ibn Rushd (Averroës) (1126-1198 CE): Religion &
Philosophy, c. 1190 CE. The text is On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy,
or in Arabic Kitab fasl al-maqal, with its appendix (Damina). Appended is an
extract from Kitab al-kashf`an manahij al-adilla.
- Averroes/Ibn Rushd. (1126-1198 CE): Ibn Rushd’s Metaphysics PDF [At Muslim Philosophy] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Islamic political
philosophy: Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes [Local copy]
- Ibn Khaldun: The Muqaddimah, full text, trans. by
Franz Rosenthal [At Muslim Philosophy] [interent Archive version here]
- Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani: Biography of Ibn Khaldun (d. 808/1406), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (d. 818): On the Perfection of the Intellect, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ibn Hazm (d. 1064): On Specialization of Knowledge, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) On Pseudo-Scholars, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Emir Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza’iri (d. 1883): On Critical Reasoning vs. Blind Emulation, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- WEB Islamic Philosophy Online
- Science
- Literature
- Crusades
Al-Andalus: Muslim Spain
- Bibliography of Translated Texts from Medieval/Early Modern Iberia and North Africa [At Ballandalus][Internet Archive version here]
A non-exhaustive list of texts and documents from medieval/early modern Iberia and North Africa (covering roughly the period 500-1700) that have been translated into English. Maintained by Mohamad Ballan.
- The Mozarabic Chronicle (754CE): full translation and analysis by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, full text [At Aymennjawad.org] [Internet Archive version here]
A contemporary Latin-language source on the Muslim invasion and conquest of Spain during the early eighth century.
- Ibn Abd-el-Hakem: The Islamic Conquest of Spain .
- A Hispano-Muslim Embassy to the Vikings in 845: An Account of al-Ghazal’s Journey to the North, 845, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- ‘Abd Allah bin Buluggin, Emir of Granada 1073-90: Warfare in Eleventh-Century Spain (Al-Andalus), according to The Tibyan, trans translated by Amin T Tibi [At De Re Militari] [Internet Archive version here]
- ‘Abd al-Wahid al Marrakushi (13th Century): The Battle of Zallaqa, 1086 [At De Re Militari] [Internet Archive version here]
- Zirid Emir Abdullah ibn Buluggin (d. 1090): On the Reputation of Dynasties, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Abu al-Walid ibn al-Hajj (d. 1318): The Reign of Ibn Hud (r. 1228-1238), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
The reign of Abū’Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Hūd al-Judhamī (r. 625–635/1228–1238), an Andalusi emir who controlled much of al-Andalus in the early 13th century following the weakening of the Almohads.
- The Poetry of the Spanish Moors, Selections
- Mawlid Poetry from the Morisco Period of al-Andalus (Commemorating the Birth of Mohammad), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Muslim accounts of warfare in al-Andalus [At De Re Militari] [Internet Archive version here]
- ‘Abd Allah bin Buluggin, Emir of Granada 1073-90: Warfare in Eleventh-Century Spain (Al-Andalus), according to The Tibyan, trans translated by Amin T Tibi [At De Re Militari] [Internet Archive version here]
- ‘Abd al-Wahid al Marrakushi (13th Century): The Battle of Zallaqa, 1086 [At De Re Militari] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ismā‘īl ibn al-Aḥmar (d. 1407): The Expulsion of Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (d. 1148) from Seville, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- 27 Prominent Medieval Andalusi Women, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
Biographies of medieval Andalusi women are drawn from the Kitāb al-Ṣilah of Ibn Bashkuwal (d. 1183), the Takmilat Kitāb al-Ṣilah by Ibn al-Abbar (d. 1260), and the Kitāb Ṣilat al-Ṣila by Ibn al-Zubayr (d. 1308).
- Ibn Bashkuwal (d. 1183): Prominent Andalusi Muslim Women: A Short List from Kitab al-Silla, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Lisān al-Dīn Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Khaṭīb al-Salmānī (d. 1374): The Commemoration of the Martyrdom of al-Husayn b. Ali (d. 680) in al-Andalus, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
"Reconquista"
Muslim Persia
- See Ancient History
Sourcebook: Near East for pre-Islamic Persian texts.
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE):: The Rubiayat, c.
1120 CE, or another version, both editions
translated by Edward Fitzgerald.
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): The Rubaiyat, c.
1120
This is not the famous translation by Edward Fitgerald, but a more complete version by
E. H. Whinfield.
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): In Praise of Wine,
c. 1100
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): The Vanity of Regret,
c. 1100
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): The Cup, c. 1110
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): Profession of Faith,
c. 1120
- Omar Khayyam (d. 1123 CE): The Wisdom of the
Supreme, c. 1120
- Nizami (1140-1203 CE): Khosru & Shireen,
c. 1190
Nizami, Rumi and Jami (belowt) are the great classical poets of Muslim Persia.
- Sa'di (1184-1292 CE): Gulistan,
1258 CE, Full text, in short sections. [At MIT]
-
Sa'di (1184-1292 CE): Gulistan, 1258 CE,
Full text of Persian prose/poetry text with significant homoerotic content.
- Sa'di (1184-1292 CE): The Gulistan, c. 1256 CE.
translation by James Ross (1890)
- Sa'di (1184-1292 CE): The Bustan
- Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273 CE): The Masnavi,
excerpts, c. 1250 CE
- Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273 CE): The Fairest Land,
c. 1250 CE
- Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273 CE): Poems from the Divan-I
Shams-I Tabriz, c. 1270 CE
- Hafiz (1325-1389 CE): Verses in Praise of God, c.
1370 CE
- Jami (114-1492 CE): Joseph and Zuleika, c. 1470 CE
- Ibn al-Athir: On The Tatars, 1220-1221CE
The effects of the Mongols in Persia
- Sultan Selim I (d. 1520) and Shah Ismail (d. 1524): Letter Exchange on the Battle of Chaldiran (Aug. 1514), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
Egypt and North Africa
Muslim Religious Development
- Muslim Life
- The Qur'an: Surah 24:35 The Light [At Quran.com]
The reading from the Qur'an known as The Light (al-Nur) is one of the most poetic and beautiful. Here in Arabic and with a variety of English translations.
- Ibn Battuta (1304-1368/69): The Haj in the 14th Century, from Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354
- The Sunni Tradition
- The Shia Tradition
- Ali ibn Abi Talib, the 4th Caliph (d. 661): Last Will and Testament of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 1022): Children of the First Ten Imams of Ahl al-Bayt according to Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 1022), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Abu al-Fida (d. 1331): On the Caliphate of al-Hasan b. Ali (d. 669), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Abu al-Fida’ (d. 1331): On Umar b. Abd al-Aziz’s Abolishment of the Public Cursing of Ali b. Abi Talib, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- ‘Umar b. ‘Ali b. al-Husayn (ca. 740): On the Ahl al-Bayt, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]Ali Hujviri (d. 1077): On al-Husayn b. Ali (d. 680), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505): On the Martyrdom of al-Husayn b. Ali (d. 680), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Muhammad b. Idris al-Shafi’i (d. 820): On the Martyrdom of al-Husayn b. Ali (d. 680), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari (d. 936): On the Battle of Karbala (680), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ali Hujviri (d. 1077): On Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 732), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- al-Dhahabi: Biography of Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 732), from Siyar A’lam al-Nubala (c. 1340), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Muhammad b. ‘Alī al-Jawād al-Husaynī, 9th Imām of the Twelver Shi’i (d. 835): Wisdom Writing, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Isma’il ibn Ali al-Razi (d. 1054): On Umar b. al-Khattab’s Honoring of al-Hasan b. Ali and al-Husayn b. Ali, trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Ja’far al-Sadiq (d. 765): Advice to Musa al-Kadhim (d. 799), trans Mohammed Ballan [At Ballandalus] [Internet Archive version here]
- Sufism
- Relations With Other Religions
The Turks and the Mongols
The Turks - Early Centuries and Central Asia
- The Legends & Poetry of The Turks,
selections
- Ibn Battuta (1304-1368/69):
Central Asian Turks in the 14th Century, from Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354
- Claudia Rapp and Johannes Prieser-Kapeller, eds.. Mobility and Migration in Byzantium; A Sourcebook [At Vr-elibrary.de] PDF [Internet Archive version here]
Five hundred pages of translations into English on sources about migration in Byzantium. Includes both internal migration, and sections on Jews, Slavs, Armenians, Varangians (Norse), Catalans, Turks, and in relation to the Crusades. Gender-related migration is also covered.
The Turks - Seljuqs
The Mongols
Tamurlane
The Turks - Ottomans
NOTES: copyrighted means the text is not available for free distribution. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or
location]. No indication means that the text file is local. WEB indicates a link to one of
small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially
valuable overview.
The Internet Medieval Sourcebook is part of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project. The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
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© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 November 2024 [CV]
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