Ibn Sa'd


Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Saʿ'd and nicknamed "Scribe of Waqidi", was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784 CE and died on 16 February 845 CE. Ibn Sa'd was from Basra, but lived mostly in Baghdad, hence the nisba al-Basri and al-Baghdadi respectively. He is said to have died at the age of 62 in Baghdad and was buried in the cemetery of the Syrian gate.

Kitāb aṭ-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr

The Kitāb aṭ-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr in Arabic, is a compendium of biographical information about famous Islamic personalities. This eight-volume work contains the lives of Muhammad, his Companions and Helpers, including those who fought at the Battle of Badr as a special class, and of the following generation, the Followers, who received their traditions from the Companions. Ibn Sa'd's authorship of this work is attested in a postscript to the book added by a later writer. In this notice he is described as a "client of al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdullah of the ‘Abbasid family".

Contents

Arabic