Al-Qifti | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan 'Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm ibn 'Abd al-Wahid al-Shaybānī c. 1172 |
| Died | 1248 |
| Nationality | Egyptian Arab |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, Biographer, Encyclopedist, Administrator |
| Employer | Ayyubid rulers of Aleppo |
| Title | Vizier |
| Parent | Yūsuf al-Qifṭī (father) |
| Academic work | |
| Era | Ayyubid period |
| Notable works | Kitāb Ikhbār al-'Ulamā' bi Akhbār al-Ḥukamā (History of Learned Men) |
Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan 'Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm ibn 'Abd al-Wahid al-Shaybānī (جمال الدين أبو الحسن علي بن يوسف بن ٳبراهي بن عبد الواحد الشيباني),[1][2] called 'al-Qifṭī (القفطي; c. 1172 – 1248), was an Egyptian Arab historian, biographer, encyclopedist and administrator under the Ayyubid rulers of Aleppo.[1] His biographical dictionary Kitāb Ikhbār al-'Ulamā' bi Akhbār al-Ḥukamā (إخبار العلماء بأخبار الحكماء, tr. 'History of Learned Men') is an important source of Islamic biography. Much of his vast literary output is lost, including his histories of the Seljuks, Buyids and the Maghreb, and biographical dictionaries of philosophers and philologists.