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MAQRIZI, or MAKRIZI [Tagi ud-Din Ahmad ibn 'Al] (1364–1442)
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MAQRIZI, or MAKRIZI [Tagi ud-Din Ahmad ibn 'Al] (1364–1442), Arabian historian, known as al-Maqrizi because of his ancestral connexion with Maqriz, a suburb of Baalbek, was born at Cairo and spent most of his life in Egypt, where he was trained in the Hanifite school of law, though later he became a Shafi`ite with an inclination to Zahirite views. In 1385 he made the pilgrimage. For some time he was secretary in a government office, and in 1399 became inspector of markets for Cairo and northern Egypt. This post he soon gave up to become preacher at the mosque of `Amr, president of the mosque ul-Hakim, and a lecturer on tradition. In 1408 he went to Damascus to become inspector of the Qalanisiyya and lecturer. Later he retired into private life at Cairo. In 1430 he made the pilgrimage with his family and travelled for some five years. His learning was great, his observation accurate and his judgment good, but his books are largely compilations, and he does not always acknowledge the sources to which he is indebted. Most of his works are concerned with Egypt. The most important is the Maw¢'iz w¢l-I'tibar fi dhikr ul-Ifitat wal-Aihdr (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854), translated into French by U. Bouriant as Description topographique et historique de l'Egypte (Paris, 1895-1900; cf. A. R. Guest, " A List of Writers, Books and other Authorities mentioned by El Magrizi in his Khitat," in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1902, pp. 103–125). Of his History of the Fatimites an extract was published by J. G. L. Kosegarten in his Chrestomathia (Leipzig, 1828), pp. 115–123; the History of the Avyubit and Mameluke Rulers has been translated into French by E. Quatremere (2 vols., Paris, 1837–1845). Magrizi began a large work called the Mugaffa, a cyclopaedia of Egyptian biography in alphabetic order. It was intended to be in 8o volumes, but only 16 were written. Three autograph volumes exist 4n MS. in Leiden, and one in Paris. Among smaller works published are the Mahommedan Coinage (ed. O. G. Tychsen, Rostock, 1797 ; French translation by S. de Sacy, Paris, 1797); Arab Weights and Measures (ed. Tychsen, Rostock, 'Soo) ; the Arabian Tribes that migrated to Egypt (ed. F Wiistenfeld, Gottingen, 1847) ; the Account of Hadhramaut (ed. P. B. Noskowyj, Bonn, 1866) ; the Strife between the Bani Umayya and the Bani Hashim (ed G. Vos, Leiden, 1888), and the Moslems in Abyssinia (ed. F. T. Rink, Leiden, 1790). For Maqrizi's life see the quotations from contemporary biographies in S. de Sacy's Chrestomathie arabe (2nd ed., Paris, 1826), ii. 112 seq., and for other works still in MS. C. Brockelmann, Gesch. der arabischen Litteratur (Berlin, 1902), ii. 38-41. (G. W. T.)