مرآة الزمان في تواريخ الأعيان

Mir'at al-Zaman fi Tawarikh al-A'yan

There are just a few Islamic History works that cover a major portion of our history, with the famous works being those of Ibn Kathir, Ibn al-Athir and Ibn al-Jawzi.
Ibn al-Jawzi’s grandson, a master in a wide-range of funun and a famous orator like his grandfather, also authored a detailed history book.

Here is some of the praise for the book by great masters in Tarikh over the centuries:

قال قطب الدين اليونيني: رأيت اجمعها مقصداً وأعذبها مورداً وأحسنها بياناً وأصحها روايةً يكاد خبرها يكون عياناً تأليف الشيخ الإمام شمس الدين أبي المظفّر يوسف سبط الإمام الحافظ جمال الدين عبد الرحمن ابن الجوزي رحمه الله الذي ضمّنه ما علا قدره على كل نبيه، وفاق به على من يناويه،

قال ابن تغري بردي: تاريخه المسمّى «مرآة الزمان» وهو من أجلّ الكتب فى معناها

قال كتاني: وهو صاحب كتاب مرآة الزمان، ذلك التاريخ العظيم الذي ملأ فراغاً عظيماً في تاريخ الإسلام

قال ابن كثير: وَهُوَ مِنْ أَحْسَنِ التَّوَارِيخِ وَأَبْهَجِهَا

Some of the features of this great work are:
·       The author wrote it in a clear, flowing manner, that makes reading it a pleasure.
·       He relied on a wide range of sources, many of which are not found today.
·       He filled it with fawaid and didn’t restrict himself to just recording incidents that occurred.
·       He frequently criticises reports and points out fabrications and inconsistencies.
·       He adopted the Hanafi madhab later in his life and was very vocal in his defence of Imam Abu Hanifah and the Hanafi madhab, resulting in this work containing tarajim of many Hanafi as well as reports that don’t appear on other Tarikh works. Allamah Kawthari was full of praise for the author and this book due to this.
·       It is said to be written in a manner that matches the name ie. one reading it seems to be looking into a mirror/screen displaying tarikh as it took place!
 
The result is a huge history work, filled with fawaid, covering from the start of creation until 654 AH.
 
Access to this book was always limited, as there isn’t a single complete manuscript of it found. While the book is in nearly 20 manuscript volumes, each copy found is missing most of the volumes, resulting in the publisher having to gather dozens of volumes, from a dozen different libraries, across different continents, before they could have enough portions to edit the complete book!
A group of specialists worked on this masterpiece for 20 years, before it was finally ready for publication.
This is a must for every madrasah library, as well as for the collection of those with an interest in history.
 
📘 High-quality, expertly edited edition in 23 volumes.