The Muqaddimah : An Introduction to History (Unabridged Edition, Volume 2).

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Khaldûn, Ibn.

Series:

Bollingen Series

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (497 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2026.

Summary:

Volume two of the classic Islamic history of the world, now available to a new generation of readers in a fully unabridged edition Written by the great fourteenth-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldûn, The Muqaddimah , or "Introduction," is the earliest critical study of history.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

List of Plates

Abbreviations and Symbols

Chapter III: On Dynasties, Royal Authority, The Caliphate, Government Ranks, and All That Goes With These Things. The Chapter Contains Basic and Supplementary Propositions [Concluded]

[32] The Ranks of Royal and Governmental Authority and The Titles That Go With Those Ranks

The wazirate

The Office of Doorkeeper (ḥijâbah)

The Ministry (dîwân) of Financial Operations and Taxation

The Ministry (dîwân) of Official Correspondence and Writing

The Police

The Admiralty

[33] The Different Importance of the Ranks of "the Sword" and "the Pen" in the Various Dynasties

[34] The Characteristic Emblems of Royal and Government Authority

The "outfit" (âlah)

The Throne (sarîr)

The Mint

The seal

The ṭirâz

Large Tents and Tent Walls

The Prayer Enclosure (maqṣûrah) and the Prayer During the Friday Sermon

[35] Wars and the Methods of Waging War Practiced by the Various Nations

[36] Taxation and the Reason For Low and High Tax Revenues

[37] In the Later Years of Dynasties, Customs Duties are levied

[38] Commercial Activity on the Part of the Ruler is Harmful to His Subjects and Ruinous to the Tax Revenue

[39] The Ruler and His Entourage are Wealthy Only in the Middle Period of the Dynasty

[40] Curtailment of the Allowances Given by the Ruler Implies Curtailment of the Tax Revenue

[41] Injustice Brings About the Ruin of Civilization

[42] How it Happens that Access to the Ruler becomes Restricted in the Dynasty. Such Restriction Becomes Important When the Dynasty Grows Senile

[43] The Division of One Dynasty into Two

[44] Once Senility Has Come Upon a Dynasty, it Cannot Be Made to Disappear

[45] How Disintegration Befalls Dynasties.

[46] The Authority of the Dynasty at First Expands to its limit and then is Narrowed Down in Successive Stages, Until the Dynasty Dissolves and Disappears

[47] How a New Dynasty Originates

[48] A New Dynasty Gains Domination Over the Ruling Dynasty Through Perseverance, and. Not Through sudden Action

[49] There is an Abundant Civilization (Large Population) at the End of Dynasties, and Pestilences and Famines Frequently Occur Then

[50] Human Civilization Requires Political Leadership For its Organization

[51] The Fâṭimid. The Opinions of the People About Him. The Truth About the Matter

Sufi Opinions About the Mahdî

[52] Forecasting the Future of Dynasties and Nations, Including a Discussion of Predictions (malâḥim) and an Exposition of the Subject Called "Divination" (jafr)

Chapter IV: Countries and Cities, and All Other Forms of Sedentary Civilization. The Conditions Occurring There. Primary and Secondary Considerations in this Connection

[1] Dynasties are Prior to Towns and Cities. Towns and Cities are Secondary Products of Royal Authority

[2] Royal Authority Calls For Urban Settlement

[3] Only a Strong Royal Authority is Able to Construct Large Cities and High Monuments

[4] Very Large Monuments are Not Built by One Dynasty Alone

[5] Requirements For the Planning of Towns and the Consequences of Neglecting Those Requirements

[6] The Mosques and Venerated Buildings of the World

[7] There are Few Cities and Towns in Ifrîqiyah and the Maghrib

[8] The Buildings and Constructions in Islam are Comparatively Few Considering Islam's Power and As Compared to the Dynasties Preceding Islam

[9] Buildings Erected by Arabs, With Very Few Exceptions, Quickly Fall into Ruins

[10] The Beginnings of the Ruin of Cities.

[11] With Regard to the Amount of Prosperity and Business Activity in Them, Cities and Towns Differ in Accordance With the Different Size of Their Civilization (Population)

[12] Prices in Towns

[13] Bedouins are Unable to Settle in a City With a Large Civilization (Population)

[14] Differences With Regard to Prosperity and Poverty are the Same in Countries as in Cities

[15] The Accumulation of Estates and Farms in Cities. Their Uses and Yields

[I6] Capitalists Among the Inhabitants of Cities Need Rank and Protection

[I7] Sedentary Culture in Cities Comes From the Dynasties. It is Firmly Rooted When the Dynasty is Continuous and Firmly Rooted

[I8] Sedentary Culture is the Goal of Civilization. It Means the End of Its Life Span and Brings About Its Corruption

[I9] Cities That are the Seats of Royal Authority Fall into Ruins When the Ruling Dynasty Falls into Ruins and Crumbles

[20] Certain Cities Have Crafts that Others Lack

[21] The Existence of Group Feeling in Cities and the Superiority of Some of the Inhabitants Over Others

[22] The Dialects of the Urban Population

Chapter V: On the Various Aspects of Making a Living, Such as Profit and the Crafts. The Conditions that Occur in This Connection. A Number of Problems are Connected With This Subject

[I] The Real Meaning and Explanation of Sustenance and Profit. Profit is the Value Realized From Human Labor

[2] The Various Ways, Means, and Methods of Making a Living

[3] Being a Servant is Not a Natural Way of Making a Living

[4] Trying to Make Money From Buried and Other Treasures is Not a Natural Way of Making a Living

[5] Ranks are Useful in Securing Property

[6] Happiness and Profit are Achieved Mostly by People Who are Obsequious and Use Flattery. Such Character Disposition is One of the Reasons For Happiness.

[7] Persons Who are in Charge of Offices Dealing With Religious Matters, Such as Judge, Mufti, Teacher, Prayer Leader, Preacher, Muezzin, and the Like, are Not as a Rule Very Wealthy

[8] Agriculture is a Way of Making a Living For Weak People and Bedouins in Search of Subsistence

[9] The Meaning, Methods, and Different Kinds of Commerce

[10] The Transportation of Goods by Merchants

[11] Hoarding

[12] Continued Low Prices are Harmful to Merchants Who Have to Trade at Low Prices

[13] The kind of People Who Should Practice Commerce, and Those Who Should Not

[14] The Character Qualities of Merchants are Inferior to Those of Leading Personalities and Remote From Manliness

[15] The Crafts Require Teachers

[16] The Crafts are Perfected Only if There Exists a Large and Perfect Sedentary Civilization

[17] The Crafts are Firmly Rooted in a City Only When Sedentary Culture is Firmly Rooted and of Long Duration

[18] Crafts Can Improve and Increase Only When Many People Demand Them

[19] The Crafts Recede From Cities That are Close to Ruin

[20] The Arabs, of All People, are Least Familiar With Crafts

[21] The Person Who Has Gained the Habit of a Particular Craft is Rarely Able Afterwards to Master Another

[22] A Brief Enumeration of the Basic Crafts

[23] The Craft of Agriculture

[24] The Craft of Architecture

[25] The Craft of Carpentry

[26] The Craft of Weaving and Tailoring

[27] The Craft of Midwifery

[28] The Craft of Medicine. The Craft of Medicine is Needed in Settled Areas and Cities But Not in the Desert

[29] Calligraphy, the Art of Writing, is One of the Human Crafts

[30] The Craft of Book Production

[31] The Craft of Singing and Music

[32] The Crafts, Especially Writing and Calculation, Give Intelligence to the Person Who Practices Them.

Chapter VI: The Various kinds of Sciences. The Methods of Instruction. The Conditions That Obtain in these Connections. The Chapter Includes a Prefatorydiscussion and Appendices

Prefatory Discussion: On Man's Ability to Think

[1] Man's Ability to Think

[2] The World of the Things That Come into Being as the Result of Action, Materializes Through Thinking

[3] The Experimental Intellect and How it Comes into Being

[ 4] The Sciences (knowledge) of Human Beings and the Sciences (knowledge) of Angels

[5] The Sciences (knowledge) of the Prophets

[6] Man is Essentially Ignorant, and Becomes Learned Through Acquiring knowledge

[7] Scientific Instruction is a Craft

[8] The Sciences are Numerous Only Where Civilization is Large and Sedentary Culture Highly Developed

[9] The Various Sciences That Exist in Contemporary Civilization

[10] The Qur' ânic Sciences of Qur' ân Interpretation and Qur' ân Reading

Qur' ân Interpretation

[11] The Sciences Concerned With Propheticm Traditions.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-691-29071-7

0-691-28197-1

OCLC:

1583176268