[Called also by the author Kámil fí-t Táríkh. It is also known to Persian writers as Táríkh-i Kámil. The author of this celebrated general history was Shaikh Abú-l Hasan 'Alí Ibn Abú-l Karam Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdu-l Karím ibn 'Abdul-l Wáhid as Shaibání. He was surnamed “'Izzu-d dín; majesty of religion,” but he is commonly known as Ibn Asír (or Athír according to Arabic pronunciation). He was born in the year 555 H. (1160) in the Jazírat ibn 'Umar, an island of the Tigris above Mosul, and hence the epithet “al Jazarí, the islander,” is frequently added to his name. Ibn Khallikán, who was personally acquainted with him, says that he studied first at Mosul and afterwards at Baghdad, in Syria, and at Jerusalem. Returning to Mosul he devoted himself most assiduously to literary pursuits, and his house became the resort of all the learned men who inhabited or visited that town. Ibn Khallikán met him at Aleppo in 626 H., 1229 A.D., and describes him as “a man of the highest accomplishments and most excellent qualities, but extremely modest.” He speaks of him fondly in another place as “Our Shaikh, Ibn Asír,” and of his accomplishments he says “His knowledge of the traditions and his acquaintance with that science in its various branches placed him in the first rank, and his learning as an historian of the ancients and moderns was not less extensive; he was perfectly familiar with the genealogy of the Arabs, their adventures, combats, and history; whilst his great work, the Kámil or complete, embracing the history of the world from the earliest period to the year 628 of the Hijra (1230 A.D.), merits its reputation as one of the best productions of the kind.”
The Kámilu-t Tawáríkh enjoys a very high reputation, and has been much used and quoted both in Asia and Europe. Ibn Khaldún borrowed largely from it, and it has been drawn upon by Ockley for his History of the Saracens, by Malcolm for the History of Persia, and by Weil for his Geschichte der Chalifen. The narrative is very clear and succinct, but the work, from its great range, is very voluminous. It contains a few brief notices of the Jats in the second and third centuries of the Hijra, and it also gives some interesting details of the Arab occupation of Sind, but so far as India is concerned it is chiefly valuable for its notices of the Ghaznivides and the Ghorians. The work closes soon after the decline of the latter dynasty.
The author of the Habíbu-s Siyar relates that “the Táríkh-i Kámil, one of the two histories written by Ibn Asír” was translated into Persian under the orders of Mírán Sháh, son of Tímúr, by Najmu-d dín, surnamed Nizárí, one of that prince's secretaries.
Besides the work before us, Ibn Asír wrote an abridgement, containing many corrections and improvements of Abú Sa'du-s Samání's Ansáb, upon Patronymics, etc. Another of his works was the “Akhbáru-s Sahába; history of the companions of the Prophet.” He had two brothers, who also engaged in literary pursuits, and one of them, Majdu-d dín, wrote a work on the traditions, entitled “Jámi'u-l Usúl min Hadísu-r Rasúl,” which has been erroneously attributed to our author.
There are MSS. of several portions of the Kámilu-t Tawáríkh in the British Museum and in the Bodleian Library; and in Sir H. Elliott's Library there is a borrowed MS. of part of the work, in bad condition and much worm-eaten. A complete edition of the whole work will soon be available, as it is passing through the press at Leyden, under the careful and able editorship of Professor Tornberg, who bases his text upon the MSS. of Berlin, Paris, and the British Museum. Seven volumes have already been published, and the whole work will be comprised in twelve.*