The Book of Allusions
A New Translation of the Title to Ibn Khaldun’s Kitab al-'Ibar
Keywords:
Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima, Kitāb al-‘Ibar, history, medieval political philosophy, religion and politics, interpretationAbstract
This paper provides a new translation and analysis of Ibn Khaldun’s title to his magnum opus kitab al-‘ibar, wa diwan al-mubtada’ wa al-khabar, fi ayyam al-‘arab wa al-‘ajam wa al-barbar, wa man ‘asarahum min dhawi al-sultan al-akbar, known in short as Kitab al-‘Ibar (or as I translate it, Book of Allusions). This translation and analysis articulates the relationship between Ibn Khaldun’s style of writing and the substance of his teaching. It begins by giving an account of Kitab al-‘Ibar’s overall structure and teachings and then proceed to demonstrate how these are skillfully captured in the title. As I argue here, paying attention to the style of writing is an important interpretative tool necessary to reveal the depth of Ibn Khaldun’s teachings. This new translation and analysis shows how, despite Kitab al-‘Ibar apparent concern with history, this book is intended by Ibn Khaldun to be primarily about politics, seeking to challenge well established and honored notions of the origins of political power.
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