| al-Aʻlām | |
| Author: | Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli |
| Title Orig: | al-Aʻlām: Qāmūs Tarājim li-Ashhar al-Rijāl wa-al-Nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa-al-Mustaʻribīn wa-al-Mustashriqīn |
| Orig Lang Code: | ar |
| Country: | Egypt, Lebanon |
| Language: | Arabic |
| Genre: | Biography |
| Pub Date: | First Edition published in 1926–1927 |
al-Aʻlām (Arabic: الأعلام), fully known as al-Aʻlām: Qāmūs Tarājim li-Ashhar al-Rijāl wa-al-Nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa-al-Mustaʻribīn wa-al-Mustashriqīn (Eminent Personalities: A Biographical Dictionary of Noted Men and Women among the Arabs, the Arabists and the Orientalists) is a biographical work by the Syrian Arab historian, Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli. Written in the Arabic language, the work features biographies for more than a hundred influential people of Arabia, both historic and modern.
al-A'lam is a compilation of biographies of the prominent figures in the Arabian Peninsula from pre-Islamic ancient times until contemporary times (the 19th–20th centuries).[1] The placement of each biography is by alphabetical order and date of death. For example, in the book, the biography of 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Jumahi (died 625 CE) is directly above that of 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah (died 745 CE).[2] Among the notable figures mentioned in the book include the pre-Islamic knight Abu Layla al-Muhalhel and the early Muslim revert, Abu Bakr.
The first edition of al-A'lam was published in Egypt between 1926 and 1927. The second edition of al-A'lam was then published again in the 1950s, with added portraits and illustrations, as well as being printed in 10 volumes.[3] A revised of al-A'lam was then printed in 8 volumes and published by the Lebanon-based Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malayin publishing house between the years 1978–1979. The same publishing house also would reprint the work in 7 volumes in 2002.[4]
Ahmad Alawinah, a Jordanian researcher and historian, wrote a commentary on al-A'lam that was titled Tawshīḥ kitāb al-A‘lām li-Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī. In his commentary, he gives criticism and praise of al-Zirikli's writings and also adds on to missing information in the biographies.[5]
An annotated version of al-A'lam was later written by the academic Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Rashid and published in Jordan in the year 2014.[6]
Below is a gallery of portraits and illustrations of individuals that were featured in al-A'lam.