The Fihrist: A 10th Century AD Survey of Islamic Culture

The Fihrist: A 10th Century AD Survey of Islamic Culture

Abu ‘l-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Nadim; edited and translated by Bayard Dodge (Chicago: KAZI Publications; 1998) 1,149 pp., $79.95

Insects, inhospitable climates and warfare have all taken a toll on the few extant remnants of al-Nadim’s Fihrist. Today, only 11 partial manuscripts preserve the tenth-century scholar’s compendium of knowledge.

The original copy of the Fihrist was probably deposited in the royal library in Baghdad, as al-Nadim was a member of the caliph’s court. This “first edition” was very likely destroyed when the Mongols sacked the city in 1258 A.D. Fortunately, however, the author had had a scribe make copies of the catalogue for the family bookstore, and at least one of these eventually made its way to Damascus. By 1423 C.E. the copy was in the hands of the famous historian Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Maqrizi. The manuscript later turned up in the great mosque of Akko during the Napoleonic era, when it was stolen and apparently divided in half.