The reign of the founder of Cairo, the fourth Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (341-365/953-975), marks a watershed in the transformation of the Fatimid state from a regional North African dynasty to an expansive Mediterranean empire. It was also under al- Mu'izz that articulations of the supreme authority of the Fatimid Ismaili imamate were written and disseminated across various regions of Fatimid influence. The writings of Idris 'Imad al-Din (d. 872/1468) provide a distinctive presentation of the Fatimid imamate from the perspective of the Ismaili da'wa itself. as the chief d'ai of the Yemeni Tayyib Ismailis, Idris composed his monumental "Uyun al-akhbar wa funun al-athar' as a record of the Ismaili imamate from its inception to his own time. in doing so, Idris drew upon the rich repertoire of Ismaili and non-Ismaili sources that had been part of the corpus of the Fatimid literary tradition, many of which have subsequently been lost due to the vagaries of time and circumstance. As the only surviving medieval Ismaili work documenting the history of the Fatimid dynasty, the "Uy-un al-akhbar' is among its principal primary sources. This book provides the first annotated English translation of the extensive chapter on al-Mu'izz in the "Uy-un', which remains a vital yet relatively unknown Ismaili source. The introduction to this work not only outlines the salient features of al-Mu'izz's reign but also examines Idris' purpose and approach to historical writing. In providing an insider's account of the reign of one of the most influential rulers of the medieval Muslim world, this work will be of particular interest to students of Ismaili history and thought, medieval Mediterranean history and Muslim historiography.

The reign of the founder of Cairo, the fourth Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (341-365/953-975), marks a watershed in the transformation of the Fatimid state from a regional North African dynasty to an expansive Mediterranean empire. It was also under al- Mu'izz that articulations of the supreme authority of the Fatimid Ismaili imamate were written and disseminated across various regions of Fatimid influence. The writings of Idris 'Imad al-Din (d. 872/1468) provide a distinctive presentation of the Fatimid imamate from the perspective of the Ismaili da'wa itself. as the chief d'ai of the Yemeni Tayyib Ismailis, Idris composed his monumental "Uyun al-akhbar wa funun al-athar' as a record of the Ismaili imamate from its inception to his own time. in doing so, Idris drew upon the rich repertoire of Ismaili and non-Ismaili sources that had been part of the corpus of the Fatimid literary tradition, many of which have subsequently been lost due to the vagaries of time and circumstance. As the only surviving medieval Ismaili work documenting the history of the Fatimid dynasty, the "Uy-un al-akhbar' is among its principal primary sources. This book provides the first annotated English translation of the extensive chapter on al-Mu'izz in the "Uy-un', which remains a vital yet relatively unknown Ismaili source. The introduction to this work not only outlines the salient features of al-Mu'izz's reign but also examines Idris' purpose and approach to historical writing. In providing an insider's account of the reign of one of the most influential rulers of the medieval Muslim world, this work will be of particular interest to students of Ismaili history and thought, medieval Mediterranean history and Muslim historiography.

From its earliest days as a royal settlement fronting the pyramids of Giza to its current manifestation as the largest metropolis in Africa, Cairo has forever captured the urban pulse of the Middle East. In Cairo: Histories of a City, Nezar AlSayyad narrates the many Cairos that have existed throughout time, offering a panoramic view of the city’s history unmatched in temporal and geographic scope, through an in-depth examination of its architecture and urban form. In twelve vignettes, accompanied by drawings, photographs, and maps, AlSayyad details the shifts in Cairo’s built environment through stories of important figures who marked the cityscape with their personal ambitions and their political ideologies. The city is visually reconstructed and brought to life not only as a physical fabric but also as a social and political order—a city built within, upon, and over, resulting in a present-day richly layered urban environment. Each chapter attempts to capture a defining moment in the life trajectory of a city loved for all of its evocations and contradictions. Throughout, AlSayyad illuminates not only the spaces that make up Cairo but also the figures that shaped them, including its chroniclers, from Herodotus to Mahfouz, who recorded the deeds of great and ordinary Cairenes alike. He pays particular attention to how the imperatives of Egypt's various rulers and regimes—from the pharaohs to Sadat and beyond—have inscribed themselves in the city that residents navigate today.

The extraordinary tapestry of Cairo's past and present comes vividly to life in this magisterial study by one of the top social historians of the Arab world. This deeply observed account shows Cairo from the glimmer of its beginnings in the Arab conquest of Egypt in 640 through its transformation into the modern center of Middle Eastern life today. 63 halftones. Maps & tables.

One night in the year 411/1021, the powerful ruler of the Fatimid empire, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, rode out of the southern gates of Cairo and was never seen again. Was the caliph murdered, or could he have decided to abandon his royal life, wandering off to live alone and anonymous? Whatever the truth, the fact was that al-Hakim had literally vanished into the desert. Yet al-Hakim, though shrouded in mystery, has never been forgotten. To the Druze, he was (and is) God, and his disappearance merely indicated his reversion to non-human form. For Ismailis, al-Hakim was the sixteenth imam, descended from the Prophet, and infallible. Jews and Christians, by contrast, long remembered him as their persecutor, who ordered the destruction of many of their synagogues and churches. Using all the tools of modern scholarship, Paul Walker offers the most balanced and engaging biography yet to be published of this endlessly fascinating individual. To some, al-Hakim was God incarnate, to others an infallible imam, to still others he was a capricious tyrant. This book examines myth and fact, document and opinion, to present the most complete and detailed history yet written of the life and times of one of the medieval Islamic world's most controversial figures.

"The Imam-caliph Al-Mu'izz li Din Allah, founder of Cairo, transformed the emergent Fatimid state from a regional power of limited influence to an impressive Mediterranean empire whose authority extended from the shores of the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. His vision and dynamism contributed to the high watermark of Fatimid success in establishing a Shi'I empire, which contributed to the cultural and intellectual efflorescence of the Muslim world [...] The writings of the erudite 15th Mamluk scholar Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi, presented here for the first time in English, document this Fatimid triumph of the Shi'i, and provide one of the most comprehensive accounts of the era [...] In this text , the only complete history of the Fatimids written by a medieval Sunni historian, al-Maqrizi demonstrates a critical discernment regarding the value and limitations of his sources that is unusual among medieval Muslim historians of the time." -- book jacket.