Al-Muqaddimah. Al-juz’ al-awwal min kitab al-‘ibar wa diwan al-mubtada’ wa-al-khabar fi ayyam al-‘Arab wa-al-‘Ajam wa-al-Barbar wa-man ‘asarahu min dhawi al-sultan al-akbar

DESCRIPTION

8vo, 588 pp. Arabic text within borders, contemporary cloth, edited by Abdallah Afandi al-Bustani, some scattered spotting, ink annotation on title page, light damp staining on the lower margin of the first few pages, not affecting text, small tear on the title page, third edition. The Muqaddimah ("Introduction" or "Prolegomenon") was written by the 14th-century Arab historian and polymath Ibn Khaldun as the introductory volume to his universal history, Kitab al-'Ibar ("Book of Lessons"). Although conceived as a preface, it became an influential work in its own right, establishing foundational ideas in historiography, sociology, economics, political theory, and the study of civilizations. It remains one of the most important intellectual works of the medieval Islamic world.