Maqrizi
MAQRIZI, or MAKRIZI [TaqI ud-Dln Alimad ibn 'All] (1364- 1442), Arabian historian, known as al-Maqrlzi because of his ancestral connexion with Maqrlz, a suburb of Baalbek, was born at Cairo and spent most of his life in Egypt, where he was trained in the Hanifite school of law, though later he became a Shafi'ite with an inclination to Zahirite views. In 1385 he made the pilgrimage. For some time he was secretary in a government office, and in 1399 became inspector of markets for Cairo and northern Egypt. This post he soon gave up to become preacher at the mosque of ' Amr, president of the mosque ul-Hakim, and a lecturer on tradition. In 1408 he went to Damascus to become inspector of the Qalanislyya and lecturer. Later he retired into private life at Cairo. In 1430 he made the pilgrimage with his family and travelled for some five years. His learning was great, his observation accurate and his judgment good, but his books are largely compilations, and he does not always acknowledge the sources to which he is indebted. Most of his works are concerned with Egypt. The most important 'is the Maica'iz wal-I'tibar fi dhikr ul-ffitat wal-Athdr (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854), translated into French by U. Bouriant as Description topographigue et historigue de l'gypte (Paris, 1895-1900; cf. A. R. Guest, " A List of Writers, Books and other Authorities mentioned by El Maqrizi in his Khitat," in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1902, pp. 103-125). Of his History of the Falimites an extract was published by J. G. L. Kosegarten in his Chrestomathia (Leipzig, 1828), pp. 115-123; the History of th e Ayyubit and Mameluke Rulers has been translated into French by E. Quatremere (2 vols., Paris, 1837-1845). Maqrizi began a large work called the Mugaffd, a cyclopaedia of Egyptian biography in alphabetic order. It was intended to be in 80 volumes, but only 16 were written. Three autograph volumes exist in MS. in Leiden, and one in Paris.
Among smaller works published are the Mahommedan Coinage (ed. O. G. Tychsen, Rostock, 1797; French translation by S. de Sacy, Paris, 1797); Arab Weights and Measures (ed. Tychsen, Rostock, 1800) ; the Arabian Tribes that migrated to Egypt (ed. F Wiistenfeld, Gottingen, 1847); the Account of Hadhramaut (ed. P. B. Noskowyj, Bonn, 1866) ; the Strife between the Banl Umayya and the Bant Hashim (ed G. Vos, Leiden, 1888), and the Moslems in Abyssinia (ed. F. T. Rink, Leiden, 1790). For Maqrizi's life see the quotations from contemporary biographies in S. de Sacy's Chrestomathie arabe (2nd ed., Paris, 1826), ii. 1 12 seq., and for other works still in MS. C. Brockelmann, Gesch. der arabischen Litteratur (Berlin, 1902), 51.38-41. (G. W. T.)
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
