Shihab al-Din Abu L-Qasim Abu Shama – Excerpts from The Book of the Two Gardens
Bibliographic Information
Medieval Title:
The Book of the Two Gardens (Kitāb al-Rawdatayn)
Author:
Shehab al-Din Abu L-Qasim Abu Shama [the man with a mole on his face]
Composition:
Thirteenth century
Biography:
Abu Shama was born in Damascus in 599 (1203 C.E.). He studied philosophy and jurisprudence in Alexandria before becoming returning to his home town and becoming a professor.
His most important work, the Book of the Two Gardens (Kitāb al-Rawdatayn), was a history of the reigns of both Nūr al-Dīn (reigned 541-69 / 1146-74 C.E.) and Salāh al-Dīn ( reigned 570-89 / 1174-93 C.E.).
He was killed by a mob in 655 (1268 C.E.).
Abu Shama’s earliest historical work was the Dhayl, an annalistic chronicle from the year following Salah al-Din’s death up to the year of Abu Shama’s death. Although it was entitled Dhayl to the Rawdatayn, it was rather a work which predated and paralleled the Rawdatayn, his most important historical work. Abu Shama’s other historical work was an abridgement of Ibn Asakir’s (d. 571/1175) biographical work, The History of Damascus. Towards the end of his life Abu Shama abridged his Rawdatayn in a small volume called ‘Uyun al-Rawdatayn (The Essence of the Two Gardens). In it he omitted most of the poetry, which he had cited extensively in the Rawdatayn and occasionally integrated the different sources into a shorter narrative.
It is the Rawdatayn, which has been the most popular of all his historical writings. Abu Shama wrote the Rawdatayn during the mid-640s/late 1240s. He started to teach it at the latest in 649/1251–2, but two years later revoked the versions previously taught and declared the new version to be the only authoritative one. The Rawdatayn was widely disseminated, as is evident from the nearly twenty extant manuscripts. It presents in chronological order a history of the reigns of Nūr al-Dīn and Salāh al-Dīn, drawing on a number of other Arabic sources, including one now-lost text by Ibn Abi t-Tayy of Aleppo, and a number of documents from the chancellery of Salāh al-Dīn.
The passages appended below involving Passion relics have been translated into English by Hisham Al Khatib; Background information above summarized from: Konrad Hirschler, Medieval Arabic Historiography Authors as Actors, (London: Routledge, n.d, 2006), pp. 10-12.
Textual Information
Brief Summary:
The passages recount some of the negotiations over the True Cross during the reign of Salāh al-Dīn.
Relics Appearing in Text:
True Cross
Manuscripts, Editions, and Translations
Manuscripts:
List of Editions of the Medieval Text:
Abu Shama, Shihab al-Din Abu L-Qasim. “The Book of the Two Gardens.” In Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Orientaux. Vols. 4-5. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1898-1906; repr. as one volume 1967).
Abu Shama, Shihab al-Din Abu L-Qasim ed. The Book of the Two Gardens. Vol. 2. Beirut: Dar Al-Jeel, 1956.
Shams el-Din, Ibrahim ed. The Book of the Two Gardens by Shihab al-Din Abu L-Qasim Abu Shama. Vol. 3-4, Dar Al-Kotob Al-‘Elmiyah. 1987.
List of Translations of the Medieval Text:
French translation below Arabic text printed in Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Orientaux. Vols. 4-5. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1898-1906; repr. as one volume 1967).
Original Editions/Translations We Have Produced:
Abu Shama Book of the 2 Gardens RHC. H. Or- Vol 5 – pages 24-27 Translated by Hisham Al Khatib
Abu Shama Book of the 2 Gardens RHC. H. Or – Vol 5 – pages 27-28 Translated by Hisham Al Khatib
