IBN KHALDUN

born May 27, 1332, Tunis died March 17, 1406, Cairo in full Wali Al-din 'abd Ar-rahman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr Muhammad Ibn Al-hasan Ibn Khaldun the greatest Arab historian, who developed one of the earliest nonreligious philosophies of history, contained in his masterpiece, the Muqaddimah (Introduction to History). He also wrote a definitive history of Muslim North Africa. Additional reading An autobiography was published by Muhammad al-Tanji, At-ta'rf bi-Ibn Khaldn (1951); an excellent translation of the introduction is Franz Rosenthal, Ibn Khaldun: The Muqaddimah, 3 vol. (1958); a translation of passages dealing with the social sciences is provided by Charles Issawi in An Arab Philosophy of History (1950). The best comprehensive study is Muhsin Madhi, Ibn Khaldun's Philosophy of History (1957; reprinted 1964); the encounter with Timur is described in Walter Fischel, Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane (1952).