TABARI, AT-

born c. 839, , Amol, Tabaristan died 923, Baghdad, Iraq in full Abu Ja'far Muhammad Ibn Jarir At-tabari Muslim scholar, author of enormous compendiums of early Islamic history and Qur'anic exegesis, who made a distinct contribution to the consolidation of Sunni thought during the 9th century. He condensed the vast wealth of exegetical and historical erudition of the preceding generations of Muslim scholars and laid the foundations for both Qur'anic and historical sciences. His major works were the Qur'an Commentary and the History of Prophets and Kings (Ta'rikh ar-Rusul wa al-Muluk). Additional reading Franz Rosenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography, 2nd ed. (1968); O. Loth, Tabari's Korankommentar, Zeitschrift der deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, 35:588628 (1881). A French translation of the abridged Persian version was made by H. Zotenberg, entitled Chronique de Tabari (reprinted 1958). E. Marin translated a portion of the History into English, entitled The Reign of al-Mu'tasim (1951). The Commentary has been edited by M.M. and A.M. Shakir (1954 ) under the title Tafsir al-Tabari. M.J. de Goeje, et al. edited the History, known as the Annals, 15 volumes with index and glossary (18791901, reprinted 1964). A new translation of the History is in progress. The first three volumes are The 'Abbasid Revolution, trans. and ed. by John Alden Williams (1985); The Return of the Caliphate to Baghdad, trans. and ed. by Franz Rosenthal (1985); and The Crisis of the 'Abbasid Caliphate, trans. and ed. by George Saliba (1985).