نجم الدين البارزي و مقدمته لكتاب "تاريخ العباد و البلاد"

Abstract EN

The Arab authors accustomed to prelude their works with a brief introduction in one or two paragraphs, explaining the reason for writing their book and its sections.

A few of them forward the topic with a several-pages theoretical overview explaining the methodological and philosophical principles of the science in which they write.

That is why historians and critics consider Ibn Khaldūn as an exceptional case when he preludes his book (al-ʼIbar) with an extensive and encyclopedic introduction on the philosophy of history and the science of urbanism.

However, Ibn Khaldūn was not the pioneer in this field, as Al-Barzi preceded him.

Al-Barzi, is considered an unknown historian, composed a book entitled: "The History of People and countries" which could be considered as a buried treasure of the historical Arab library still in its manuscript state.

The importance of revealing this book lies in the fact that it will add a new name to the great historians, a new which was considered by many to be only a judge and a writer.

Furthermore, this unknown book represents an important stage in the development of the methodology for writing historical books, specifically in the technique of preluding books thus developing an expanded intellectual framework that explains the basics that the historian should know and follow in writing.

This is what the study will elaborate in this paper upon presenting the book and its author.