İmâdüddîn el-İsfahânî

Imad al-Din al-Isfahani is one of the leading bureaucrats, state scribes, and historians of the Nûreddîn Zengî and Selâhaddîn Eyyûbî periods (Cilt 1, s. 158). He was also known as a famous poet, man of letters, and munshi.

Scribe and Literary Personality

Imad al-Din, considered the greatest munshi and scribe of his time after Kâdî el-Fâzıl, was one of Sultan Selâhaddîn's most trusted men and served as his confidential secretary (Cilt 1, s. 158). He penned numerous Arabic and Farsça munsha'at (official documents), incorporating some of them into his works, and collected his literary munsha'at in a dîvan. He carried out his scholarly activities alongside administrative duties throughout his life, producing works in the fields of literature and history (Cilt 1, s. 158). It is narrated that because he appeared to be an ordinary person at first glance, Kâdî el-Fâzıl said of him, "Imad is like a flint; its exterior seems cold, but inside there is fire." His fondness for literary arts was reflected in his works, and he used a difficult-to-understand language (Cilt 1, s. 158).

el-Berku'ş-Şâmî

His most important work, el-Berku'ş-Şâmî (Şam Şimşeği), is an extremely robust historical source based on observations and documents. The author gave his work this name because he likened his days spent alongside Nûreddîn and Selâhaddîn to a flashing and fading lightning bolt (Cilt 1, s. 159). Written in an artistic style and consisting of seven volumes, only Volume III, which narrates events between 573–575/1177–1180, and Volume V, which contains events from 578–579/1182–1184, have survived to the present day. Bündârî made an abridgement (summary) of Volume II of the work under the title Sene'l-Berkı'ş-Şâmî, and the part of this abridgement up to the end of 583/1187 has survived to our time (Cilt 1, s. 159). Imad al-Din also added a continuation work to el-Berku'ş-Şâmî, containing his memoirs from Selâhaddîn's death until his own death, and events related to the history of the Eyyûbîler (Cilt 1, s. 159).

Influence on Later Historians

Imad al-Din al-Isfahani influenced many contemporary and later historians. Eyyûbî period historians such as İbnü'l-Esîr, Ebû Şâme, and İbn Vâsıl quoted from his works (Cilt 1, s. 159). İbnü'l-Münşî, the historian of the Hasankeyf Eyyûbîleri, also utilized the works of Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, along with those of İbnü'l-Esîr, Bahâeddîn b. Şeddâd, Ebû Şâme, and İbn Vâsıl, in his own work (Cilt 1, s. 196). Aynî, a Memlükler period historian, also referred to Imad al-Din's works in his section on the Eyyûbîler, in addition to Kâdî el-Fâzıl, İbn Şeddâd, İbnü'l-Esîr, and Ebû Şâme (Cilt 1, s. 201).

Place in Eyyûbî History

The primary sources to consult for determining the political and social dynamics of Eyyûbî history are Arabic chronicles and biographical works, a large portion of which were authored during the Eyyûbîler and Memlükler periods. In this context, the works of Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, along with those of İbnü'l-Esîr, Bahâeddîn b. Şeddâd, Kâdî el-Fâzıl, and İbn Ebî Tayyi', who were contemporaries of Selâhaddîn, are among the foremost fundamental sources for the Selâhaddîn period (Cilt 1, s. 202).