Customer Reviews

The History of Al-Tabari (Suny Series in Near Eastern Studies): The Last Years of the Prophet

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Finally a book detailing the Sassanids. Usually translations of old historical works make an insipid reading but Bosworth has done an excellent job here. Footnotes added throughout the text clear up a lot of things and add tremendously to this interesting and turbulent era. The reader may misjudge the book to be a lesser work as Tabari bases his words on hearsay. However, it should be emphasized that Arabs were reknowned for their amazing memory. So much so that the words of the Quran were for many years kept in memory rather than being written down on paper. Tabari does not even fail to mention a good length of the names of every narrator's forefathers. In essence the book is about the Sassanids. It tells in good detail of a variety of events from the lives of Kisra. This book has my full recommendation to the reader who wishes to know more about this otherwise poorly documented dynasty.

This is the Final chapter in the life of Prophet (PBH). This volume covers the Farewell Hajj, false prophets, personal features of Prophet Muhammad (PBH), his daughters, his complexion and physical faetures and finally election of Hz. Ebu Bakr to Caliphate with various narrations of the election procedure. Hz.Ali's responses to the election and his delayed approval is also covered. Most of the narrations are repeated in many other Islamic books for Tabari is one of the major sources of the Islamic History yet to read these series will give you additional knowledge to compare references and the context it is written.