(1273-1331)
Abu al-Fida was an ethnic Kurd and Syrian prince born into the Ayyubid family. He enjoyed a great reputation as a man of letters. Two of his works in particular stand out: The Mukhtasar tarikh al-bashar is a universal history covering the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods up to 1329, and the Takwin al-Buldan is a descriptive geography containing physical and mathematical information in tabular form. Both are largely compilations that Abu al-Fida rearranged and supplemented.
Following the suppression of the Ayyubid principality of Hamah in 1299, Abu al-Fida remained in the service of its Mamluk governors and a friend of the sultan. Eventually he was appointed as the governor of Hamah for life and given precedence over all other governors in Syria.
See also Literature.
Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Michael M. Gunter.