Abu Muhammad Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim also known as Muhammad ibn Arabshah (
Arabic: ابن عَرَبْشَاه; 1389–1450), was an
Arab[1] writer and traveller who lived under the reign of
Timur (1370–1405).[2]
He was born and grew up in Damascus. Later when Timur invaded
Syria, he moved to
Samarkand and later to
Transoxiana. He later moved to
Edirne and worked in the court of Sultan
Mehmed I translating Arabic books to
Turkish and
Persian. He later returned to Damascus after having been absent from the city for 23 years. Later he moved to
Egypt and died there.
Aja'ib al-Maqdur fi Nawa'ib al-Taymur (The Wonders of Destiny of the Ravages of Timur), which he finished in Damascus on 12 August 1435. This book was translated and printed first time in Latin; Ahmedis Arabsiadae Vitae & rerum gestarum Timuri, qui vulgo Tamerlanes dicitur, historia. Lugduni Batavorum, ex typographia Elseviriana, 1636.
al-Ta'lif al-tahir fi shiyam al-Malik al-Zahir (Life of Zahir)
Fakihat al-Khulafa' wa Mufakahat al-Zurafa'
Jami' al-Hikayat; translated from Persian to Turkish.
al-'Aqd al-Farid fi al-Tawhid
Ghurrat al-Siyar fi Duwal al-Turk wa al-Tatar
Muntaha al-Adab fi Lughat al-Turk wa al-Ajam wa al-'Arab
References
^Donzel, E. J. van (1 January 1994). Islamic Desk Reference. BRILL. p.
144.
ISBN90-04-09738-4. Ibn Arabshah*, Ahmad b. Muhammad: Arab historian and writer of Damascus; 13921450. He had learned Persian, Turkish and Mongol and in his chief work describes the conquests of Tamerlane and the conditions under his successor Shah Rukh.
^AKA, ISMAIL. 1996. “THE AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE TIMURIDS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 15TH CENTURY”. Oriente Moderno 15 (76) (2). Istituto per l'Oriente C. A. Nallino: 9.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25817400.