# Ibn Abi Tayy
**Ibn Abi Tayy** (ابن أبي طي), fully Abu al-Fadl Yahya ibn Abi Tayy, was a Shi'i historian and man of letters of Aleppo who wrote during the Zengid and Ayyubid periods and the [Crusader invasions of Egypt](https://www.edgepedia.org/crusader-invasions-of-egypt-1163-1169) and Syria. He was born in Aleppo in early Shawwal AH 575 (1179).[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) His narratives on [Nur al-Din Mahmud](https://www.edgepedia.org/nur-al-din-mahmud) and Saladin, preserved through later compilers, made him a source for the history of twelfth- and thirteenth-century Syria and Egypt.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Abu al-Fadl Yahya ibn Abi Tayy al-Halabi[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [3](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234) |
| Born | Aleppo, early Shawwal AH 575 (1179)[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) |
| Died | Aleppo, AH 630 (1233)[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) |
| School | Shi'i (Imami); al-Dhahabi calls him an Aleppine Rafidi historian[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [3](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234) |
| Principal works | al-Sira al-Salahiyya and Tabaqat al-Imamiyya (both lost), Tarikh al-Shi'a, a universal history in about 106 volumes, and others[4](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-854424-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87%D9%87-%D9%88-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%82%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88-%D8%B7%D8%A8) • [3](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234) • [1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) |
| Later use | Abu Shama al-Maqdisi and Ibn al-Furat transmitted material from his narratives[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) • [5](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-273592-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%89-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A1-%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%B1%D8%AE%D8%A7) |
## Origins and family
According to Ibn Abi al-Tayy, the family name al-Tayyi is a tribal nisba, with al-Ghassani also reported.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550)
He studied fiqh on the Imami (Shi'i) school, read rhetoric and the Nahj al-Balagha with al-Hasni al-Ramli (d. AH 610), and studied with the Hanafi jurist Mahmud ibn Tariq al-Halabi.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550)
## Career
He composed poetry in praise of the Ayyubid king al-Zahir Ghazi.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550)
His historical writing concentrated on Egypt and [Syria](https://www.edgepedia.org/syria-region), especially Aleppo under the Zengids and Ayyubids, while covering the Islamic world more broadly.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) He is considered the only Shi'i source who treated the history of Saladin.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) His reports record that Nur al-Din Mahmud singled out Saladin and attached him to his intimate circle, and that Saladin received the shihna of Damascus and the diwan in AH 550 (1155–1156).[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) They cover Saladin's seizure of Damascus, Hama, and Baalbek after Nur al-Din's death, his repeated sieges of Aleppo, the resistance of the Aleppines and the people of Mosul, and his conquest of Manbij and A'zaz, his crossing of the [Euphrates](https://www.edgepedia.org/euphrates), and his capture of Saruj, Mardin, al-Ruha (Edessa), and al-Raqqa.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) He also gave information on the Fatimid state in Egypt, Nur al-Din's resistance to Isma'ili thought, and the collapse of the Fatimids at Saladin's hands.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654)
His two most prominent works were al-Sira al-[Salahiyya](https://www.edgepedia.org/salahiyya), on the epochs of Nur al-Din al-Zanki and Saladin, and Tabaqat al-Imamiyya; both are lost, and their contents have been recovered by tracing quotations in later books.[4](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-854424-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87%D9%87-%D9%88-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%82%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88-%D8%B7%D8%A8) [Al-Dhahabi](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-dhahabi) also lists a Tarikh al-Shi'a, a draft in several volumes from which many later writers transmitted.[3](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234) Other titles attributed to him include Majalis al-Arba'in fi Fada'il al-A'imma al-Tahirin, Mukhtar Tarikh al-Maghrib, Tarikh Misr, Hawadith al-Zaman in five volumes, Tabaqat al-Ulama, Silasils, and a universal history in about 106 volumes.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [6](https://app.alreq.com/ar/authors/author/26c1c99e-3bf3-481f-1661-08d7902f2e13)
## Political influence
His public career lay in Aleppo's civic and courtly life under the Ayyubids: the naqib of the fityan connected him to the institution of chivalry (futuwwa) in the city, and his poetry praised al-Zahir Ghazi.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) His lasting institutional effect, however, ran through historiography. Later historians, including [Abu Shama](https://www.edgepedia.org/abu-shama) al-Maqdisi and Ibn al-Furat, took material from his narratives, preserving his reports on Nur al-Din, Saladin, and Fatimid Egypt.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) • [5](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-273592-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%89-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A1-%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%B1%D8%AE%D8%A7) His detailed reports on Fatimid-era Egypt exceeded those of some contemporaries such as [Ibn al-Athir](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-al-athir).[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654)
## Death and successors
He died in Aleppo in AH 630 (1233).[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) • [2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) Al-Dhahabi, listing him among those who died after AH 620, says only that he died "at the end of al-kahula" (late middle age), without a fixed year.[3](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234) His works survived as quotations: the lost al-Sira al-Salahiyya and Tabaqat al-Imamiyya are reconstructed from passages in later books, and al-Dhahabi notes that many writers transmitted from Tarikh al-Shi'a.[4](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-854424-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87%D9%87-%D9%88-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%82%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88-%D8%B7%D8%A8) • [3](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234)
## Historians' assessment
[Yaqut al-Hamawi](https://www.edgepedia.org/yaqut-al-hamawi) (d. AH 626/1228), his contemporary, criticized him, saying he claimed learning in adab, fiqh, and usul on the Imami school, and that he plagiarized and renamed books.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550) According to a study by Lu'ay Ibrahim Bu'ayna, this is the sole such report, absent from his contemporaries and later transmitters, and likely colored by his Shi'ism and his disputes with Yaqut.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) Other historians of his age likewise accused his methods and his ability in writing and recording, yet his corpus is judged encyclopedic and a major resource.[1](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550)
On his treatment of Saladin, the scholar Gibb judged that Ibn Abi Tayy's biography of Saladin carried a degree of flattery and no hostility, contrary to what would be expected of a Shi'i historian from Aleppo; the researcher Nazir Saadawi went further and saw his texts as supporting Saladin.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) He praised Saladin on his assumption of the vizierate in Egypt, describing his wisdom in governing and his upholding of religion and justice.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654)
## Legacy
Ibn Abi Tayy stands as a Shi'i historian writing amid the Crusader invasions of Egypt and Syria, and the only Shi'i source for Saladin's career.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654) His value to later historians lies in the material Abu Shama al-Maqdisi and Ibn al-Furat drew from him, which preserves his account of the Zengid-Ayyubid unification of Syria and the fall of the Fatimids.[2](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654)
## References
1. [ابن أبي طي المؤرخ الموسوعي, مجلة كلية التربية (جامعة بغداد)](https://jcoeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/journal/article/download/869/802/1550)
2. [يحيى ابن أبي طيء مؤرخاً, لؤي إبراهيم بواعنة, مجلة الآداب والعلوم الإنسانية (جامعة الأردن)](https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjha/article/download/821/816/1654)
3. [تاريخ الإسلام (تحقيق تدمري), ترجمة يحيى بن أبي طي](https://shamela.ws/book/12397/21234)
4. [دراسة منهجه و موارده في كتابيه الفقودين](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-854424-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%87%D9%87-%D9%88-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%82%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88-%D8%B7%D8%A8)
5. [يحيى بن أبي طيء مؤرخا (دراسة)](https://search.emarefa.net/ar/detail/BIM-273592-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%89-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A1-%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%B1%D8%AE%D8%A7)
6. [الرق المنشور, ترجمة ابن أبي طي](https://app.alreq.com/ar/authors/author/26c1c99e-3bf3-481f-1661-08d7902f2e13)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Crusades, Zengids, and Ayyubids (1097 to 1260) › Scholars and literary works*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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