Zayn al-Din Ibn al-Wardi, historian, geographer, and poet from Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, author of «Tarikh Ibn al-Wardi» and the cosmography «Kharidat al-Aja'ib»; he died of the Black Death, which he had vividly described.
سنوات الحياة1292 – 1349
الحقبةالعصر المملوكي
مكان الميلادمَعَرّة النعمان
التخصصالتاريخ والجغرافيا والأدب
الإنجازات
Authored «Tarikh Ibn al-Wardi», a continuation of Abu al-Fida's chronicle
Compiled the cosmographic encyclopedia «Kharidat al-Aja'ib wa-Faridat al-Ghara'ib»
Wrote «al-Naba' 'an al-Waba'», a key literary testimony to the Black Death
Combined history, geography, and poetry across his body of work
أهم الأعمال
Tarikh Ibn al-Wardi
Kharidat al-Aja'ib wa-Faridat al-Ghara'ib
Al-Naba' 'an al-Waba' (Report on the Plague)
Umar ibn al-Wardi was born in 691 AH/1292 CE in Ma'arrat al-Nu'man in northern Syria. He studied there before moving to Aleppo, where he worked in the judiciary and teaching, while also composing poetry and literary prose alongside his historical and geographical work.
He authored «Tarikh Ibn al-Wardi», a concise continuation of Abu al-Fida's chronicle, and compiled a cosmographic encyclopedia titled «Kharidat al-Aja'ib wa-Faridat al-Ghara'ib» (The Pearl of Wonders), describing the lands and natural marvels known in his time.
His Scholarly Legacy
Ibn al-Wardi is especially remembered for his moving literary epistle «al-Naba' 'an al-Waba'» (Report on the Plague), describing the spread of the Black Death in Aleppo—shortly before he himself died of the same plague in 749 AH/1349 CE, leaving one of the most important literary testimonies to that medieval pandemic.
