The Early Arabic Historical Tradition

Translation of Albrecht Noth’s Quellenkritische Studien (1973), co-authored by Lawrence I. Conrad. It presents criteria to evaluate the character and content of the early Islamic historical tradition, i.e. historiographical works in Arabic written in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Apart from describing salient primary and secondary themes covered in these works, the author analyzes literary forms in which this tradition is usually embodied. An investigation of topoi forming the repertoire of early historians is presented next, followed by an analysis of narrative structures characteristic of early Arabic historical writing.

The general understanding underlying this assessment is that Arabic historiographical tradition does contain retrievable historical facts, but that in order to identify and make effective use of these the researcher must take account of how they have become enmeshed with topoi and other literary features.


“…this book remains one of the most significant contributions to early Islamic history” (Muhammad Zaman)