Ibn Zaydan

Abd al-Rahman ibn Zaydan (Arabic: عبد الرحمن ابن زيدان‎) (1878–1946) was a Moroccan historian and literary author.[1][2] He was a great-grandson of sultan Moulay Ismael and is considered one of the best sources on the history of his native city Meknes, but also on the Alaouite dynasty. After the installation of the French protectorate he accepted the function of vice-director of the military school of Dâr al-Bayda in Meknes, today's military academy of the city. The Ithaf, his main work of eight volumes, comprehends hundreds of biographies, like those of the sultans Abderrahman and Hassan I.

Notes

1. Bernard Lewis, Peter Malcolm Holt, Historians of the Middle East, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, ed. Oxford University Press, 1962, Page 417
2. E. J. van Donzel, Islamic Desk Reference: Compiled from the Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. BRILL, 1994 ISBN 978-90-04-09738-4, p. 163 "His works may be considered as the best source for the history of Meknes and for the history of the Sharifs of Morocco."

Bibliography

• Abderrahman Ibn Zaydan’s masterpiece on the city of Meknes: A Presentation of Luminous Men with the most beautiful Reports of the City of Meknes [in Arabic], 5 vols, Fes, 1930, Reprinted, Casablanca: Ideal, 1990
• Abbas Jarari, Said Binsaid Alawi and Ahmad Tawfiq Abd al-Rahman ibn Zaydan (Festschrift), Muassasat Una: 1998
• Abd al-Rahman bin Zaydan al-Alawi. al-'Ala'iq al-siyasiyah lil-dawlah al-'Alawiyah / taqdim wa-tahqiq 'Abd al-Latif al-Shadhili. Rabat : al-Matba'ah al-Malakiyah, 1999.
• Afif, Mohamed. "Les Harkas, hassaniennes d'après l'oeuvre d'Ibn Zaydan." Hespéris-Tamuda 19 (1980–81): 153-68.
• Les campagnes de Moulay ’Al-Hassan d’après les écrits d’Ibn Zaydan,. Revue de la Faculté des Lettres (Rabat), 7, 1981, 47-75 (en arabe)