Ibn Khaldun, observer of his time

The references in admiration of Ibn Khaldun come from thinkers of different times and places.

 

“The life of Ibn Khaldun is a clear reflection of the world to which he belonged. A world that was full of reminders of the fragility of human effort. His career showed just how unstable the interest groups that kept the dynasties in power actually were. The meeting with Timur (Tamerlane) near Damascus showed the extent to which the rise of a new power could affect life in towns and villages”.

A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples

 

 

 

He had links with a variety of different political powers and was a remarkable observer of changing times marked by some of the most decisive events in human history: the birth of new states, the death-throes of al-Andalus and the advance of the Christian Reconquest, the Hundred Years War, the expansion of the Turkish Empire, the decline of Byzantium, the great epidemic of the Black Death, etc.

 

The great intellectuals of our time who have read the works of Ibn Khaldun are forthright in their praise:

 

“Ibn Khaldun conceived and created a philosophy of history that was undoubtedly the greatest work ever created by a man of intelligence at any time or anywhere”.

A. Toynbee, A study of history

 

 

“Ibn Khaldun was the greatest philosopher and historian ever-produced by Islam and one of the greatest of all times”.

P. K. Hitti, Recits de l’Histoire des Arabes

 

 

“A clear mind capable of taking ideas and honing them the way the Greeks did will take us into a historic realm where our spirit is out of its depth. This is Abenjaldún, the philosopher of African history. The Introduction to History of Abenjaldún is a classic book which has been available to all for almost a century… Not content to just recount the events of the past, he wants to understand them too”.

Ortega y Gasset, El Espectador

 

 

“Ibn Khaldun’s work is one of the most substantial and most interesting works ever produced by human intelligence”.

G. Marçais

 

 

“Ibn Khaldun’s amazing work marks the birth of History as a Science”.

Yves Lacoste

 

 

“I can now state that in these times of historical recovery of the Muslim world and Muslim thought, Ibn Khaldun brings together cultures which have too long turned their backs on each other”.