A critical edition of `Akhbar Siffin'

Abstract

When I decided to produce an edition of Akhbar Siffin I discovered four manuscripts dealing with the historical accounts of the Battle of Siffin. The examination of these four manuscripts showed that they are not the same work; two of them are different copies of Akhbar Siffin. They are Ambrosiana H 129 and Borlin Q. U. 2040. The other two are different copies of the work of Abu Muhammad, Ahmad b. A`tham al-Kufi entitled Waq`at Siffin. They are Ankara, 'Saib 5418 and Mingana Collection, Islam, Arab 572.

The next action was to compare the material of Akhbar Siffin with the material of Ibn A`tham's Waq`at Siffin. I concluded that Akhbar Siffin had more original material than Ibn A`tham's Waq`at Siffin and accordingly I decided to edit it.

A study of the Ambrosiana Manuscript and the Berlin Manuscript of Akhbar Siffin indicated that the edition would best be based upon the Ambrosiana Manuscript because it has the fuller text and fewer mistakes and gaps than the Berlin Manuscript.

The name of the author of Akhbar Siffin does not appear in either of the two manuscripts, and there is no assistance from any other source which may help in identifying him.

The introduction of this edition consists of two parts; a bibliographical survey of the, works on the Battle of Siffin and analytical description of the material and the manusoripts of Akhbar Siffin.