Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti

The last and lengthiest of these documents, in Arabic Aja'ib al-athar fi al-tarajim wal-akhbar, which is generally known in English simply as Al-Jabarti's History of Egypt, and sometimes as The Marvellous Compositions of Biographies and Events, became a world-famous historical text by virtue of its eyewitness accounts of Napoleon's invasion and Muhammad Ali's rise to power.

He was one of the first Muslims to realise the significance of the wave of modernity that accompanied the French occupation, and the gulf that existed between Western and Islamic knowledge "shocked him profoundly".

Jabarti maintained a strict, puritanical tone in his reaction to his witnessing of the advanced military technology, material sciences and cultural values of the French occupiers.

He abhorred the Republican ideas of the French Revolution such as egalitarianism, liberty and equality; insisting on the supremacy of Wahy (Islamic Revelation) over European rationalism.

[15] Expressing a strong revulsion against the French occupiers in his writings, Jabarti famously prayed for God to:"strike their tongues with dumbness … confound their intelligence, and cause their breath to cease"[16]Al-Jabarti is known for three works: Tarikh muddat al-faransis bi-misr (The History of the Period of the French Occupation in Egypt), completed in late 1798; Mazhar al-taqdis bi-zawal dawlat al-faransis (Demonstration of Piety in the Demise of French Society), completed in December 1801; and ‘Aja’ib al-athar fi’t-tarajim wa’l-akhbar (The Marvellous Compositions of Biographies and Events), which was much longer and comprised elements from his first two works.