ʿAlī al-Miṣrī al-Ḥanafī (Arabic: ناصرالدين محمد بن عبدالرحيم بن علي المصري الحنفي) (1334–1405 CE), better known as Ibn al-Furāt, was an Egyptian historian, best known for his universal history, generally known as Taʾrīkh al-duwal wa ’l-mulūk ("History of the Dynasties and Kingdoms"), though the manuscripts themselves call it al-Ṭaʾrīq al-wāḍiḥ al-maslūk ilā tarājim al-khulafā’ wa ’l-mulūk.
[1][2]: 29 Ibn al-Furat's work is of particular importance for modern scholars due to its high level of detail and the mostly verbatim use of a wide variety of sources, including Christian and Shia authors suspect to mainstream orthodox Sunni historiography.
Lacking independent means, Ibn al-Furat made a living partly through undertaking bureaucratic tasks such as working as a notary public and issuing marriage contracts.
The surviving volumes and their contents are as follows:[2]: 29–36 1190-92 1194-1202 586-68 591-99 Ibn al-Furat's history seems never to have been copied wholesale, but was sold by his son and was used by scholars based in Cairo and Damascus over the next couple of centuries, proving influential as both a narrative and a repository of sources.
[2]: 30–31 In Morton's summary of Bora's assessment of Ibn al-Furat's historiographical technique, his prime ambition was not to advance a monolithic discourse or to make any claim to religious superiority, but rather to collate and present sources from the period itself, giving priority to eyewitnesses or especially well-informed authors.