Nevertheless, he ultimately elected to compose a revised volume, drawing upon Istakhri's treatise and a compendium of other geographical works, in addition to his own empirical data and insights gleaned from his peregrinations.
Additionally, the book has been published in multiple editions in various countries and has been translated into a number of languages, including English, French, Turkish, and others.
Abu al-Qasim Muhammad Ibn Hawqal was an Arab Muslim writer, geographer, historian, traveler, and merchant who lived during the 10th century AD.
[13] These views may be attributed to his association with the Qarmatians of Bahrain, his condemnation of the inhabitants of Sicily, and his remarks concerning Andalusia, which could be interpreted as encouragement for the Fatimids or Abbasids to intervene in the region.
[16][17] The discrepancy in historical accounts regarding his allegiance may be attributed to the reliance of some historians on the Leiden and Oxford versions of the Sourat Al-Ard, which exhibit a pronounced and discernible Fatimid bias.
[25] Additionally, numerous Orientalists who translated or otherwise engaged with the text, including William Uziel, Kramers, Weit, and De Goeje, concurred with this attribution.
This discrepancy is likely due to the varying starting points of the available copies of the book,[27] as evidenced by the differing titles given by Ibn Khallikan[28] the author of Kashf al-Zunun,[29] who referenced it as "Al-Masalek wa Al-Mamalek".
[35] Furthermore, this information is also found in Al-Suyuti's Hosn al-Muhadhirah fi al-Tarikh Misr wa al-Qahira (The History of Egypt and Cairo).
[36] A similar title is found in Copy 3012 in Topkapi, which begins with the words "Description of the Islamic regions and other provinces and the mountains and seas therein.
"[37] Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi makes reference to it in another source[38] as "Ajaeb al-Dunya wa Sefteha," which is also the title of Copy 2934 in Hagia Sophia.
In addition to providing descriptions of countries and kingdoms, Ibn Hawqal also offered insights into their economies, political systems, and natural environments.
[40] The text provides a detailed account of the city's infrastructure, including its roads, routes, economic resources, markets, and production.
[42] Additionally, he was interested in accurately describing cities, including their commercial activities and facilities, as well as the relationship between their locations and climatic conditions.
Additionally, the book encompasses historical, biographical, mineralogical, ethnographic, archaeological, and numismatic content, with select chapters structured in the format of a tourist guide.
[51] He commenced with the construction of a map entitled "The Picture of the Whole Earth," which depicted the known world of his era in a circular configuration, encompassed by the Ocean Sea on all sides.
In Istanbul, within the Topkapi Saray Museum, there is a manuscript dating back to 1086 AD[58] and catalogued as 3346,[59] which originated from the treasury of Sultan Ahmed.
3012, copied in 867 AH/1463 AD,[61] was attributed by Thomas Day Goodrich to Ibn Hawqal in an article in which he focused on the geographical maps contained in the Topkapi library.
The author discusses the inhabitants of Upper Souss, their division into Maliki Sunnis and Shiites, the conflicts between the two enemies of Fez, and his description of his visit to Andalusia and Udagast.
"[82] Nevertheless, Ibn Hawqal's work has been subjected to criticism for failing to provide specific names, omitting details regarding lengths and widths,[83] and focusing exclusively on the largest Islamic countries, while only briefly mentioning others.
Additionally, he has been accused of committing errors and perpetuating misconceptions due to his reliance on first-hand observations and second-hand accounts without sufficient verification or scrutiny.
[84] His account of Sicily is regarded as one of the most scarce and intriguing testimonies in Arabic geographical literature, offering a unique insight into the island's everyday life despite the challenging circumstances under which it was written.
[85] Ibn Hawqal was quite critical of Sicily, citing the prevalence of mosques and describing the local teachers as uninformed and misguided.
[88] He presented a critical portrayal of the Andalusians and their military and administrative system, expressing astonishment at their ability to maintain independence until that point without being subject to the authority of the Islamic Levant.
They have managed it with their opinions and minds while observing its neighboring enemies for over five hundred years and protecting it with their valour from the nations with which they are connected, both within and outside of their territory.
[94] In 1926 AD, the Adolf Helzhausen Press published in Vienna an edition titled Surat Al-Ard from Cities, Mountains, Seas, Islands and Rivers.
[101][102] The book was translated into French by Kramers and Veit and published in Beirut and Paris in 1964 and 1965 under the title Configuration de la Terre.
"[111] Among the books bearing this title is a work by Abu Musa Al-Khwarizmi,[112] a copy of which is housed in the National Academic Library (Strasbourg) in France.
[119] This science originated during the Abbasid era, when the compilers and bookkeepers amassed data on various geographical features, including roads, tracts, revenue, imports, expenditures, and place names.
[127] Nevertheless, he acknowledges the latter's eminence in this field and frequently cites him as a source on specific matters [128] with also Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani, known as Ibn al-Hayyak (d. 334 AH).
[137] Furthermore, al-Marrakshi, as Ibn al-Wardi al-Hafid noted, authored a book entitled Al-Masalek wa Al-Mamalek,[138] in addition to Abdullah bin Hamweh al-Sarkhsi (d. 640 A.H.).