SANKORE'
Institute of Islamic - African Studies International
www.sankore.org/www.siiasi.org
ﺳﱠﻠ َﻢ َﺗﺴْﻠِﻴﻤﺎ
َ ﺻﺤْ ِﺒ ِﻪ َو
َ ﻋﻠَﻰ ﺁ ِﻟ ِﻪ َو
َ ﺤ ﱠﻤ ٍﺪ و
َ ﺳ ﱢﻴ ِﺪﻧَﺎ ُﻣ
َ ﻋﻠَﻲ
َ ﺻﻠّﻰ اﻟّﻠ ُﻪ
َ ﻦ اﻟ ّﺮﺣِﻴ ِﻢ َو
ِ ِﺑﺴْ ِﻢ اﻟﱠﻠ ِﻪ اﻟ ﱠﺮﺣْ َﻤ
Tarikh 's-Sudan
The History of the Land of the Blacks
by
al-Qadi Abd'r-Rahman as-Sa`di
Translated from the Arabic by
Abu Alfa Umar Muhammad Shareef bin Farid
Copyright © 1410/1990 Muhammad Shareef
Published by
SANKORE'
Institute of Islamic - African Studies
The Palace of the Sultan of Maiurno
Maiurno, Sennar, Sudan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise,
without written permission of the publishers
Tarikh 's-Sudan
THE HISTORY OF THE LAND OF THE BLACKS1
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In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful may peace and blessings be
upon His Prophet, our master Muhammad, his family and Companions. All praises
are due to Allah, who is absolutely unequaled in His kingdom, who alone is described
with the attributes of Eternity, Omnipotence and Glorification. He (Allah)
encompasses all things by His knowledge and knows what was, when and how it will
be. Not a single atom's weight in the earth nor in the heavens escapes Him. He gives
the kingdom to whom He pleases and He alone takes the kingdom from whom He
pleases. Glory be to the One to whom belongs the kingdom, omnipotence, might and
overpowering by which He engulfs His servants with death and annihilation. He is the
First without beginning and the Last without ending.
Peace and blessings be upon the master of the earliest and latter most of
humanity, our master and chief Muhammad, the seal of the Prophets and Messengers;
and peace and blessings be upon his family and Companions, the most purified and
excellent of people of concern and felicity. Blessings and peace of Allah be upon all
of them with blessings and peace which has no end nor termination.
1
I first began translating the Tarikh as-Sudan of Shaykh Abd’r-Rahman as-Sa`di in the spring of 1990.
It was when I was informed a year later by Dr. Gregory Maddox of the History Department of Texas
Southern University, that Dr. John Hunwick was also in the process of translating the text and had the
financial backing of the Ford Foundation and other lucrative institutions that I moved on to other more
important translations on behalf of the Jama`at of Shehu Uthman ibn Fuduye` in the U.S.. In fact, I
spoke with Dr. Hunwick about the progress of his work at the time, and I was far ahead of him in my
translations. However, I decided to forego my work on it and Hunwick promised that he would get me
an advance copy of his translations when it was completed. Well some years later his work was
completed and published by McBrill and as promised, he sent me a copy to read and critic. I was
pleased with his work, however, I was someone taken aback that he did not translate the entire text;
particularly those latter chapters that dealt with the mortality of the notables and scholars of the Bilad
as-Sudan. Dr. Hunwick felt that this information was not pertinent to understanding the history of the
region. However, I disagreed then and now; because there was a reason that as-Sa`di singled out
chapters specifically for the mention of mortality rates among the scholars and notables of the Bilad as-
Sudan. The key reason being that social development in the eyes of the author, and indeed in the view
of any Muslim is built upon the existence and persistence of the clerical class in Islam. The Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace once said: “There is a category among men who
when they are sound, then the people are sound, and when they have been ruined, then the people will
be ruined. They are the scholars and the rulers.” Thus, as-Sa`di narrated the mortality rate among this
class of people in order to show the causative factor for the social upheavals and moral decline in the
civilization of the Bilad as-Sudan. The implications of these mortality rates also delineated the extent
of the crime against African Muslim civilization which was unleashed by the Moroccan/Portuguese
invasion of Songhay and the subsequent intensification of the European Slave Trade, which decimated
the population of the region and led to its underdevelopment. The missing chapters in Hunwick’s
translation speak to the existence of a human and cultural genocide. Its ironic that my friend Dr.
Hunwick would later edit works highlighting the ‘slave trade’ by Arabs among Africans, while
deciding to ignore the implications that the latter chapters of the Tarikh as-Sudan point to. Another
reason I decided to continue with my translation was that I felt that Dr. Hunwick was translating for the
academic community rather than to the people for whom Shaykh Abd’r-Rahman originally composed
the text. This can be seen in his choice of words when translating sufic or Islamic legal terminology. In
spite of this, I feel that Dr. Hunwick’s translation and study is excellent and should be read by
academics and laymen alike, in order to understand the legacy of African Islamic civilization. We will
post the entire translation on the www.siiasi.org sectioned by chapter as my translation develops, Allah
willing.
INTRODUCTION
__________________________________________________________________
Our foregoing ancestors used to make frequent deliberations in their
assemblies recalling the histories of the Companions of Muhammad, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace and the achievements of the righteous, may Allah be pleased
with them. They also recalled the shaykhs of our country, their kingdoms,
biographies, narratives, developments, histories and what led to thier decline.
This science (histiography) used to be the most gratifying of the reports which
they transmitted and the most stimulating of the sciences which they used to discuss.
This continued until their era became extinct and their way came to an end, may Allah
ta`ala be merciful to them. As for the following era, there were none among them who
were engaged in the science of histiography nor did they follow in the path of the
foregone ancestors. There were none among them who possessed high resolve in any
of the ways of righteousness. There only remained those who possessed trivial resolve
who were full of mutual hatred, envy, enmity, preoccupation with what does not
concern them from hearsay, plunging into the faults of people and slander. All this
was because of the evil ending which had befallen them. We seek refuge with Allah.
Map of the lands of Western and Central Bilad’s-Sudan
When I perceived that this science (histiography) and its study had become
extinct and its wealth and the tremendous advantages it brings from comprehending
human nature, their homelands, forefathers, social classes, chronicles and the causes
of their decline; had weakened - I sought Allah's assistance, glory be to Him, in
writing what I had memorized from: the history of the kingdoms of the land of the
Blacks (Bilad 's-Sudan); the history, narratives, chronicles, biographies and the
military expeditions of the kingdom of Songhay; the history and genesis of the
metropolis of Tinbuktu2 and the rulers who governed it; and the history of the
righteous scholars who dwelled in Tinbuktu and other cities up until the history of the
Ahmadi Abassi Hashimi government of the Sultan of the Red City of Marrakech. In
all of this I recognize that help is solely from Allah and He is enough for me and the
Best of Guardians.
2
The name Tinbuktu is the proper rendition of the name as opposed to Timbuktu which is in common
usage today. The name, as the author will point out in the text is of Berber origin and comes from the
word ‘tin’, which means ‘water well’ and ‘Buktu’ was an African woman to whom the well belonged
where the Berber and Tuareg would seasonally water their livestock. Thus, the meaning being ‘the
water well of Buktu’, or TINBUKTU.
