ลemseddin el-Ensรขrรฎ ed-Dฤฑmaลkรฎ (1256โ1327) was an Arab geographer who lived during the Mamluk period. He is known for his encyclopedic work Nuhbetรผ'd-dehr fรฎ acรขibi'l-berr ve'l-bahr, which deals with cosmography and geography together.
He was born in Damascus in 1256; This is where the nickname "Dimashki" comes from. He spent most of his life in Syria, settled in Safed in the last period of his life, and died there in 1327. He wrote at a time when the Crusaders had completely withdrawn from the region and Mamluk rulers such as Sultan Baybars dominated the region.
his work
He completed his major work around 1300. This book, which is about the wonders of land and sea, describes the regions, cities and natural features of the world, starting from astronomy. Bilรขdรผลลam, that is, Greater Syria, where the author was born and raised, is discussed in particular detail in the work; In this respect, it is considered as a document that complements the sources of the Crusader period.
The Arabic text of the book was written by the Danish orientalist August Ferdinand Mehren in St. Petersburg in 1866. It was published in St. Petersburg. Mehren later prepared the French translation of the work. Guy Le Strange benefited from Damascus' sections on Syria and Palestine in his compilation titled Palestine Under the Moslems, published in 1890. These publications made the work known to researchers in the West.
