it has become a mirror reflecting many facets of the intellectual movement and its evolution over seven hundred years, for the human being is the decisive element in that movement: by him its distinguishing marks are fixed, and his intellectual formation advances or hinders its progress.

Its importance for the study of society:
Because the work is confined to biographies, it brings to light al-Dhahabi’s tendency—shared by many Muslim historians—to immortalize those who excelled within the community. It is therefore invaluable for examining the state of Muslim society, including the social and economic origins of those whom Islamic history designates as the ulama.

A close reading of such books shows that no class barriers stood among the educated; a person’s worth was gauged by noble standards, chief among them his knowledge, insight, and expertise, which elevated him to a distinguished rank among people—standards of the highest human refinement. We observe the author praising a pauper while censuring a wealthy man, extolling a black servant yet critiquing a great notable.

Our study of this work further reveals that the overwhelming majority of these ulama emerged from families of artisans, the obscure, and the destitute—something confirmed by the genealogies the author records. Islam made this possible for every seeker of knowledge by deeming the pursuit of learning a necessity and urging it on numerous occasions. Study was marked by freedom of thought and creativity and was available to anyone who desired it, at any time and without cost, for it was usually offered in the houses of God—mosques and congregational masjids—which every Muslim could enter and from whose lessons he could benefit.

We state this at a time when, among many other nations—including the Europeans of those same centuries—the scientific disciplines and the contents of biographical dictionaries were restricted to specific strata of society.