is merely an abridgement of Tārīkh al-Islām. My comparative study of the two books demonstrated the falsity of this claim. I then addressed the work’s significance for the study of the Arab-Islamic intellectual movement and its importance for understanding Muslim society.

After that, I attempted to clarify the factors that enabled the appearance of this book in such a superb scholarly form, endowed with the skillful and useful qualities that gladden every devoted lover of our heritage.