Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zankī found its inhabitants terror-stricken, its pillars shaken, its rulers at odds, its contracts—whether broken or concluded—equally corrupt. He therefore set out to reunite its ranks, show kindness to its people, secure its plains and mountains, champion Islam, and drive back the rabble. (1)
2 – He does not quote verbatim:
Rather, he reads the account in its original source, then recasts it in his own diction, adding whatever criticisms and comments he deems appropriate. When some researchers compared what appears in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah with al-Ṭabarī’s History or other works, they assumed that Ibn Kathīr had not consulted al-Ṭabarī directly but had taken his material from an intermediate source. They were mistaken, for they failed to examine his style and method carefully. The clearest evidence is what he wrote in the biography of al-Ḥallāj (2), in his depiction of the ruin and devastation that befell Baghdad after the Mongol invasion (3), and in his description of Damascus and the construction of its mosque (4).
3 – His sincere emotion:
He is filled with love for Allah Almighty, love for His Messenger ﷺ, love for all the Companions and those who follow them in goodness, and hatred for the people of disbelief, deviation, and falsehood. He is deeply affected by the trials and disputes that befell the Muslims—troubles that halted the daʿwah and the conquests and turned Muslim weapons against their own chests. There is no power nor might except with Allah. This genuine feeling shows itself when he recounts the apostasy of Jabalah ibn al-Ayham al-Ghassānī, whom he bluntly calls “a brute beast” (5); it appears even more forcefully when he narrates the killing of Ibn al-Zubayr, branding the slayer al-Ḥajjāj “the exterminator” and calling the slain Ibn al-Zubayr “Commander of the Believers” (6).
He vigorously refutes the Jahmiyyah’s claim that istiʾwāʾ means “seizing control.” They adduce the line of al-Akhṭal:
“Bishr has mounted over Iraq—
without sword unsheathed or blood poured out.”
He replies, “There is no proof in it; the verse is by al-Akhṭal, and he was a Christian.” (7)
There can be no doubt that the effortless yet inimitable style unique to the ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr—so clearly manifest in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah—together with his heartfelt and loyal defense of the victorious, saved group, Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah, has made this book both blessed and ever-relevant, as though its author wrote it for future generations in their very own language, idiom, and sensibilities!