Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari

Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, born on June twentieth, thirteen hundred and one in Damascus, was a prominent Arab historian, katib, and geographer. His scholarly contributions include significant works such as at-Taʾrīf bi-al-muṣṭalaḥ ash-sharīf, which delves into the intricacies of Mamluk administration, and the encyclopedic Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār. The latter was notably translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in nineteen twenty-seven, further extending its reach and influence.

A student of the renowned Ibn Taymiyya, al-Umari's travels took him to Cairo shortly after the legendary pilgrimage of the Malian Mansa Kankan Musa I to Mecca. His writings serve as a primary source for this historic hajj, where he documented the Mansa's extravagant distribution of gold, which reportedly caused a significant devaluation of the currency in Egypt for a decade, illustrating the immense wealth of the Mali Empire.

In his accounts, al-Umari also chronicled Kankan Musa's tales regarding his predecessor, who allegedly abdicated to explore lands across the ocean. This narrative has led contemporary historian Gaoussou Diawara to speculate that Abu Bakr II may have reached the Americas long before Christopher Columbus.

Scholars believe that al-Umari composed the Masālik al-abṣār between thirteen forty-two and thirteen forty-nine, although evidence suggests that sections on Egypt, Syria, and the Mali Empire were written as early as thirteen thirty-seven to thirteen thirty-eight. His life, however, was not without turmoil; in March thirteen thirty-nine, he faced arrest following a dispute with the sultan. Thanks to his father's intervention, he was spared a harsher fate but was sentenced to house arrest. Further conflicts with the sultan led to imprisonment, from which he was released in October. Following these events, he relocated to Damascus, where he served as a secretary from August thirteen forty to May or June thirteen forty-three.