A Timeline Foreseen: Omens in the Islamic Chronicles of the Crusades

The article is dedicated to the study of omens in the chronicles of eight prominent Arab-Muslim historians who wrote about the Crusades ‘Imа̄d al-Dīn al-Iṣfahа̄nī, Bahа̄’ al-Dīn Ibn Shaddа̄d, Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī, ‘Alī Ibn al-Athīr, Taqī al-Dīn al-Maqrīzī, Badr al-Dīn al-‘Aynī, Abū al-MaḥāsinIbn Taghrī Birdī, Mujīr al-Dīn al-‘Ulaymī. We analyzed the most frequently used vocabulary to denote favorable and unfavorable signs, and compared the use of these lexical units with the data from the Quran and Hadith. The following groups of words were most common: taṭayyara / taṭayyur / ṭīra for negative signs, tayammana / tayammun for positive signs, and fa’l / tafā’ala / tafā’ul for both positive and negative signs. As a result of our research, we identified 50 examples of the use of these words based on an analysis of the monuments. The scrutiny of these contexts showed that more than 70% of signs in these writings foreshadowed negative events. However, almost all negative signs came true, in contrast with the positive ones. It is also worth noting that the signs in these monuments are not related to the concept of predestination. Omens have attracted the attention of historians because of their search for the patterns in the historical process. The belief in omens also demonstrates ideas concerning linear time among the medieval Muslim scholars. It is also worth noting that the actual use of words denoting omens in the examined chronicles differs from their meanings in earlier Islamic sources.