Ahsan al-taqasim fi ma'rifat al-aqalim by al-Muqaddasi

Shams al-Din Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Abi Bakr al-Banna' al-Shami al-Muqaddasi is one of the most prominent representatives of Arabic geography in the second half of the 10th century CE. Building on the tradition of the “atlas of Islam” of which al-Istakhri and Ibn Hawqal were also representatives, al-Muqaddasi was the first to systematize the subject into a proper science of geography of Islam for the benefit of both merchants and the cultivated man. Al-Muqaddasi’s Ahsan al-taqasim fi ma'rifat al-aqalim (“the best division for the knowledge of the provinces”) was the first work of its kind to be accepted as a form of literature. The treatment of each “province” (iqlim) begins with the division of its districts and towns, followed by their description. Then a general chapter of the province tends to discuss the following aspects: climate, products and specialties, waters, mines, mountains, holy places, money, taxes, weights and measures, customs, marvels, calendar, political power, factions, schools and Qur'anic readings, and routes. Ahsan al-taqasim fi ma'rifat al-aqalim by al-Muqaddasi covers North Africa (including Iberia), Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, Greater Syria, Iraq and Upper Mesopotamia, as well as eight non-Arab provinces including Iran and Afghanistan.