Abu Yaʿlā Open this page in a new tab

Abu Yaʿlā is an obscure medieval Muslim historian active in the 12th century CE, likely during the era of the Crusades. His works are not extant in full, but are known primarily through citations and excerpts preserved by later chroniclers. He appears to have focused on events in Syria and the Levant, including military campaigns, sieges, and natural disasters, and may have written in Arabic from a Damascene or Aleppine perspective.

Though sometimes confused with better-known historians of the period, Ibn Yaʿlā's contribution is noteworthy because his reports occasionally preserve unique observations—particularly regarding earthquakes and political violence—otherwise absent from major chronicles such as those of Ibn al-Qalānisi or Ibn al-Athīr. His reliability and style suggest that he was either an eyewitness or drew from contemporary oral sources, and his legacy persists through the historiographic patchwork of medieval Islamic scholarship.