Ismail Ibn Ali Abulfeda, a Moslem prince and writer, born at Damascus about 1273, died in October, 1331. He was a descendant of Eyub (or Ayub), the founder of the Kurdish dynasty in Egypt; fought in the campaigns of Sultan Nasir, of Egypt and Syria, against the Tartars; was by him appointed governor of Ham ah in Syria, which his ancestors had held in fief, and subsequently acknowledged as sultan of that principality. He was a man of eminent talents as a warrior, a ruler, and a writer. He is chiefly renowned as the author of an extensive historical compilation, in Arabic, embracing both ancient history and the annals of the Moslems, from the time of Mohammed to the year 1328; and of a geographical work, mainly descriptive of Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and Persia, considered the best of its kind in eastern literature. Both have appeared in various editions, in the original as well as in Latin and other occidental translations. Abulfeda also wrote scientific treatises, which have been lost.