al-Musabbihi

Al-Amīr al-Mukhtār ʿIzz al-Mulk Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abīʾl Qāsim ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Azīz al-Ḥarranī al-Musabbiḥī al-Kātib, commonly known simply as al-Musabbihi (4 March 977 – April/May 1030), was an Egyptian Sunni Fatimid historian, writer and administrative official. He is known to have authored some 40,000 pages of manuscripts dealing with an array of topics, including history, psychology, law, grammar, sexology and cooking. Akhbār Miṣr, a contemporary chronicle of Egyptian history and news, was among al-Musabbihi's well-known works. However, like the vast majority of al-Musabbihi's works, only fragments of Akhbār Miṣr survived; most of his writings disappeared not long after his death.

Al-Musabbihi was a devout Sunni Muslim born in Fustat, where he lived most of his life and died. He was known to be loyal to the Fatimid government and he was a close friend of with Caliph al-Hakim (r. 996–1021). Early in his career, he served in the Fatimid military and was made a provincial governor in Upper Egypt before becoming a leading figure in the Fatimids' central administration in Cairo.

Life Al-Musabbihi was born a Sunni Muslim in Fustat, Egypt on 4 March 977. His family was originally from Harran in the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia). He traveled daily from al-Fustat to his government post in Cairo and on most evenings, he stopped by the historic Mosque of Amr ibn al-As and interacted with his and his father's friends, most of whom were Syrian Muslim traditionalists. Though he was a devout Sunni Muslim, al-Musabbihi was loyal to the Fatimids' Ismaili Shia state and maintained a particularly close relationship with the eccentric caliph al-Hakim (r. 996–1021).