Biography of Mu?ammad, His Companions and the Successors up to the Year 230 of the Hijra: Eduard Sachau's Edition of Kitab al-?abaqat al-Kabir: 1-2, . His Physical Appearance and His Habits

The Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr (Biography of Muḥammad, His Companions and the Successors up to the Year 230 of the Hijra) by Ibn Saʿd (d. 230 A.H./845 C.E.) is the earliest extant biographical dictionary on the life of the Prophet and the early generations of Muslims. It is one of the most important historical works about the first centuries of Muslim society in Arabic. This classic Brill edition was supervised by Eduard Sachau and was originally titled Biographien Muhammeds, seiner Gefährten und der späteren Träger des Islams bis zum Jahre 230 der Flucht. This edition was originally published between 1904 and 1940.

Contributing editors Carl Brockelmann, Josef Horovitz, Julius Lippert, Bruno Meissner, Eugen Mittwoch, Friedrich Schwally, Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen.

Muḥammad Ibn Saʿd b. Manīʿ al-Zuhrī (168-230/784-845) was a scholar and biographer who was born in Baṣra. He studied with numerous scholars in Iraq and became the scribe of the famous historian Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-Wāqidī (d. 207/822).

Eduard Sachau (1845-1930), doctorate (1867) Halle, was a professor of Semitic philology at the University of Vienna and the University of Berlin. He made an important contribution to the field by leaving behind a number of editions of Arabic and Syriac works.