Usama ibn Munqidh: “A Muslim View of the Crusaders”

Impact

Usama’s memoir is unique in that it is the finest source available to describe the Islamic point of view during the early Crusades. While several sources from European crusaders, an Armenian monk, and other Christians are extant, Usama offers both positive and negative opinions of the Franks. It does not appear that his memoir had much of an impact on Arabic literature or on premodern historians. There is no evidence that his memoirs influenced any other texts or that the contents were even mentioned by another author until the twentieth century.