Rediscovering al-Azdi and the Futu? al-Sham Narrative

The Futu? al-Sham (The Conquests of Greater Syria), usually attributed to Abu Isma?il Mu?ammad b. ?Abdallah al-Azdi al-Ba?ri, is one of the primary sources used for historians studying the early Muslim expansion into Greater Syria. This study revaluates the Futu? al-Sham narrative and the question of its compiler-author, investigating the history of the narrative as text through an analysis of a new manuscript and important parallel texts, and revisiting the evidence and hypotheses previous scholars have put forward on both al-Azdi’s life and the Futu? al-Sham narrative’s text. It thus offers an overview of the history of Oriental and Islamic Studies on the basis of one work.