Abu Muhammad Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim or known as Muhammad ibn Arabshah (Arabic: أحمد بن عربشاه ) ,

(1389-1450), was a writer and traveller who lived under the reign of Timur

Timur

Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...

(1370-1405).

He was born and grew up in Damascus. Later when Timur invaded Syria, he moved to Samarkand and later to Transoxiana. He later moved to Adarna and worked in the court of Sultan Muhammad Uthman translating Arabic books to Turkish and Persian. He later returned back to Damascus after having been absent from the city for 23 years. Later he moved to Egypt and died there.

His works

• Aja'ib al-Maqdur fi Nawa'ib al-Taymur (Life of Tamerlane), which he finished in Damascus on 12th August 1435. This book was translated and printed first time in Latin; Ahmedis arabsiadae itae et rerum gestarum Timuri, qui vulgo Tamerlanes dicitur, historia. Lugduni Batavorum, ex typographia Elseveriana, 1636.
• al-Ta'lif al-tahir fi shiyam al-Malik al-Zahir (Life of Zahir)
• Fakihat al-Khulafa' wa Mufakahat al-Zurafa'
• Jami' al-Hikayat; translated from Persian to Turkish.
• al-'Aqd al-Farid fi al-Tawhid
• Ghurrat al-Siyar fi Duwal al-Turk wa al-Tatar
• Muntaha al-Adab fi Lughat al-Turk wa al-Ajam wa al-'Arab