Hamza ibn Asad abu Ya'la ibn al-Qalanisi (c. 1070 – March 18, 1160) was an Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 politician and chronicler in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 in the 12th century.

He descended from the Banu Tamim

Banu Tamim

Banī Tamīm Tamim is one of the largest of all Arab tribes. Their history goes back to pre-Islamic times....

 tribe, and was among the well-educated nobility of the city of Damascus. He studied literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, and law

Sharia

Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

, and served as firstly a secretary in, and later the head of, the chancery

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

 of Damascus (the Diwan al-Rasa'il). He served twice as ra'is of the city, an office equivalent to mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

.

His chronicle, the Dhail or Mudhayyal Ta'rikh Dimashq (Continuation of the Chronicle of Damascus) was an extension of the chronicle of Hilal bin al-Muhassin al-Sabi', covering the years 1056 to al-Qalanisi's death in 1160. This Chronicle is one of the few contemporary accounts of the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

 and its immediate aftermath from the Muslim

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 perspective, making it not only a valuable source for modern historians, but also for later 12th-century chronicles, including Ibn al-Athir.