The
Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr () is a compendium of biographical information (
tabaqāt) about famous
Islamic personalities. This eight-volume work contains the lives of
Muhammad,
his Companions and
his Helpers, including those who fought at the
Battle of Badr as a special class, and of the following generation,
the Followers, who received their traditions from the Companions. Ibn Sa'd's authorship of this work is attested in a postscript to the book added by a later writer. In this notice he is described as a "client of al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdullah of the
‘Abbasid family". The work was subject to a major study by a European scholar already in 1869.
Contents • Books 1 and 2 contain a
prophetic biography. • Books 3 and 4 contain biographies of companions of
Muhammad. • Books 5, 6 and 7 contain biographies of later Islamic scholars. • Book 8 contains biographies of Islamic women. == Published editions ==