The selection from Osama Ibn Munqidh's Kitab al-l'tibar, otherwise known in English as the Book of Contemplation, is a book in which Usama provides a series of short vignettes as a record of his experiences in the medieval Middle East and the Crusades. Through his writings, the reader can obtain a Muslim account of the Crusades. This is largely a personal account, so many details are omitted and much background knowledge assumed. Nor is it the most impartial source, as confirmed by Osama's frequent statement that "Allah renders them [crusading Christians] powerless" (Ibn Munqidh 197). Osama also makes no attempt at analysis or understanding and simply writes down exactly what he observed without question. or delve deeper into the myriad differences he describes. Overall, it provides a good overview of the experience of many Muslims (especially the upper class, of which Usama was a part) during this unstable period of invasion and political fragmentation in the Islamic world. Usama's story is not simple. narrative; instead, he recounts brief events from his life, usually in order to extol some virtue or prove a point (this type of Arabic literature is called adab) (Cobb xxxi). It must also be said that this book was not intended to be read as a history textbook or as an autobiography; in fact, as Paul Cobb explains in the introduction to his translation of this work, Usama intends "God [as] the hero", Usama is not the center of the work, but simply acts as witness to the work of God. This fact goes a long way toward explaining much of the language and structure of the “memoir.” It is important to keep this fact in mind. This particular excerpt mainly focuses on the interaction between ...... middle of paper ...... villains who claimed the caliphate). Overall, this short selection of Osama's writings does much to deepen the understanding of the effects of the Crusades on many Muslims during this period, although, as this work was written by a wealthy elite, it does not describes little of the experience of the general population. It also gives a good insight into the interactions between Muslims themselves. It was a time full of danger and division, but Usama's work shows that a common thread held many people together and preserved a civilization that still exists today. Works Cited Cobb, Paul. "Introduction." Ibn Munqidh, Osama. Book of contemplation Islam and the Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. xv-xlii. Ibn Munqidh, Usama. “From Memoirs.” McNeill, William and Marilyn Robinson Waldman. The Islamic world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973. 184-206.