Ancient imperial heritage and Islamic universal historiography: al-D  ınawar  ı’s secular perspective Hayrettin Yu ¨cesoy Department of History, Saint Louis University, 3800 Lindell Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63108, USA E-mail: yucesoyh@slu.edu Abstract This article examines the historical work of the ninth-century Muslim scholar Ab u _ Han  ıfa al-D  ınawar  ı. Adopting the format of universal history, al-D  ınawar  ı constructed a historical narrative beginning with the first human Adam, continuing through the rise of Islam and cul- minating in the Caliphate. This paper argues that al-D ınawar  ı’s work, appropriately entitled Longer narratives, represented an attempt to configure Islamic polity into world history through a reorientation of Sasanian imperial ideology and geographical consciousness in order to fit Islamic sensibilities. As an early example of belles-lettres (adab) oriented (belletrist, adab  ı) universal historiography, al-D ınawar  ı’s work comes across as a perceptive outlook on history, which proved relevant to dynasties of diverse origins struggling to carve a space for themselves in the Persianate political landscape of the late and post-< Abb asid world. Introduction From the middle of the ninth century, Muslim scholars of the < Abb asid world narrated the history of the ancient world from a universal perspective, drawing on information from, inter alia, biblical stories, and the Sasanian and Hellenistic heritage. In a number of ways, this enterprise reveals the attempt of Muslim historians to construct Islamic religiosity and polity within an Abrahamic monotheistic historical framework, while at the same time mak- ing a case for Islam against its competitors as the rightful inheritor and representative of the ancient religio-political heritage. There is little reason to doubt that this consciousness of universal history was partly motivated by the Qur’ anic discourse on the creation, human destiny, and prophecy. However, the Qur’ an is not the sole source. On the one hand, from the eighth century, Muslims were growing increasingly diverse along multiple lines, occa- sioning a rethink of the experience of the community. On the other hand, Muslims came into closer contact with existing native cultures and were, therefore, compelled to think about their own identity vis-a `-vis that of others. Furthermore, the idea that humanity descended from a single family inspired historians to think about diverse regions and cultures as related entities in their remote origins. This political, as well as socio-cultural, challenge not only predicated the rise of universal history, 135 Journal of Global History (2007) 2, pp. 135–155 ª London School of Economics and Political Science 2007 doi:10.1017/S1740022807002227