Career
Born in Damascus—as his name "Dimashqi" implies—he mostly wrote of his native land, the Greater Syria (Bilad ash-Sham), upon the complete withdrawal of the Crusaders. His work is of value in connection with the Crusader Chronicles. He died while in Safad, in 1327.
Al-Dimashqi (1325) gives detailed accounts of islands in Maritime Southeast Asia, its inhabitants, flora, fauna and customs. Al-Dimaski's writings on Syria were published in St. Petersburg in 1866 by M.A.F Mehren, and this edition was later used for the English translation by Guy le Strange in 1890.