Abstract
In the first half of the 12th century, the Fâtimid dynasty in Egypt hastily changed her course on the decline through the domestic discords and the invasion of the crusades, but we have few historical materials on that period and it is not elucidated sufficiently yet.
Usâma ibn Munqidh (1095-1188) was an eminent warrior and man of letters, paticularly a poet, keeping friendly relations with Caliphs, Wazîrs, Amîrs and Francs in Syria, Egypt in those days. His memoirs, kitâb al-I'tibâr, give us valuable sources in elucidating this age.
By his memoirs, we can see many phases of Arabic society itself and those of military and cultual contacts between the Islamic world and Europe in those days, such as the living forms of Syrian amîrs and their civic life including hawking and methods of medical treatment, various forms of war and diplomacy, and the hasty changes of conflicting interests at home and abroad among Arabic powers, Frankish powers and the Byzantine empire.
