Wikipedia's first sentence called it “book written by al-dhahabi containing the biographies of different sahaba”. Today it says “biographical dictionary written by al-dhahabi containing biographies of eminent muslims throughout islamic hist”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Book by al-Dhahabi”. It now reads “Biographical dictionary by al-Dhahabi”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Siyar A'lam an-Nubala Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ ( Arabic : سير أعلام النبلاء , lit. ' Biographies of Eminent Nobles ' ) is a biographical dictionary written by al-Dhahabi containing biographies of eminent Muslims throughout Islamic history up to al-Dhahabi's era. The first two of the Siyar 's fourteen volumes, which concern the life of Muhammad and the Rashidun caliphs , are reproduced from al-Dhahabi's more expansive Tarikh . Al-Dhahabi divided the book into chapters according to the generations in which the different personalities lived. "نبذة عن كتاب سير أعلام النبلاء" . موضوع (in Arabic) . In Arna’ūt, Shu‘ayb (ed.). Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ [ Biographies of Eminent Nobles ] (in Arabic) (11th ed.).
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1296078692.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Redirect to: Al-Dhahabi#Siyar a`lam al-nubala
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 896495516.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Book by al-Dhahabi Siyar a'lam al-nubala ( Arabic :سير أعلام النبلاء) is a book written by al-Dhahabi containing the biographies of different Sahaba , ulema , rulers, ministers, and poets who lived between the time of Muhammad and that of al-Dhahabi, in addition to the seerah of Muhammad himself.Al-Dhahabi divided the book into chapters according to the generations in which the different personalities, most of whom were Muhaddiths , lived."نبذة عن كتاب سير أعلام النبلاء" . موضوع (in Arabic) .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1151707067.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “book written by al-dhahabi containing the biographies of different sahaba”. Today it says “biographical dictionary written by al-dhahabi containing biographies of eminent muslims throughout islamic hist”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Book by al-Dhahabi”. It now reads “Biographical dictionary by al-Dhahabi”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
book written by al-dhahabi containing the biographies of different sahaba
Now
biographical dictionary written by al-dhahabi containing biographies of eminent muslims throughout islamic hist
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
