The book is divided into chapters focusing on geographical areas, and in the case of the first two chapters, time periods. Within chapters authors are grouped into communities they are associated with (as far as such is known), and, whenever possible, a chronological order.

Each author is defined by his or her formal Arabic-based name, as known from written sources, followed by “popular” versions of their name, and dates of birth and death; however, authors of writings in Fulfulde (Chapter 10) are generally only listed under their Fulfuld…