Abū Zakariyyā al-Warjalānī, Yaḥyā b. Abī Bakr, was a historian belonging to the Ibāḍī school, of the 5th/11th–6th/12th century. He was born in Wārjlān or Warjalān (modern Ouargla, in the Algerian Sahara) (Yāqūt, 4/920; Lewicki, ‘Les Historiens’, 93) where he learned the sciences of ḥadīth from his uncle, Abū Ḥamza Isḥāq b. Ibrāhīm, and from whom he later quoted many narratives (Lewicki, ‘Les Historiens’, 93).

In 460/1068 Abū Zakariyyā left his hometown for Tripoli (in North Africa), and in early 461/1069 he took up residence in Tamūlast (Tamūlasa) a village i…