Originally published in 1970, this book is a reprint of one of the most important early documents regarding the early history and tradition of African states. The scholarly interest of Henry Richmond Palmer, one of the early administrative officers of Nigeria, has preserved for the African historian with this translation of an Arabic manuscript, a unique picture not only of the activitites of a great sixteenth-century warrior and king, but also of the whole life and movement of the Bornu.

As well as a description of Mai Idris, his pilgrimages and moral influence, his administration, expansionist activities, military strategy and successes, and the spread of Islam, the work gives an important insight into the thought and life of an African Muslim and his community.