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This article based on the analysis of his third, little-known work of the Arabic historian and geographer of the 9th century al-Ya’qubi “Mushakalat an-nas li zamanihim” (The Adaptation of men to their time). It reveals new aspects of Al-Ya’qubi’s oeuvre. The treatise relatively recent work composed by al-Ya’qubi that has reached after two of his well-known works “Kitab al-buldan” (Book of countries). and "Kitab  at-ta’rih  (“Book  of  History”).  In  the  article,  this  treatise  is  considered  from  a  sociological perspective. Al-Ya’qubi, based on the thesis that all people in Muslim society followed their caliphs, imitated  their conducts and  behaviors,  is  trying  to  identify  the  causes  of  the  degradation  of  Muslim  society during  the reign  of Umayyads and  early  Abbasids.  He considers  that the  main  reason  for  the  moral  and spiritual  decay of  Muslim  Society are the  caliphs  themselves. People  imitated  the  customs  of  the caliphs followed their spiritual and moral orientation. Thus, the quality of Muslim society, according to al-Ya’qubi, directly depends on its leader. As far as the  caliph,  in  its  moral,  ethical  and  spiritual  qualities,  corresponded  to  the  image  of  the  “Amir  al-Mu’minin” – “Commander of the Faithful,” so did the members of society correspond to the image of the faithful Muslims. The  treatise reveals new  aspects of  al-Ya’qubi’s worldview, his  vision of  a just, righteous Muslim society. Through the analysis of this treatise, a new side of al-Ya’kubi’s oeuvre is revealed - sociology. At first glance, an attempt  by  al-Ya’kubi  to  delve  into  the  reasons  for  the  development  of  Muslim  society  may  seem  primitive. However, al-Ya’qubi’s work, considering the development of Muslim society through the prism of “adaptation of men to their time”, could be believed the first example of a medieval Arabic work on sociology.It follows from the article that the thesis and examples of “the adaptation of men to their time” should be considered more deeply. The very division of the caliphs (rulers) of Islam into the categories of “caliphs” and “kings,” as can be seen from the author's introductory remarks to the treatise, says a lot. From the context of the treatise, it turns out that the author lists the first four righteous caliphs as “caliphs,” distinguishing among them Osman ibn Affan, who, according to his description, is deprived of the asceticism and modesty of the two previous caliphs Abu Bakr and Omar ibn al-Khattab. By “kings” of Islam, the author means the caliphs of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties. Thus, the main plotline of the treatise is based on the opposition of a righteous Muslim society, led by the “caliph” to its “perverted” form (according to al-Ya'qubi) – the Muslim empire, the “caliphate”, under the authoritarian rule of the “kings” in the person of the caliphs – Umayyads and Abbasids.