Akhbar al-Hamqa wal-Mughafalin
- Author died
- 597 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Fikr al-Lubnānī
Akhbar al-Hamqa wal-Mughaffalin (Reports of the Foolish and the Simple-Minded) is an Arabic adab work by the Hanbali polymath Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE) compiling anecdotes, character traits, and categorized reports of fools and naive individuals .
Purpose and Composition
Ibn al-Jawzi explains in the preface that after compiling his work Akhbar al-Adhkiya' (Reports of the Intelligent) to provide models for emulation—just as tales of the valiant instill courage—he chose to assemble the lore of the foolish and simple-minded for three distinct purposes :
- Hearing such accounts enables an intelligent person to appreciate the blessings bestowed upon him that were denied to others, thereby inspiring gratitude to God .
- Observing heedlessness encourages the alert mind to avoid its preventable causes through self-discipline, though innate foolishness remains largely unalterable .
- Engaging with lighthearted narratives allows the soul to refresh itself with permissible leisure, relieving the fatigue brought on by unrelenting seriousness .
To justify the inclusion of humor, Ibn al-Jawzi cites statements from the early generations, including Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, emphasizing that the heart tires just as the body does and benefits from occasional wit and poetry . He addresses the prophetic warning against making people laugh by clarifying that the censure applies strictly to generating laughter through falsehoods, whereas truthful, moderate humor is permissible and historically practiced by esteemed scholars .
Content and Structure
Ibn al-Jawzi distinguishes conceptually between foolishness (humq) and insanity (junun): a foolish person possesses a sound objective but chooses a flawed, invalid means to reach it, whereas an insane person suffers from a fundamental defect in both the objective and the means .
The work is organized into twenty-four chapters :
- The linguistic meaning of foolishness .
- Foolishness as an innate disposition .
- Differences among people in degrees of foolishness .
- The various names applied to a fool .
- The physical and behavioral characteristics of a fool, including an excessively long beard, wandering gaze, and undue haste .
- Warnings against keeping company with fools .
- Arabic proverbs coined regarding known fools .
- Reports of individuals whose foolishness became proverbial .
- Intelligent individuals from whom foolish actions occurred .
- Simpletons among Quran reciters (qurra') .
- Simpletons among Hadith transmitters and their textual corruptions (tashif) .
- Simpletons among judges .
- Simpletons among rulers and governors .
- Simpletons among scribes and chamberlains .
- Simpletons among callers to prayer (mu'adhdhinun) .
- Simpletons among prayer leaders (a'imma) .
- Simpletons among Bedouins .
- Simpletons who attempted high eloquence and grammatical inflection .
- Simpletons who composed poetry .
- Simpletons among popular storytellers and preachers (qussas) .
- Simpletons among ascetics .
- Simpletons among schoolteachers .
- Simpletons among weavers .
- Simpletons in general without occupational restriction .
Method and Editions
Following the traditional methodology of Hadith scholars, Ibn al-Jawzi documents anecdotes by providing chains of transmission (isnad), occasionally citing multi-tiered isnads even for brief humorous sayings .
The work has been printed in several editions, including a Damascus printing published by al-Qudsi in 1347 AH and a single-volume edition with commentary by Abd al-Amir Muhanna published by Dar al-Fikr al-Lubnani in Beirut in 1410 AH / 1990 CE .
Answer updated