al-Adab al-Nafia bil-Alfaz al-Mukhtara al-Jamia
- Author died
- 622 AH
- Editions
- al-Adab al-Nafia bil-Alfaz al-Mukhtara al-Jamia
al-Adab al-Nāfiʿa bi-l-Alfāẓ al-Mukhtāra al-Jāmiʿa (Beneficial Manners in Selected Comprehensive Expressions) is an adab and anthology work by the Egyptian poet and scholar Ibn Shams al-Khilafa (543–622 AH / 1148–1225 CE). The work compiles proverbs, aphorisms, and choice literary selections, and was composed in Egypt in honor of the renowned vizier and judge al-Qadi al-Fadil.
Purpose and Scope
The book was authored specifically for the Ayyubid chief chancellor al-Qadi al-Fadil. Bibliographers categorize the work under literature, wisdom, and proverbs (al-amthāl wa-l-ḥikam). It serves as a concise collection of refined prose maxims, moral aphorisms, and rhymed or metered verses, demonstrating the author's editorial discrimination in anthologizing rare and eloquent literary pearls.
Contents and Form
The text gathers singular lines and couplets of gnomic poetry and wisdom literature addressing ethical conduct, worldly fortune, patience in hardship, nobility, generosity, and human nature. Its entries highlight brevity, moral instruction, and memorable phrasing.
Transmission and Manuscripts
Numerous historical manuscript copies of the work are preserved in libraries worldwide, including holdings at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Leiden University Library, the British Library in London, Princeton University Library, the Vatican Library, al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dar al-Kutub) in Cairo, the Municipal Library of Alexandria, and collections in Turkey and Yemen. The work was printed in Cairo in 1349 AH (1930 CE).
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