al-Amil wal-Mamul
- Author died
- 330 AH
- Editions
- al-Amil wal-Mamul
al-Amil wal-Mamul (The Hopeful and the Hoped-For) is an adab and epistolary treatise composed by the fourth-century AH literary scholar Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Sahl ibn al-Marzuban al-Bahith (d. c. 330 AH / 942 CE) . The work addresses the rhetorical conventions, psychology, and etiquette governing the relationship between petitioners (al-amil) and those from whom aid, patronage, or favors are sought (al-maʾmul) .
Context and Place in al-Muntaha fi al-Kamal
The work constitutes one of twelve thematic treatises comprising Ibn al-Marzuban’s comprehensive compendium titled al-Muntaha fi al-Kamal (The Ultimate in Perfection) . As documented by Ibn al-Nadim in Kitab al-Fihrist and later biographers, the twelve constituent parts of the collection are:
- Madh al-Adab (Praise of Literary Culture)
- Sifat al-Balagha (The Nature of Eloquence)
- al-Du'a' wal-Tahamid (Supplications and Praises)
- al-Shawq wal-Firaq (Longing and Separation)
- al-Hanin ila al-Awtan (Yearning for Homelands)
- al-Tahani wal-Ta'azi (Congratulations and Condolences)
- al-Amil wal-Mamul (The Hopeful and the Hoped-For)
- al-Tashbibat wal-Talab (also recorded as al-Tasbibat or al-Tanbihat wal-Talab)
- al-Hamd wal-Dhamm (Praise and Censure)
- al-I'tidharat (Apologies and Excuses)
- al-Alfaz (Expressions)
- Nafa'is al-Hikam (Precious Maxims)
Purpose and Content
In the prologue, the author explains that human nature is inherently driven by ambition and wishful thinking . He notes that scribes (kuttab), whether in official administrative employ or private practice, continually face occasions where they must seek favors from friends and associates, respond to requests, or offer apologies for inability to assist . Ibn al-Marzuban emphasizes that any writer unable to frame petitions gracefully, urge action without excessive persistence, or articulate both patience and excuse fails to distinguish himself from the general public and forfeits the true title of scribe . Consequently, he compiled the treatise as a thematic and rhetorical guide illustrating the obligations, perplexities, and expressions appropriate to both the seeker and the sought .
Attribution and Transmission
Due to the common circulation of independent adab treatises in composite codices, al-Amil wal-Mamul was historically misattributed in several manuscript copies and catalogues to the earlier Abbasid prose writer al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 868–869 CE) . Under this false attribution, an edition edited by Ramadan Şeşen was published in Beirut in 1980 . Subsequent critical scholarship verified the text's authentic attribution to Ibn al-Marzuban al-Bahith as part of al-Muntaha fi al-Kamal .
Manuscript copies of al-Amil wal-Mamul and other treatises from the compendium survive in international collections, including the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan and the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin .
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