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Ibn al-Haddad al-Mawsili

al-Jawhar al-Nafis fi Siyasat al-Rais

Author died
674 AH
Editions
Maktabat Nizar Mustafa al-Baz

al-Jawhar al-Nafis fi Siyasat al-Rais (The Precious Gem on the Governance of the Leader) is a treatise on political ethics, rulership, and statecraft written by Ibn al-Haddad al-Mawsili (d. after 674 AH / 1275 CE).

Purpose and Composition

In his introduction, Ibn al-Haddad states that he was motivated to compile the work by the repute and conduct of the grand amir Sa‘d al-Dunya wa-l-Din, whom he describes as the custodian of the Badrid state (wali al-dawla al-Badriyya) and confidant of the realm (safi al-mamlaka al-Rahimiyya). Commending the amir's justice, piety, charitable endowments, and care for subjects, the author dedicated the treatise to the amir's library as a guide and mirror for leadership.

Structure

The treatise is arranged into ten chapters (abwab):

  1. On the virtue of justice among the virtuous (Fi fadl al-'adl min dhawi al-fadl).
  2. On the virtue of statecraft among rulers (Fi fadl al-siyasa min arbab al-riyasa).
  3. On the virtue of forbearance and deliberation among kings and governors (Fi fadl al-hilm wa-l-ana'ah min al-muluk wa-l-wulah).
  4. On the virtue of pardon blended with pure goodwill (Fi fadl al-'afw al-mashub bi-l-safw).
  5. On conferring favors upon stranger and acquaintance alike (Fi istina' al-ma'ruf ila al-majhul wa-l-ma'ruf).
  6. On noble character traits (Fi makarim al-akhlaq min mutawaffiri al-khilaq).
  7. On sovereignty and chivalric virtue (Fi al-su'dud wa-l-muru'ah min dhawi al-fadl wa-l-futuwwah).
  8. On good disposition towards creation (Fi husn al-khuluq min al-khalq).
  9. On the virtue of consultation with men of sound opinion (Fi fadl al-mashurah min dhawi al-ara').
  10. On the virtue of generosity and liberality (Fi fadl al-sakha' wa-l-jud al-mufaddal fi al-wujud).

Content and Methodology

Ibn al-Haddad conceptualizes governance (siyasa) under two principal divisions: religious governance (siyasat al-din), which fulfills obligatory religious duties, and worldly governance (siyasat al-dunya), which secures the cultivation and prosperity of the realm (‘imarat al-ard). He maintains that both branches depend essentially upon justice (al-‘adl), quoting Plato that "through justice things remain firm, and through tyranny they perish."

The author's method combines Islamic sources with wisdom literature and historical lore. He cites prophetic traditions on the severe responsibility of political authority and the celestial rewards promised to just rulers, maxims from early Muslim figures such as al-Fudayl ibn Iyad and Ziyad ibn Abihi, counsel from Aristotle and Persian kings such as Khosrow Anushirvan, as well as classical poetic verses and historical anecdotes involving caliphs such as Harun al-Rashid.

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