al-Kanas al-Jawari fi al-Hisan min al-Jawari
- Author died
- 875 AH
- Editions
- al-Kanas al-Jawari fi al-Hisan min al-Jawari
al-Kanas al-Jawari fi al-Hisan min al-Jawari (The Sweeping Constellations: On Fair Maidens) is a short literary collection of love poetry by the Egyptian Shafi'i scholar and man of letters al-Shihab al-Hijazi (d. 875 AH / 1470 CE) celebrating beautiful maidens and women of various descriptions and names .
Background and Purpose
Al-Shihab al-Hijazi composed the booklet (kurrasah) at the request of close literary companions . Having previously authored an anthology dedicated to handsome youths entitled Jannat al-wildan fi al-hisan min al-ghilman, his friends urged him to produce a companion work dedicated to fair maidens, reasoning that female beauty is inherent while the beauty of ephebes is ephemeral . Though he initially hesitated, he resolved to compose the treatise, citing verses by Izz al-Din al-Mawsili on renouncing old attachments for a captivating maiden, and he entitled the work al-Kanas al-Jawari fi al-Hisan min al-Jawari .
Structure and Contents
The work consists of short epigrams and poetic vignettes (muqatta'at) composed entirely by al-Shihab al-Hijazi, frequently incorporating rhetorical devices, Quranic quotations (iqtibas), and poetic adaptations (tadmin) . The poems are organized around descriptions of maidens distinguished by specific roles, attributes, physical conditions, religious communities, and personal names:
- Social roles and professions: Verses celebrating a queen (malikah), a noblewoman (sharifah), a scholar ('alimah), a scribe (katibah), an embroiderer (zarkashiyyah), a feather-dresser (rayyashah), a pearl stringer (mukallilah), a hairdresser (mashitah), a henna-artist or decorator (munaqqishah), an artisan (sani'ah), a washerwoman (ghasilah), and a professional mourner (na'ihah) .
- Physical traits and conditions: Epigrams on fair-complexioned and dark-complexioned women, one dressed in wine-red attire, an insane woman, a woman with an evil eye, a blind woman, a deaf woman, a bald woman, and one who replaces the letter kaf with a hamza in speech .
- Religious affiliations: Verses describing a Jewish maiden and a Christian nun .
- Personal names: A sequence of short poems dedicated to specific female names and kunyas, including Shams al-Nahar, Sutaytah, Nafisah, Tarfah, Azizah, Khas, Badriyyah, Thurayya, Zahrah, Zuhur, 'Anqa, Aisha, Fatima, Umm al-Hasan, Halimah, Aminah, Rahmah, Alif, Asiyah, Lamya', Kafiyah, Radiyah, Najdah, Tatar, Layla, Fa'idah, Marhaba, Salma, Asma', and Jannah .
At the conclusion of the text, the author appended an elegiac section mourning the deceased, ending with verses lamenting the passing of a maiden named Jannah, observing that mortality is the ultimate destination of all human beings .
Publication History
The treatise was printed in Cairo by Matba'at al-Sa'adah in 1326 AH / 1908 CE as part of a three-part compendium (Majmu'at thalath rasa'il) of works by al-Shihab al-Hijazi, appearing alongside Jannat al-wildan fi al-hisan min al-ghilman and Qala'id al-nuhur min jawahir al-buhur .
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