al-Mahasin wal-Addad
- Author died
- 255 AH
- Editions
- Dār wa-Maktabat al-Hilāl
Al-Mahasin wal-Addad (The Merits and Their Contraries) is an Arabic adab (belles-lettres) anthology traditionally attributed to the Abbasid author al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 869 CE), presenting the positive and negative dimensions of a wide variety of human traits, behaviors, and cultural themes. Modern scholarship considers the work to be falsely attributed to al-Jahiz.
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into approximately sixty thematic chapters. It opens with a section on the merits of writing and books (Mahasin al-kitaba wal-kutub) followed by the faults of grammatical error (Masawi al-lahn), and it concludes with a chapter treating the merits of death (Mahasin al-mawt). The intervening chapters explore paired or antithetical subjects, compiling material on both the laudable and blameworthy sides of virtues and vices, including truthfulness, forgiveness, affection, loyalty, courage, generosity, avarice, silence versus speech, jealousy, and patriotism. It also includes discussions on social practices, such as the veiling and unveiling of women.
Methodologically, the text belongs to the genre of narrative compilation (adab al-riwaya). It gathers sayings, historical anecdotes, proverbs, and poetic citations related to each chapter heading without systematic philosophical analysis, extensive dialectical argumentation, or personal judgments.
Authorship and Attribution
Although long ascribed to al-Jahiz, multiple internal and historical indicators demonstrate that the work is spurious:
- Absence from early bibliographies: Al-Jahiz omitted any mention of the title in the list of thirty-six of his own works preserved in the introduction to Kitab al-Haywan, nor did he reference it in his surviving epistles. Classical bibliographical works largely omit the book, with a rare pre-modern citation appearing in Khizanat al-adab by Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi.
- Pastiche preface: The book's opening passage—in which the author complains of jealous contemporaries and discusses pseudonymous publishing—is an extract lifted from an authentic epistle of al-Jahiz entitled Fasl ma bayn al-adawah wal-hasad (Distinction Between Enmity and Envy), repurposed as an introduction to lend authority to the collection.
- Stylistic and doctrinal discrepancies: The work lacks the signature dialectical style, Mu'tazilite framing, and analytical conclusions characteristic of al-Jahiz's genuine writings. Furthermore, it contains pro-Alid partisan views that disparage the lineage of Abu Bakr, as well as material favorable to non-Arab cultures, both of which conflict directly with al-Jahiz's positions in works like Kitab al-Uthmaniyya and his anti-Shu'ubiyya polemics.
- Relation to al-Bayhaqi: The text shares substantial verbatim material, structure, and chapter arrangements with al-Mahasin wal-masawi by Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Bayhaqi (fl. early 4th century AH / 10th century CE). Scholars such as Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim have noted that both works likely derive from a single author or a shared source, with some attributing the compilation directly to al-Bayhaqi.
Publication History
The first printed edition was edited by Gerlof van Vloten and published in Leiden in 1897. It was subsequently published in Cairo in 1906 by Maktabat al-Khanji with a brief biographical introduction, followed by several printings in Cairo and Beirut. Selected chapters of the text were translated into German by Oskar Rescher. Modern orientalists, notably Charles Pellat, cataloged the work as apocryphal.
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