al-Manazil wa al-Diyar

al-Manāzil wa al-Diyār (The Abodes and Dwellings) is an Arabic literary anthology by the Syrian prince, poet, and warrior Usāma ibn Munqidh (488–584 AH / 1095–1188 CE), devoted to the poetic motif of weeping over ruined encampments, deserted dwellings, and lost homelands Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Background and Composition

The book was conceived in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake that struck northern Syria in August 1157 CE (552 AH), which leveled his ancestral fortress of Shayzar and killed many members of the Banu Munqidh family beneath the rubble Majallat al-Risala+1. According to modern scholarship, it was compiled around 568 AH (1172 CE) during Usama's stay in Hisn Kayfa Majallat al-Risala. In the work's introduction, Usama explains that he was moved to compile the collection by the ruin and dispersion that befell his homeland and relatives, intending the verses to soothe his grief and find consolation amid successive personal and familial tragedies al-Manazil wa al-Diyar+1.

Structure and Contents

The work spans roughly five hundred pages and is organized into sixteen thematic chapters (fuṣūl) al-Manazil wa al-Diyar+1:

1. Mention of abodes (al-manāzil)
2. Mention of dwellings (al-diyār)
3. Mention of habitations (al-maghānī)
4. Mention of ruins (al-aṭlāl)
5. Mention of springtime campsites (al-rab‘)
6. Mention of encampment traces (al-diman)
7. Mention of effaced marks (al-rasm)
8. Mention of traces and relics (al-āthār)
9. Mention of quarters, settlements, and landmarks (al-masākin wa al-maḥall wa al-ma‘āhid wa al-a‘lām wa al-ma‘ālim wa al-‘araṣāt)
10. Mention of lands (al-arḍ)
11. Mention of homelands (al-awṭān)
12. Mention of cities (al-mudun)
13. Mention of regions and countries (al-bilād)
14. Mention of the home (al-dār)
15. Mention of the house (al-bayt)
16. Weeping over family and brethren (bukā’ al-ahl wa al-ikhwān) al-Manazil wa al-Diyar.

Across these sections, Usama compiles extensive poetic selections from pre-Islamic, Umayyad, and Abbasid poets—including al-Aswad ibn Ya'fur, Bishr ibn Abi Khazim, Abu Nuwas, Abu Tammam, al-Buhturi, and al-Mutanabbi—interspersed with his own poetry lamenting his lost home and deceased kin al-Manazil wa al-Diyar+1.

Manuscripts and Publication

A manuscript of the work is preserved in the Asiatic Museum in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Majallat al-Risala. The text was edited by Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut and published in Damascus in 1385 AH (1965 CE) by al-Maktab al-Islami, and it has also been edited by Mustafa Hijazi al-Manazil wa al-Diyar+1.