al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma wa al-Hawa

al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma wa al-Hawa (The Debate between Water and Air) is an allegorical literary work in the debate (munāẓara) and maqāma genre composed by the Lebanese-Syrian scholar and poet Ahmad al-Barbir (d. 1226 AH / 1811 CE) Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1.

Subject and Structure

The work is constructed in rhymed prose (sajʿ) interspersed with verses of poetry. It frames an imaginative dispute between two elemental forces—Water (al-māʾ) and Air (al-hawāʾ)—competing for superiority before a gathering of literary scholars Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1. The text unfolds across several rhetorical stages:

• The Opening of the Dispute: The debate begins when a gentle breeze approaches an assembly of scholars, conveying that a contest for primacy has arisen between Air and Water Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…. Both elements appear before the audience to present their proofs Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1.
• The Case for Air: Air ascends the speaker's platform and presents its virtues, noting that it gathers clouds, carries pleasant breezes, aided the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions, destroyed the ancient people of ʿĀd, and was subordinated to Solomon Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1. Air further argues that it enables respiration for all living beings, carries sound, allows the recitation of the Quran and hadith to be heard, and drives ships over the sea al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…+1. It attacks Water by pointing to its stagnation, putrefaction, bitterness in the ocean, and destructive drownings al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…+1.
• The Case for Water: Water mounts the platform and counters that it is the transparent substance from which all living things were made Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1. It highlights its presence in the rivers of Paradise and the prophetic Basin (al-Ḥawḍ), its miraculous emergence from between the fingers of the Prophet ﷺ, and its essential role in ritual purification from both minor and major impurities (al-aḥdāth wa-al-akhbāth) al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…+1. Water remarks that its downward flow is an expression of humility and servitude before God rather than a flaw al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…. It also critiques Air for its association with pestilence (wabāʾ), destructive gales (samūm), and severe cold (zamharīr) Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1.
• Arbitration and Resolution: Finding the arguments equally matched, the audience declines to deliver a hasty ruling and instead refers the case to the distinguished master of the gathering al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…+1. The arbitrator compares both elements to the two bright stars (al-Farqadān) in heaven and two eyes on earth, but affirms Water's ultimate distinction on the basis that God fashioned Adam from water al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…+1. Air yields, apologizes to Water, and the author concludes the session with a praise poem directed to the host al-Mufakhara bayn al-Ma w…+1.

Publication

The work was published as an independent booklet titled Maqāma fī al-mufākhara bayn al-māʾ wa-al-hawāʾ in Damascus in 1300 AH (1883 CE), spanning 23 pages Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…. It was also reproduced in biographical anthologies, including Abd al-Razzaq al-Baytar's Ḥilyat al-bashar fī tārīkh al-qarn al-thālith ʿashar Hilyat al-Bashar fi Tarik…+1.