al-Muwashsha = al-Zarf wa al-Zurafa
- Author died
- 325 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Khānjī
al-Muwashsha (also published under the title al-Zarf wa al-Zurafa) is an Arabic literary work on urban refinement, social etiquette, and courtly romance composed by the Baghdadi man of letters and grammarian Abu al-Tayyib al-Washsha (d. 325 AH / 937 CE) .
Title and Authorship
The author identifies the work in his introduction as al-Kitab al-Muwashsha . It is also recorded in biographical and bibliographic dictionaries under the short title al-Muwashsha . Modern printings have frequently issued the work under the title al-Zarf wa al-Zurafa or al-Muwashsha aw al-Zarf wa al-Zurafa, though Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli noted that the descriptive phrase fi al-zarf wa al-zurafa was appended by a publisher and was not part of the original title .
The author, Abu al-Tayyib Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn Yahya al-Washsha—also referred to in some sources as Muhammad ibn Ishaq—was a scholar of literature and grammar in Baghdad who transmitted from al-Mubarrad and Tha'lab .
Purpose and Content
In the opening of the treatise, al-Washsha states that anyone aspiring to cultivate good manners and adopt the refined character of polite society (al-zurafa) must understand the precepts of refinement (al-zarf), the rules of chivalric virtue (al-muru'a), and the boundaries of proper conduct (al-adab), emphasizing that none of these three qualities can exist without the others .
The book outlines the sartorial codes, dining habits, courtship customs, and literary tastes of the refined class (ahl al-zarf), drawing upon prose anecdotes, aphorisms, and poetry . Among its topics are:
- Dress and adornment: The approved and disapproved garments, fabrics, and colors for refined women (al-mutazarrifat), specifying acceptable materials such as silk, brocade, and patterned cloth, as well as conventions regarding dyed and perfumed garments .
- Tokens and gifts: The symbolism of gifts exchanged between lovers, such as apples, which the author describes as uniquely esteemed by people of refinement and compared to blushing cheeks .
- Ethics of love and social standing: Discussions on the appropriateness of love and romantic pursuit among people of affluence and means versus the impoverished, alongside verses and sayings on the subject .
Publication History
The text was first edited in Europe by Rudolf Ernst Brünnow and published in Leiden in 1886 . It was subsequently published in Cairo in 1324 AH under the title Kitab al-Zarf wa al-Zurafa , and later issued in an edition edited by Kamal Mustafa at Maktabat al-Khanji (first in 1371 AH / 1953 CE, with a second edition in 1372 AH / 1953 CE) . The work has also been reprinted in Beirut .
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