al-Tadhkira al-Saadiyya fi al-Ashaar al-Arabiyya
- Author died
- 703 AH
- Editions
- al-Tadhkira al-Saadiyya fi al-Ashaar al-Arabiyya
al-Tadhkira al-Saadiyya fi al-Ashaar al-Arabiyya (The Sa'dian Memoir on Arabic Poems) is a fourteenth-century Arabic poetic anthology compiled by the man of letters Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Ubaydi (d. after 702 AH / 1302 CE) on the model of Abu Tammam's al-Hamasa.
Background and Purpose
The compiler, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Majid al-Ubaydi—also recorded as Ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Ubaydi—composed the work following an earlier collection of amatory and love poetry by modern poets entitled al-Nuzha al-Saadiyya fi al-Ashaar al-Arabiyya. He dedicated both works to the vizier Sa'd al-Din, son of the grand vizier Taj al-Din Abi al-Fadl, and prepared this anthology as a gift for his library. Al-Ubaydi described his compilation as combining the rugged vigor of bedouin verse with the refinement of urban poetry, intentionally avoiding obscure or archaic vocabulary.
Structure and Contents
The anthology is arranged into fourteen thematic chapters (abwab):
- Al-Hamasa wa-l-Iftikhar (Valour and Pride)
- Al-Adab wa-l-Hikam wa-l-Amthal (Manners, Wisdom, and Proverbs)
- Al-Nasib (Amatory and Love Poetry)
- Al-Madh wa-l-Istijda wa-l-Isti'taf wa-l-Taqadi (Panegyric, Solicitation, Appeasement, and Demanding Dues)
- Al-Marathi (Elegies)
- Al-Hija (Satire and Invective)
- Al-Ikhwaniyyat (Fraternal Verses and Friendship)
- Al-Tahani (Congratulations)
- Al-I'tidhar (Apologies)
- Al-Sifat (Descriptions)
- Al-Mu'atabat wa-l-Shikaya min Hawadith al-Zaman wa-l-Sabr 'Alayha (Reproaches, Complaints of Misfortune, and Endurance)
- Al-Mulah (Anecdotes and Witty Verses)
- Al-Ashya al-Mutafarriqa (Miscellanea)
- Al-Du'a (Supplications)
Manuscript and Publication History
The work survives in a unique autograph manuscript preserved in the Ayasofya library in Istanbul (MS Ayasofya 3821 M), comprising 314 folios copied by the author in 702 AH.
The text was edited by Abd Allah al-Juburi, whose edition of the first volume was published in Najaf and Baghdad in 1972, and subsequently published by al-Dar al-Arabiyya li-l-Kitab in 1981.
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