Bahjat al-Majalis wa Uns al-Majalis
- Author died
- 463 AH
- Editions
- Bahjat al-Majalis wa Uns al-Majalis
Bahjat al-Majalis wa Uns al-Majalis (The Delight of Assemblies and the Intimacy of Gatherings) is a comprehensive anthology of belles-lettres (adab) and literary compilations (muḥāḍarāt) by the Andalusian traditionist and jurist Ibn Abd al-Barr (368–463 AH / 978–1071 CE) .
Structure and Content
The work is also known by the fuller title Bahjat al-Majālis wa Uns al-Majālis wa Shaḥdh al-Dhāhin wa-l-Hājis . It is arranged into 124 thematic chapters, opening with the phrase «أما بعد فإن أولى...» ("As for what follows, the most worthy...") .
The book gathers a broad spectrum of literary and ethical material intended for intellectual discourse and refined social gatherings (mudhākarah and muḥāḍarah) . Its contents include:
- Aphorisms, maxims, and circulating proverbs from Arabic poetry and prose .
- Literary anecdotes and narratives spanning both the pre-Islamic (Jāhiliyya) and Islamic eras .
- Exhortations, ethical homilies, and moral discourses .
- Accounts of dream visions reported from the Prophet Muhammad and various Companions .
Reception and Transmission
In his biographical history al-Mughrib fī Ḥulā al-Maghrib, the historian Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi praised Ibn Abd al-Barr's literary prowess alongside his legal and hadith scholarship, noting: "Along with this, he was a knight in adab, and sufficient proof for you of that is the book Bahjat al-Majālis" . Ibn Khallikan likewise highlighted the work in Wafayāt al-Aʿyān, describing it as an admirable compilation containing rare gems of wisdom and quoting extensively from its contents . Bibliographer Hajji Khalifa counted it among the authoritative works in the genre of muḥāḍarāt .
The Andalusian scholar Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili recorded his chain of transmission for Bahjat al-Majalis, receiving it via direct audition (samāʿ) through his teacher Abu Bahr Sufyan ibn al-Asi al-Asadi, as well as other teachers, directly from the author Ibn Abd al-Barr .
Abridgments and Editions
The Andalusian scholar Ibn Liyun al-Tujibi (d. 750 AH / 1349–1350 CE) abridged the work in the year 737 AH under the title Bughyat al-Muʾānis min Bahjat al-Majālis .
In modern times, Bahjat al-Majalis was edited by Muhammad Mursi al-Khawli, with editorial review by Dr. Abd al-Qadir al-Qitt, and published in Cairo in two volumes (1962 CE / 1382 AH), later seeing subsequent reprintings in Beirut .
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