Diwan al-Ma'ani
- Author died
- 395 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Jīl
Diwan al-Ma'ani (The Anthology of Poetic Motifs) is an Arabic thematic anthology compiled by the literary scholar and philologist Abu Hilal al-Askari (d. c. 395 AH / 1005 CE), gathering poetic verses and fragments arranged according to specific conceptual motifs and subject matters.
Structure and Content
The work belongs to the genre of kutub al-ma'ani, which are collections of verses and poetic excerpts classified systematically by defined thematic headings and concepts. Al-Askari structured the work into two volumes encompassing twelve primary chapters (abwab):
- Panegyric, congratulations, and self-glorification (al-madih wa-l-tahani wa-l-iftikhar).
- Descriptions of human traits and moral qualities (awsaf khisal al-insan).
- Admonitions, satire, and apologies (al-mu'atabat wa-l-hija' wa-l-i'tidhar).
- Love poetry (tashbib) and descriptions of beautiful women (awsaf al-hisan).
- Descriptions of fire, cooking, dishes of food, and drinks (al-nar wa-l-tabkh wa-alwan al-ta'am wa-dhikr al-sharab).
- Descriptions of the heavens, stars, night, dawn, sun, and moon (al-sama' wa-l-nujum wa-l-layl wa-l-subh wa-l-shams wa-l-qamar).
- Descriptions of clouds, rain, lightning, thunder, waters, gardens, vegetation, trees, aromatic plants, fruits, and breezes.
- Warfare, weapons, spearing, and striking (al-harb wa-l-silah wa-l-ta'n wa-l-darb).
- Descriptions of handwriting, the reed pen, the inkwell, paper, and eloquence (al-khatt wa-l-qalam wa-l-dawat wa-l-qirtas wa-dhikr al-balaghah).
- Horses, camels, journeys, wildernesses, wild animals, birds, and insects.
- Youth, old age, hair dye, illness, death, elegies, condolences, and asceticism (al-shabab wa-l-shayb wa-l-khidab wa-l-'ilal wa-l-mawt wa-l-marathi wa-l-ta'azi wa-l-zuhd).
- Miscellaneous descriptions (sifat ashya' mukhtalifah).
Reception and Editions
The 11th-century scholar Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi noted in Khizanat al-Adab that both Diwan al-Ma'ani and al-Askari's Kitab al-Furuq fi al-Lughah serve as clear evidence of the author's extensive erudition.
The text has been published in several modern editions, including an early print by Maktabat al-Qudsi in Cairo (1352 AH / 1933 CE), an edition prepared by Ahmad Hasan Basaj (Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1414 AH), and another edited by Ahmad Salim Ghanim (Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1424 AH).
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