Hilyat al-Fursan wa Shi'ar al-Shuja'an
- Author died
- 764 AH
- Editions
- Hilyat al-Fursan wa Shi'ar al-Shuja'an
Hilyat al-Fursan wa Shi'ar al-Shuja'an (The Adornment of Knights and the Banner of the Brave) is a fourteenth-century Andalusian manual of horsemanship, hippology, and arms by the Granadan man of letters Ibn Hudhayl (d. after 764 AH / 1362 CE) .
Composition and Context
The treatise was composed at the direction of the Nasrid sultan of Granada, Muhammad V (Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Ismail ibn Nasr; r. 750–764 AH) . The text represents the section on horses and weaponry derived from Ibn Hudhayl's broader work, Tuhfat al-Anfus wa-Shi'ar Sukkan al-Andalus (The Gift to Souls and the Emblem of the Dwellers of al-Andalus), which treated warfare across two primary parts devoted respectively to jihad and to cavalry and arms .
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into twenty thematic chapters (abwab) :
- The creation of horses, the first person to acquire them, and their spread across the earth .
- The virtues of horses and reports concerning their upkeep and tethering (irtibat) .
- The maintenance and protection of horses, and counsel regarding their care .
- Equine anatomy and bodily parts named by the Arabs, including terms shared with avian anatomy .
- Desirable anatomical qualities in horses and traits favorably compared to other animals .
- Coat colors, markings (shiyat), facial blazes (ghurar), leg markings (tahjil), and hair whorls (dawa'ir) .
- Praiseworthy equine qualities, descriptions of thoroughbreds, and names of noble breeds .
- Physical and behavioral defects of horses .
- Selection, testing, and physiognomic appraisal (firasah) of horses .
- Equitation and instructions for riding under diverse conditions .
- Horse racing, racecourses (halba), and wagers .
- The names of the Prophet Muhammad's horses and celebrated Arabian stallions .
- Miscellaneous equine vocabulary and specialized terminology .
- An anthology of Arabic poetry celebrating horses, their care, and pride in equine ownership .
- Swords .
- Lances and spears .
- Bows and archery .
- Armor and coats of mail .
- Shields and related protective equipment .
- Weapons and combat gear in general .
Method and Material
The manual combines religious traditions, practical martial instruction, and classical literary citations. Ibn Hudhayl adduces prophetic hadiths and historical reports concerning the spiritual merit of maintaining cavalry mounts for military engagement . In the operational sections, he details precise techniques for mounting and dismounting while bearing lances, tactical maneuvering (al-karr wa-l-farr), parrying blows, adjusting positioning in duels according to terrain and sun glare, and disabling an adversary's mount by striking reins or headstalls .
Editions and Translations
The Arabic text was edited from manuscript and translated into French by the French orientalist Louis Mercier, published in Paris by zincography in 1922 . A subsequent edition of the Arabic text, edited by Muhammad Abd al-Ghani Hasan, was published in Cairo by Dar al-Ma'arif (1369 AH / 1949 CE; reissued 1951) .
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