Itilal al-Qulub - al-Kharaiti
- Author died
- 327 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Nizār Muṣṭafá al-Bāz
I'tilal al-Qulub (The Ailment of Hearts), also titled I'tilal al-Qulub fi Akhbar al-'Ushshaq, is a classical work on love, passion, and the accounts of lovers composed with chains of transmission by the hadith scholar and author Abu Bakr al-Kharaiti (d. 327 AH / 939 CE) .
Subject Matter and Scope
The work belongs to the early tradition of adab and ethical literature concerning the nature of passion (hawa), romantic love ('ishq), and spiritual rectitude. Al-Kharaiti documented anecdotes of renowned lovers, historical figures, Bedouins, companions, caliphs, and ascetics, alongside sayings of physicians, philosophers, and moralists . The text explores the emotional and physical afflictions brought on by love, narratives of chastity and restraint, the virtue of moderating affection, and moral exhortations on subduing lust and guarding the heart against transgression .
Method and Sources
Al-Kharaiti arranged the material using traditional hadith-style transmission chains (isnads), transmitting reports from his teachers such as Ibrahim ibn al-Junayd, al-Mubarrad, al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, and Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari . The entries combine prophetic traditions, statements from the early generations (salaf), Arabic poetry illustrating diverse states of love, and narrative prose .
Transmission and Reception
The book circulated widely among scholars of both the Islamic East and West. In al-Andalus, Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili recorded its transmission through Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Duhaym al-Halabi directly from al-Kharaiti . Later medieval authors cited it extensively in treatises on ethics and romantic passion, including Ibn al-Jawzi in Dhamm al-Hawa (The Censure of Passion), Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi in Mir'at al-Zaman, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in Rawdat al-Muhibbin and Ighathat al-Lahfan, and Ibn Abi Hajlah in Diwan al-Sababah .
Editions
The work has been edited and published in modern times, notably in an edition by Hamdi al-Dimardash (Mecca: Maktabat Nizar Mustafa al-Baz) and an edition prepared by Gharid al-Shaykh (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah) .
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