Kashf al-Asrar fi Hukm al-Tuyur wa al-Azhar
- Author died
- 678 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Fadila
Kashf al-Asrar fi Hukm al-Tuyur wa al-Azhar (Unveiling the Secrets Concerning the Wisdom of Birds and Flowers) is an allegorical didactic work by the preacher Izz al-Din Abd al-Salam ibn Ahmad ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi (d. 678 AH / 1280 CE) . The text conveys spiritual reminders and moral exhortations through symbolic discourses framed around the silent language of nature .
Attribution and Purpose
The book is also cited under the slightly varied title Kashf al-Asrar 'an Hukm al-Tuyur wa al-Azhar . While some bibliographical entries inadvertently listed the work under the better-known Shafi'i jurist Izz al-Din Ibn Abd al-Salam (d. 660 AH / 1262 CE), it is by the preacher Ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi, who died in Cairo in 678 AH .
In the introduction, the author states that he composed the work as an admonition for those who reflect and a reminder for those endowed with insight, translating what he derived from the symbolic signs of animals, the hints of inanimate objects, and the unspoken language of flowers and migratory birds . He observes that while vocal speech (lisan al-qal) is subject to truth and falsehood, the silent state of created things (lisan al-hal) speaks only the verified truth of divine creation and craftsmanship .
Structure and Content
The literary framework begins with the author venturing out alone into nature to contemplate its secrets . Arriving at a lush garden where the breeze blew gently and the nightingale sang, he describes the surrounding elements addressing him in succession .
The work is organized around short sections that blend rhymed prose and poetry:
- Discourses of Flowers: Various blooms deliver homilies reflecting their transient nature and states, including the rose (al-ward), which remarks on its fleeting visitation between winter and summer, and desert lavender (al-khuzama), which praises solitude away from corrupt assemblies .
- Discourses of Birds: Avian characters, opening with the nightingale (al-hazar), express lessons on attachment, separation, and the inevitability of decay in this world .
- Discourses of Animals: The text extends the allegorical admonitions to the animal realm, drawing ethical lessons from their attributes and conditions .
Editions and Translation
The work attracted early European attention; the French orientalist Garcin de Tassy edited the Arabic text and published it alongside a French translation in Paris in 1821 . In the Muslim world, it saw multiple printings, including Cairo editions in 1275 AH and 1280 AH, Bulaq editions in 1270 AH and 1290 AH, and a modern printing in Damascus in 1410 AH .
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