Matali al-Budur wa Manazil al-Surur
- Author died
- 815 AH
- Editions
- Matali al-Budur wa Manazil al-Surur
Matali al-Budur wa Manazil al-Surur (The Risings of the Full Moons in the Mansions of Joy) is an Arabic adab (belles-lettres) compendium compiled by the Damascene man of letters ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Baha’i al-Ghazuli (d. 815 AH / 1412 CE) . The work gathers prose anecdotes, poetic selections, and descriptions focused on convivial life, domestic spaces, and household aesthetics .
Scope and Subject Matter
Al-Ghazuli designed the book as an anthology for literary circles and cultivated companions . Unlike anthologies focused purely on broad ethical or political themes, Matali al-Budur organizes its material around the domestic sphere and social gatherings . It treats the construction and management of residences, the beautification of salons and domestic settings, household utensils, pastimes, and the delights of urban social life, pairing each topic with eloquent poetry and prose selections .
Structure and Method
The work begins with the praise: «الحمد لله الذي جعل قلوب البلغاء أفلاكًا لمطالع البدور» ("Praise be to God, who made the hearts of the eloquent celestial spheres for the risings of full moons") . Al-Ghazuli structured the anthology into fifty thematic chapters (abwab), all addressing elements of residences, assembly rooms, their furnishings, and the literature composed about them . In compiling its literary content, the author drew heavily upon works of later and contemporary poets alongside classical literary lore .
In classical biographical sources, such as Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi's al-Daw' al-Lami', the work is recorded as comprising three volumes in manuscript form . Hajji Khalifa likewise documented it under the title Matali al-Budur fi Manazil al-Surur in Kashf al-Zunun .
Manuscript Transmission and Publication
Matali al-Budur survives in multiple manuscript copies in collections such as the Austrian National Library in Vienna, the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, Princeton University, and al-Azhar in Cairo .
The text was published in Cairo in two volumes between 1299 and 1300 AH (1881–1883 CE), including an edition issued by Matba‘at al-Watan .
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