Mawaid al-Hays fi Fawaid al-Qays
- Author died
- 716 AH
- Editions
- Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Kuwait
Mawaid al-Hays fi Fawaid al-Qays (The Banquets of Sweetmeats on the Benefits of Imru' al-Qays) is a literary and rhetorical treatise by the Hanbali scholar al-Tufi (d. 716 AH / 1316 CE) devoted to the critical analysis, imagery, and lexical benefits of the poetry of the pre-Islamic poet Imru' al-Qays . In biographical and bibliographical records, the title is also cited as Mawaid al-Hays fi Fawaid Imri' al-Qays and Mawaid al-Hays fi Shir Imri' al-Qays .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Tufi composed the work as a dictated literary study (imla fi al-adab) in response to an inquiry from a student of literature . In the introduction, he explains the metaphor of the title: mawaid refers to dining tables bearing food, hays designates a traditional confection composed of bread, clarified butter, and sweetness, and fawaid denotes conceptual insights grasped by the intellect . Al-Tufi relates that he selected the title because during a past journey, traveling pilgrims shared with him a portion of hays, which he found exceptionally delicious, leading him to adopt the culinary metaphor while also achieving rhyming symmetry (fasilatan) for the book's title .
He specifically focused on Imru' al-Qays due to scholarly consensus regarding his preeminence among the foremost tier of poets, the pioneering nature of his similes and metaphors, and classical critical evaluations . In his preamble, al-Tufi also examines the famous attribution to Ali ibn Abi Talib praising Imru' al-Qays as "the wandering king" (al-malik al-dillil), using the occasion to present a detailed literary and critical defense of the authenticity of Nahj al-Balagha as Ali's own speech rather than a later fabrication .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into an introduction and five thematic chapters (abwab):
- Introduction (al-Muqaddima): An exposition of the book's title, the author's choice of naming, and the rationale for singling out Imru' al-Qays over other poets .
- Chapter 1: On self-parallelisms and internal resemblances across Imru' al-Qays's own poetry (fi mutashabih kalam Imri al-Qays badihi bi-bad) .
- Chapter 2: On similarities between his poetic phrasing and the verses of other poets (fi mutashabih shirihi bi-shir ghayrih) .
- Chapter 3: On the underlying causes and literary factors leading to the resemblances in his diction (fi sabab ishtibah kalamihi badihi bi-bad) .
- Chapter 4: On the aesthetic excellence of his similes, poetic structures, and proverbial usages (fi mahasin tashbihatihi wa-asharihi wa-amthalih) .
- Chapter 5: On the interpretative and scholarly benefits derived from his verses, including the resolution of obscure or difficult passages (fi fawaid kalamihi min kashf mushkil wa-nahwih) .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscripts of the work are preserved in repositories including the Zahiriyya/Umumiyya Library in Damascus (MS 5601) and Dar al-Kutub in Cairo . The treatise has been edited by Mustafa Ulayyan and published by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait (1435 AH / 2014 CE) .
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