Nithar al-Azhar fi al-Layl wa al-Nahar
- Author died
- 711 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat al-Jawāʾib
Nithar al-Azhar fi al-Layl wa al-Nahar ("The Scattering of Flowers on Night and Day") is a thematic literary and adab work by the lexicographer Ibn Manzur (630–711 AH / 1232–1311 CE), containing poetry, descriptions, and lore concerning the day, the night, and celestial bodies.
Background and Composition
The work constitutes the first volume of Ibn Manzur's abridgment and reorganization of Fasl al-Khitab fi Madarik al-Hawass al-Khams li-Uli al-Albab, a large encyclopedic compilation by Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Tifashi (d. 651 AH / 1253 CE). The full title of the volume is Nithar al-Azhar fi al-Layl wa al-Nahar wa-Atayib Awqat al-Asa'il wa-l-Ashar wa-Sa'ir ma Yashtamilu 'alayhi min Kawakibih al-Falak al-Dawwar ("The Scattering of Flowers on Night and Day, the Delights of Evenings and Dawns, and All the Stars Contained within the Revolving Sphere").
Ibn Manzur noted in his introduction that he had heard of the original work in his youth when al-Tifashi frequented the circle of his father, Jalal al-Din Mukarram. After turning sixty, Ibn Manzur searched for the work until locating a manuscript in the possession of an associate of al-Tifashi, who initially refused to sell or lend it. He finally obtained it in 690 AH (1291 CE), finding it in thirty-six disordered fascicles out of the original forty, written in poor handwriting on draft slips and loose scraps, which he then selected, arranged, and edited.
Structure and Contents
The book organizes its material into ten thematic chapters (abwab):
- Chapter 1: On the alternating periods of night and day (al-malawan).
- Chapter 2: On the descriptions of the night, its length and brevity, evening drinking (al-ightibaq) and its praise, and the censure of morning drinking (al-istibah).
- Chapter 3: On morning drinking and its praise, the censure of nocturnal drinking, and awakening drinking companions in the morning.
- Chapter 4: On the crescent moon, its appearance, full moon phases, and moonlit nights.
- Chapter 5: On the breaking of dawn, the morning breeze, birdsong in the trees, and the crowing of roosters.
- Chapter 6: On the characteristics of the sun at sunrise, forenoon, altitude, setting, clear and cloudy skies, and solar eclipses.
- Chapter 7: On celestial bodies and constellations, as well as prominent individual stars.
- Chapter 8: On the views of astrologers and ancient philosophers regarding the celestial spheres and planets.
- Chapter 9: On the lexicographical explanation and etymologies of the names of celestial bodies, including Greek loan terms such as silini for the moon and iliyus for the sun.
- Chapter 10: On the interpretation of dreams concerning celestial bodies according to the perspectives of philosophers and Muslim scholars.
Publication History
The work was published in Istanbul at Matba'at al-Jawa'ib in 1298 AH (1881 CE) and was later reprinted in Beirut in 1409 AH.
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