Qalaid al-Iqyan fi Mahasin al-Ruasa wa al-Qudat wa al-Kuttab wa al-Udaba wa al-Ayan
- Author died
- 528 AH
- Editions
- al-Matba'ah al-Amiriyyah
Qalaid al-Iqyan fi Mahasin al-Ruasa wa al-Qudat wa al-Kuttab wa al-Udaba wa al-Ayan (The Necklaces of Pure Gold on the Merits of Leaders, Judges, Scribes, Literati, and Notables) is an Andalusian biographical anthology by Abu Nasr al-Fath ibn Khaqan (d. 528 AH / 1134 CE; variant reports give 529, 533, or 535 AH) . It compiles biographies, prose compositions, and poetic selections of contemporary and near-contemporary Andalusian dignitaries, scholars, and poets .
Composition and Purpose
The work is also known under the shorter titles Qalaid al-Iqyan and Qalaid al-Iqyan fi Mahasin al-Ayan . Ibn Khaqan dedicated it to Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Yusuf ibn Tashfin, the brother of the Almoravid ruler Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Tashfin and his deputy in al-Andalus .
Biographical sources report that when Ibn Khaqan undertook the compilation, he wrote individually to the rulers, ministers, and prominent figures of al-Andalus, notifying them of his intention and requesting specimens of their prose and poetry for inclusion . Those who responded generously with gifts and purses of gold were portrayed with lavish praise, whereas those who ignored his overtures were lampooned and disparaged in the text .
Structure and Scope
The book is arranged into four thematic sections (aqsam) :
- Fi Mahasin al-Ru'asa' wa-Abna'ihim (On the virtues of rulers and their sons), which includes figures such as al-Mu'tamid ibn 'Abbad and al-Mutawakkil ibn al-Muzaffar .
- Fi Ghurar Hilyat al-Wuzara' wa-Fiqar al-Kuttab wa-al-Bulagha' (On the premier traits of ministers and aphorisms of scribes and rhetoricians), featuring figures such as Ibn Zaydun .
- Fi Luma' A'yan al-Quda wa-Lamah A'lam al-'Ulama' al-Sura (On the highlights of eminent judges and prominent scholars) .
- Fi Bada'i' Nubaha' al-Udaba' wa-Rawa'i' Fuhul al-Shu'ara' (On the ingenious works of distinguished literati and master poets) .
The work contains 64 biographical entries in the standard manuscripts and editions; another count numbers them at 58, while the addition of entries found in a manuscript preserved in Mashhad brought the count to 80 in a modern edition . Rather than offering dry historical registers of births, deaths, and genealogies, the entries serve as stylistic portraits and anthologies, encompassing long qasidas, urjuzas, short poetic fragments, official administrative letters (al-mukhatabat al-sultaniyya), fraternal and romantic epistles, and proverbs .
Style and Reception
The book is written in an ornate, rhymed-prose (saj') style marked by elaborate rhetorical embellishments . The contemporary scholar Abu Muhammad ibn al-Sid al-Batalyawsi praised the book warmly in a letter to Ibn Khaqan upon reading its beginning .
Despite its literary standing, biographers noted the author's polemical biases. When the philosopher-vizier Abu Bakr ibn Bajja (Ibn al-Sa'igh) disregarded Ibn Khaqan's solicitation, the author placed him at the conclusion of the work with a scathing condemnation . Similarly, Ibn Khaqan initially resolved to excise al-Qadi 'Iyad after the latter administered the prescribed penalty (hadd) on him for drunkenness, but he retained 'Iyad's entry after being cautioned that the omission would merely memorialize his own punishment .
Abridgments and Editions
Qalaid al-Iqyan was abridged by Ibn Fadl Allah al-'Umari (d. 749 AH) . Early printed editions appeared in Paris (edited by Sulayman al-Jaza'iri) and Cairo, and it was subsequently published in scholarly editions prepared by Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur and Husayn Yusuf Kharyush .
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