Rawd al-Akhyar al-Muntakhab min Rabi al-Abrar
- Author died
- 940 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Qalam al-‘Arabī
Rawd al-Akhyar al-Muntakhab min Rabi al-Abrar (The Garden of the Chosen: Selected from the Spring of the Pious) is an anthology of Arabic literature and adab compiled by the Ottoman scholar Muhyi al-Din Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Amasi (d. 940 AH / 1534 CE) as an abridgment and expansion of the earlier compendium Rabi al-Abrar by al-Zamakhshari (d. 538 AH / 1144 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Amasi completed the work in 921 AH (1515 CE), commemorating the completion date in a closing verse using the chronogram Jāʾa bi-faḍlih ("It came by His grace") . He dedicated the anthology as a gift to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (Sultan Suleiman ibn Selim Khan) .
The work belongs to the genre of ilm al-muhadarat (the literature of conversational and assembly topics) . In his preface, al-Amasi explained that while al-Zamakhshari's Rabi al-Abrar was rich in benefits, its vast length made it difficult to master; he therefore extracted its choicest selections to prevent tedium and facilitate retention for students . Alongside selections from al-Zamakhshari, al-Amasi incorporated supplementary anecdotes, sayings, and literary extracts drawn from other books of belles-lettres and from scholars he encountered .
Structure and Content
Al-Amasi divided the book into fifty thematic chapters, designating each section as a "garden" (rawdah) . The work opens with the first garden devoted to religion and acts of worship (al-Rawdah al-Ula fi al-Din wa-ma yata'allaqu bihi min al-'Ibadat) . Throughout the compilation, the text brings together Quranic verses, prophetic hadiths, poetry, prose passages, aphorisms, epistles, and historical narratives .
Translation and Publication
The anthology was translated into Ottoman Turkish by the scholar and biographer Ashiq Chelebi (Muhammad ibn Pir Ali, d. 979 AH), who dedicated his translation to Sultan Selim II (ibn Suleiman) .
In the nineteenth century, the Arabic text was published multiple times in Egypt, including editions printed in 1279 AH, 1280 AH (at Bulaq in 290 pages), 1292 AH, and 1307 AH (by al-Matba'ah al-Maymaniyyah in 256 pages) . A modern edition prepared by Mahmud Fakhuri was published in Aleppo in 1423 AH (2000 CE) .
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