Rayhanat al-Alba wa Zahrat al-Hayat al-Dunya

Rayhanat al-Alba wa Zahrat al-Hayat al-Dunya (The Sweet Basil of the Wise and the Blossom of This Worldly Life) is a biographical and literary anthology of eleventh-century AH poets and scholars by the Ottoman-era Egyptian scholar and judge al-Shihab al-Khafaji (d. 1069 AH / 1659 CE) Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.

Purpose and Content

Al-Khafaji composed the book to compile biographical sketches, prose writings, and selected verse of contemporary men of letters from across the Islamic world, recording their achievements and literary output in rhymed, ornate prose Sulafat al-Asr fi Mahasin…+1. The work also includes an extensive autobiographical section covering the author’s own education, travels, and career, alongside his al-Maqamat al-Rumiyya, in which he critiqued scholars of Istanbul Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.

Structure

The book is arranged geographically into thematic sections:

1. Contemporary figures of Damascus and the Levant (al-Sham) Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.
2. Contemporary figures of the Maghrib and adjacent regions Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.
3. Figures of Mecca Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa ….
4. The Husaynid realm and its remaining scholars and poets Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa ….
5. The literary figures of Yemen Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa ….
6. Egypt, its conditions, and the reasons for the author's return to it Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa ….

The author concludes the compilation with a dedicated closing tribute to prominent religious scholars Rayhanat al-Alba wa Zahra….

Reception and Influence

The anthology exerted a notable influence on later biographical writing of the eleventh century AH. Ibn Ma'sum received a copy sent from Mecca and praised its design, noting that it prompted him to compile his own biographical anthology, Sulafat al-'Asr, while taking care not to duplicate the poetic selections recorded by al-Khafaji Sulafat al-Asr fi Mahasin…+1. Ibn Ma'sum also recorded satirical lines penned by critics targeting the work Sulafat al-Asr fi Mahasin….

The Syrian biographer al-Muhibbi praised al-Khafaji's prose and composed a direct continuation and supplement titled Nafhat al-Rayhana wa Rashhat Tila al-Hana, expanding the coverage of eleventh-century poets into eight geographical chapters Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.

Publication History

The work was printed in Egypt at Bulaq and Cairo in 1273 AH, 1294 AH (and 1295 AH), and 1306 AH Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa …+1. A modern two-volume critical edition edited by Abd al-Fattah Muhammad al-Hilw was published by Matba'at Isa al-Babi al-Halabi in Cairo in 1386 AH (1967 CE) al-Bahr alladhi Zakhar fi…+1.