Rayhanat al-Kitab wa Najat al-Muntab
- Author died
- 776 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Khānjī
Rayhanat al-Kitab wa Najat al-Muntab is a multi-volume collection of official state letters and chancellery prose composed by the Andalusian vizier and historian Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatib (713–776 AH / 1313–1374 CE).
Content and Scope
The work is devoted entirely to epistolography and chancellery writing (insha' and kitabah). It brings together a large corpus of political and sultanic correspondence drafted on behalf of the rulers of Granada to addresses across both the Islamic West (Maghrib) and the Islamic East (Mashriq). The missives include diplomatic appeals sent to North African sultans requesting military aid and reinforcement, as well as official letters exchanged with Christian Spanish monarchs. The collection also records accounts of battles, military campaigns, and expeditions occurring in locations such as Seville, Jaen, Algeciras, and Gibraltar.
Structure and Reception
The text was structured in eight manuscript volumes (asfar). The historian Ahmad al-Maqqari observed that Ibn al-Khatib's writings, and Rayhanat al-Kitab in particular, served as a primary model and reference for chancellery scribes in the Maghrib, who drew heavily from its stylistic gems to embellish their own writings. The Damascene scholar Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Ba'uni praised the book on the flyleaf of a manuscript copy, describing its author's literary style and eloquence as an extraordinary gift.
Editions
Rayhanat al-Kitab wa Najat al-Muntab was edited by Muhammad Abd Allah Inan and published in two volumes by Maktabat al-Khanji in Cairo in 1981.
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