Surur al-Nafs bi-Madarik al-Hawas al-Khams
- Author died
- 651 AH
- Editions
- Al-Mu'assasah al-Arabiyyah lil-Dirasat wa-al-Nashr
Surur al-Nafs bi-Madarik al-Hawas al-Khams (Joy of the Soul through the Perceptions of the Five Senses) is an Arabic literary and natural encyclopedic anthology compiled originally by the Maghribi scholar Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Tifashi (d. 651 AH / 1253 CE) and later abridged, reorganized, and retitled by the lexicographer Ibn Manzur (d. 711 AH / 1311 CE).
Origins and Composition
Al-Tifashi originally composed a massive multi-volume compendium titled Fasl al-Khitab fi Madarik al-Hawas al-Khams li-Uli al-Albab (The Decisive Discourse on the Perceptions of the Five Senses for Possessors of Intellect), upon which he spent much of his lifetime. When al-Tifashi arrived in Egypt from the Maghrib after having lost his wealth and books at sea, he relied on the libraries of the vizier Muhyi al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id ibn Nada al-Jazari to assist in composing the encyclopedia. The original work was reported to comprise twenty-four volumes according to al-Safadi, while Ibn Manzur described it as forty parts (ajza').
As a child, Ibn Manzur heard al-Tifashi speaking of this compendium during visits to his father, Jalal al-Din al-Mukarram (d. 645 AH / 1247 CE). At the time, Ibn Manzur objected to its title because the phrase fasl al-khitab is singled out in the Quran as a gift bestowed upon the prophet David. Decades later, having passed the age of sixty, Ibn Manzur searched for the scattered manuscript and obtained thirty-six unbound bundles in al-Tifashi's handwriting from one of the author's associates in 690 AH / 1291 CE. Ibn Manzur edited the drafts, removed extraneous material and redundancies, rearranged the material, and renamed the abridgment Surur al-Nafs bi-Madarik al-Hawas al-Khams.
Structure and Contents
Al-Safadi recorded that Ibn Manzur condensed the work into ten volumes. However, only two distinct sections survive together under the title Surur al-Nafs, retaining the sub-titles given by al-Tifashi, each arranged by Ibn Manzur into ten chapters (abwab):
Part One: Nithar al-Azhar fi al-Layl wa-l-Nahar
Titled fully Nithar al-Azhar fi al-Layl wa-l-Nahar wa-Atayib Awqat al-Asa'il wa-l-Ashar wa-Sa'ir ma Yashtamilu 'alayhi min Kawakibihi al-Falak al-Dawwar (Scattering of Flowers on Night and Day), this section deals with temporal cycles, celestial bodies, and related literary lore:
- Chapter 1: Night and day (al-malawan).
- Chapter 2: The qualities, lengths, and delights of the night, including evening drinking (ighbaq).
- Chapter 3: Morning drinking (istibah) and awakening companions.
- Chapter 4: The crescent moon, moonlit nights, and the full moon.
- Chapter 5: Dawn, early breezes, birdsong, and the rooster's crow.
- Chapter 6: The sun at sunrise, forenoon, noon, sunset, clear skies, overcast days, and eclipses.
- Chapter 7: The constellations and prominent stars.
- Chapter 8: Views of ancient astrologers and philosophers on the spheres and stars.
- Chapter 9: Arabic names and etymologies of celestial bodies.
- Chapter 10: Dream interpretation of celestial bodies according to philosophers and Islamic tradition.
Part Two: Tall al-Ashar 'ala al-Julnar
Titled fully Tall al-Ashar 'ala al-Julnar fi al-Hawa' wa-l-Nar wa-Jami' ma Yahduth bayn al-Sama' wa-l-Ard min al-Athar (Dew of Dawns upon Pomegranate Blossoms on Air and Fire), this section focuses on atmospheric, meteorological, and elemental phenomena:
- Chapter 1: The four seasons in general.
- Chapter 2: Extreme cold, warming by embers, and indicators of rain and clear skies.
- Chapter 3: Lightning, longing for home, thunder, clouds, lunar halos, and rainbows according to Arabs and philosophers.
- Chapter 4: Rainclouds, prayers for rain (istisqa'), bubbles on water, and philosophical views on rain, snow, hail, and ice.
- Chapter 5: Meteorological asterisms (anwa'), their linguistic meanings, and legal rulings regarding belief in them.
- Chapter 6: The four cardinal winds, whirlwinds, earthquakes, and atmospheric changes according to ancient physicians.
- Chapter 7: Prognostication of earthly events through celestial omens, eclipses, halos, and storms.
- Chapter 8: Flame, naphtha fires, lightning strikes, charcoal, and braziers.
- Chapter 9: Candles, lanterns, glass lamps, mosque chandeliers, and torches.
- Chapter 10: Dream interpretation of meteorological and atmospheric events.
Missing Sections and Reception
Quotations by later writers indicate that portions of Ibn Manzur's abridgment beyond the two surviving sections circulated in the Mamluk period. Al-Qalqashandi cited Surur al-Nafs regarding the geographical dimensions of the Levant, and al-Ghuzuli quoted a section on wine varieties from it in Matali' al-Budur, neither of which appears in the extant two parts. Additionally, another surviving independent part of al-Tifashi's original Fasl al-Khitab, preserved in the al-Ashuriyya Library in Tunis under the title Mut'at al-Asma' fi 'Ilm al-Sama' (dealing with music, dance, and shadow theatre), is marked as the twenty-first part of Fasl al-Khitab.
Al-Safadi praised Ibn Manzur's Surur al-Nafs as an excellent and well-arranged work testifying to the compiler's merit.
Manuscripts and Editions
A prominent manuscript containing both extant parts is preserved in the Topkapi Palace Library in Istanbul (MS Ahmet III 2557), transcribed in Damascus in Muharram 773 AH / July 1371 CE, sixty-two years after Ibn Manzur's death.
The first part, Nithar al-Azhar, was published separately at Matba'at al-Jawa'ib in Istanbul in 1298 AH / 1881 CE. The complete surviving two parts of Surur al-Nafs were edited together from the Topkapi manuscript by Ihsan Abbas and published in Beirut in 1400 AH / 1980 CE.
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