Anthologies and Related Works

Ibn Nubātah compiled anthologies of the works of several earlier Arabic littérateurs – anthologies that established him as a literary connoisseur. At a time when all intellectuals composed poetry, this type of activity allowed Ibn Nubātah to distinguish himself as a professional littérateur, able to select the best literature and thus influence the formation of the literary canon. Of course, Ibn Nubātah integrates his own verse and prose into this canon, as in his central works “The Point from Which Benefits Arise and Where Precious Gems are Collected” (Maṭlaʿ al-fawāʾid wa-maǧmaʿ al-farāʾid) and “The Cooing of the Turtle Dove / The Rhymed Prose of the Favorite” (Saǧʿ al-muṭawwaq). “The Pasture for Eyes in the Explanation of the Epistle of Ibn Zaydūn” (Sarḥ al-ʿuyūn fī šarḥ risālat Ibn Zaydūn), his commentary-cum-anthology on an epistle by Ibn Zaydūn (d. 463/1071), is also interesting.

 

On anthologies during that period, see: Thomas Bauer, “Literary anthologies of the Mamluk period”, in: S. Conermann and A. Pistor-Hatam (eds.), The Mamluks. Studies on their history and culture. In memory of Ulrich Haarmann (1942-1999), Hamburg: EB-Verlag, 2003 (Asia and Africa, Vol. 7), 71-122.

  • 718: “The Point from Which Benefits Arise and Where Precious Gems are Collected” (Maṭlaʿ al-fawāʾid wa-maǧmaʿ al-farāʾid)
  • 719: “The Cooing of the Turtle Dove / The Rhymed Prose of the Favorite” (Saǧʿ al-muṭawwaq)
  • 719 or shortly thereafter: “The Pasture for Eyes in the Explanation of the Epistle of Ibn Zaydūn” (Šarḥ al-ʿuyūn fī šarḥ risālat Ibn Zaydūn)
  • 719-730: The Excelling Artistic Prose of [al-Qāḍī] al-Fāḍil (al-Fāḍil min inšā’ al-Fāḍil)
  • Before 742(?): The Pearl-Strings [or: The Comportment] of the Dynasties of Rulers (Sulūk duwal al-mulūk)
  • Before 730: Selection of the poems of Ibn ar-Rūmī (al-Muḫtār min Šiʿr Ibn ar-Rūmī)
  • ca. 730: Rites of the God-fearing House/Companions of Taqī ad-Dīn? (Šaʿāʾir al-bayt at-taqawī)
  • 754: Selection of the Diwan of aṣ-Ṣāḥib Šaraf ad-Dīn al-Anṣārī (Muḫtār Dīwān aṣ-Ṣāḥib Šaraf ad-Dīn al-Anṣārī)

Uncertain date:

  • Selection of poems by Ibn Qalāqis (al-Muḫtār min Šiʿr Ibn Qalāqis)
  • The Mitigation of the Mixture Concerning the Poems of Ibn al-Ḥaǧǧāǧ (Talṭīf al-mizāǧ min šiʿr Ibn Ḥaǧǧāǧ)
  • Selection of poems by Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk (al-Muḫtār min Shiʿr Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk)
  • The Barley Bread / The Bread of the Companion (Ḫubz aš-šaʿīr)