The heritage of the poet and writer Ibn al-ÓawÐl al-DimashqÐ
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Abstract
His full name was ÝAbd al-Íayy b. ÝAlÐ b. MuÎammad b. MaÎmÙd al-ÓÁlawÐ, known as Ibn al-ÓawÐl and also as al-KhÁl al-DimashqÐ (d. 1117/1705). Very little is known of his life, despite two biographical sketches, on in al-MurÁdÐ's Silk al-duwar and the other in al-MuÎabbÐ's NafÎat al-rÐÎÁna.
Ibn al-ÓawÐl's two extant works are the following:
- A book on prose literature entitled SurÙr al-ÑibÁ wal-shumÙl wa-murÙr al-ÒabÁ wal-mashmÙl. The book contains ten chapters: chapter one on magnanimity, chapter two on wisdom, chapter three on moderation, chapter four on eloquence, chapter five on impudence, chapter six on the simple-minded, chapter seven on the witty, chapter eight on passionate love, chapter nine on poetry and chapter ten contains biographical sketches of the poets mentioned in the book. The chapters are divided into sections. The book is quite large: its manuscript consists of 476 long sheets.
- A collection of poetry in the al-ÚÁhiriyya library in Damascus. The work contains panegyrics, satirical poems, love poems, humor, muwashshaÎ, mawwÁl and others.
Neither of these works has been published. At the moment I am working on an edition of the first of the afore-mentioned works, KitÁb al-adab, after having obtained two manuscripts. One of these is, I believe, an autograph, but with a few missing parts. The other is complete, with notes by those who purchased it.
The book's stories, literary and linguistic anecdotes, numerous poems, correspondence with friends, especially the ÒÙfÐ shaykh ÝAbd al-GhanÐ al-NÁbulsÐ (d. 1143/1731), make this one of the most interesting books on literature composed during the Ottoman period.
In his introduction to the book, Ibn al-ÓawÐl explains why he wrote it: "In these pages I lay down elegant stories, graceful conversations, sweet poems, juicy verses…".