Anthologie de littérature arabe andalouse des Xe-XIIe-XIIIe siècle, Copie autographe par Ali ibn Musa Ibn Saïd al-Maghribi (m.1286)

Anthology of Andalusian Arabic literature from the 10th-12th-13th centuries, autograph copy by Ali ibn Musa Ibn Saïd al-Maghribi (d.1286) Spain or Near East, circa 1255-1285 Manuscript in Arabic, on strong oriental paper, without title or colophon, 193 leaves, calligraphed in sepia ink, in beautiful naskhi of 21 lines per page, with titles in large Maghribi script. The manuscript contains 386 more or less extensive notices of Andalusian poets and prose writers from the 5th, 6th and 6th centuries of the Hegira, systematically including extracts from their diwans. The entries cover an average of one page, but some poets have several pages. Flap binding, cold-stamped boards. Condition: old marginal dampening, paper restorations not affecting the text except for a dozen leaves. Marginal notes mainly perpendicular, in the same handwriting. 20 x 13.5 cm Carbon-14 dating by the Ciram laboratory confirms dating between 1256 and 1304 (2 σ - 86.1% confidence). Provenance : Former collection of His Excellency Ambassador M. B. A., acquired in the 1970s. Bibliographical references: Encyclopédie Islamica - III - 950. Levi- Provençal: the Hispanic Zagel in Ibn Saïd's Mughrib. Arabica I-fasc. I-1954. G. Potiron: Un polygraphe andalou du XIIIe siècle. Arabica XIII-fasc. 2-1966. Author: Ibn Saïd al-Maghribi (1213-1286), also known as Ibn Saïd al-Andalusi, was a polymath and the greatest connoisseur of poetry produced in Al-Andalus during the 12th and 13th centuries. He was born near Granada, into a prominent family in the service of the Almohad dynasty, descended from a companion of the Prophet. His life was punctuated by his research, which led him to meet many scholars and explore numerous libraries (Cairo, Marrakech, Seville, Damascus, Homs, Mosul, Baghdad, Armenia, Tunis). He made the pilgrimage in 1249, then moved on to Damascus, where he met the Ayyubid sultan al-Mu'adham b. al-Malik al-Salih. In 1254, he entered the service of the Hafsid sultan Abu Abdallah al-Mustansir. He also visited Armenia and the Mongol court of Hulagu Khan from 1256 to 1265. Ibn Said's work Ibn Said is said to have written or compiled at least forty works in all literary genres, including history, geography, literature and poetry. Most of his works are anthologies and encyclopedias, like the present manuscript. His monumental work is the completion of the fifteen-volume "Kitab al-Mughrib fi-Hula al-Maghrib" ("The Extraordinary Book on the Finery of the West"), initiated more than a century earlier by Abû Muhammad al-Hijari (d. 1155) at the request of Ibn Saïd's great-grandfather, and completed by various members of his family. The work, also known as Kitâb al-Mughrib, is halfway between a poetry anthology and a geography, collecting information on Maghreb poets organized by geographical origin. According to Louis Crompton, it is "perhaps the most important" of the various anthologies of medieval Andalusian poetry. The present manuscript The present manuscript, which contains 386 notes and extracts from Andalusian poets, is presented as an unclassified anthology, in contrast to the presentation of the "Mughrib". The present text seems to relate to a lost part of Ibn Saïd's work. Based on the exhaustive bibliography compiled by G. Potiron, it must belong to one of the following titles reputed to have been lost: N°8 Muluk al-Shi'r, N°9 al-Muqtataf min hula-l-Arus al-Andalusiya, N°10 al-Muqtataf min azahir al-Taraf, N°22 Kunuz al-Adab, N°30 al-Mirzama. Three autograph works are known: - Escorial Library, Madrid, - University of Tubingen - Royal Library of Egypt A comparison of the spelling, the peculiarities of Hispanic Arabic and the marginal additions leaves no doubt as to the autograph authenticity of the present manuscript. From p. 62 onwards, the author refers to his family. Finally, on pages 70 to 110, he begins his 40-page anthology in the first person, introducing himself as the person who finalized the "Araïs al-Adab" (i.e. "Falak al-Adab", general title of the Mughrib and Muchriq). He notes that he was one of the secretaries (katib) of the Almohad Emir Yahia b. Abdelwaheb. On page 82, he quotes ten lines from a poem of his own composition, written in honor of Sultan Saladin, on the occasion of the Crusaders' defeat at the Battle of Damietta (1250). Anthology of Andalusian Arabic literature from the 10th-12th-13th centuries, autograph copy by Ali ibn Musa Ibn Saïd al-Maghribi (d.1286) The author: Ibn Said al-Maghribi (1213-1286), also known as Ibn Said al-Andalusi, was a polymath and the greatest connoisseur of the poetry produced in Al-Andalus during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.