Choice Reports (Book 1: al-Sulṭān)
عيون الأخبار
ʿUyūn al-akhbār
Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 3rd century AH · Listed only
Book 1 gathers sayings on rulers, the first systematic Arabic ethic of power.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 880, Baghdad (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub (Cairo 1925-30); later ed. · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- partial · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Wonders of the Heart
عجائب القلب (إحياء علوم الدين، الكتاب 21)
ʿAjāʾib al-qalb (Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, book 21)
al-Ghazālī (450–505/1058–1111)
Sufism · The path · Arabic · 5th century AH · Listed only
The body is a city, the heart is king, faculties are his army (anger), spies (senses) and treasurer;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1095-1105, Baghdad/Damascus/Tus (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Cairo/Beirut eds.; Būlāq · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Walter James Skellie, The Marvels of the Heart (Fons Vitae 2010); Timothy Winter, On Disciplining the Soul and On Breaking the Two Desires (ITS 1995, books 22-23) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: The refinement of character The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: Republic The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
Testament of Ardashīr
عهد أردشير
ʿAhd Ardashīr
Ardashīr I (attributed) (r. 224–242 CE)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 2nd century AH · Listed only
'Religion and kingship are twins: neither can stand without the other';
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- Sasanian (3rd c.) tradition; Arabic text 8th c., Iran, then Baghdad (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Iḥsān ʿAbbās, ʿAhd Ardashīr (Beirut 1967) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Mario Grignaschi, 'Quelques spécimens de la littérature sassanide conservés dans les bibliothèques d'Istanbul', JA 254 (1966) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The interpreter of desires
ترجمان الأشواق
Tarjumān al-ashwāq
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Lyric · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: poems I–X with Nicholson's translation and the poet's commentary.
- Attribution
- authentic: The reader catalogue lists it as his work; Yahia 1964 not yet in hand. probable
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
- Translations
- R. A. Nicholson, The Tarjumán al-Ashwáq (London, 1911), Arabic and English · en · public domain probable
Read it hereReader: poems I–X with Nicholson's translation and the poet's commentary. Summary of Plato's Laws
تلخيص نواميس أفلاطون
Talkhīṣ Nawāmīs Aflāṭūn
al-Fārābī (c. 870–950)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 4th century AH · Listed only
Al-Fārābī's short summary of Plato's Laws, surviving in Arabic.
- Attribution
- authentic: SEP: 'we certainly have al-Fārābī's Summary of Plato's Laws'. ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “al-Farabi”
- Date
- c. 940s (draft; unchecked), Baghdad, Aleppo/Damascus (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Th.-A. Druart (ed., 1998), as cited in the SEP entry on al-Fārābī · cite only probable
- Translations
- Butterworth, in al-Fārābī, The Political Writings II (2015), as cited in the SEP entry · en · cite only probable
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Lineage: Laws A summary of the Laws by al-Fārābī; SEP says the Arabic text survives. Confidence: high. ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “al-Farabi”
The refinement of character
تهذيب الأخلاق
Tahdhīb al-akhlāq
Miskawayh (c. 932–1030)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 4th century AH · Listed only
Character is formed by balancing the three soul-faculties (Platonic tripartition: rational, irascible, appetitive);
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1000, Rayy/Baghdad (Buyid) (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Cairo ed. · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Constantine Zurayk, The Refinement of Character (Beirut: AUB 1968) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Republic The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: Phaedrus (chariot myth, 246a-254e) The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
Regime (Rule) of the solitary
تدبير المتوحد
Tadbīr al-mutawaḥḥid
Ibn Bājja (Avempace) (c. 1085–1139)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 6th century AH · Listed only
In an imperfect city the philosopher must govern himself alone and perfect his intellect by himself: the political question turns inward.
- Attribution
- authentic: SEP gives it as his Tadbīr al-mutawaḥḥid, with Asín Palacios's edition and Spanish translation and Dunlop's 1945 article. ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ibn Bajja [Avempace]”
- Date
- early 12th c., Saragossa, Fez (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- M. Asín Palacios (ed. and Spanish tr.), El régimen del solitario (Madrid, 1946), as cited in the SEP bibliography · cite only ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ibn Bajja [Avempace]”
- Translations
- Lawrence Berman in Lerner and Mahdi (1963) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Opinions of the people of the virtuous city The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Lineage: Republic SEP: Avempace reads and quotes Plato, and turns the analogy the other way: the Republic takes the soul as the model of the city, he starts from the ideal city and carries its order into the solitary soul. A documented reading, with the direction reversed. Confidence: high. ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ibn Bajja [Avempace]”
Solace for the Ruler during Hostility of Subjects (Waters of Comfort)
سلوان المطاع في عدوان الأتباع
Sulwān al-muṭāʿ fī ʿudwān al-atbāʿ
Ibn Ẓafar al-Ṣiqillī (d. c. 565/1170)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 6th century AH · Listed only
Stories and parables on how rulers and subjects weather misfortune, with consolation from Providence;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1159-60, Sicily, then Hama (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Beirut 1995; Tunis 1279/1862; Istanbul 1285/1868 · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Michele Amari, Italian (Florence 1851) and Solwan; or Waters of Comfort (London 1852) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Secret of Secrets
سر الأسرار / كتاب السياسة في تدبير الرياسة
Sirr al-asrār / Kitāb al-Siyāsa fī tadbīr al-riyāsa
Pseudo-Aristotle ((name borne by anonymous or later authors))
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 2nd century AH · Listed only
Aristotle teaches Alexander the 'secret' of kingship: justice, ministers, treasury, armies, health regimen, physiognomy, and the king's body as a kingdom ruled by reason.
- Attribution
- spurious: Presented as Aristotle's letter to Alexander; the Arabic version is credited to Yaḥyā (Yuḥannā) b. al-Biṭrīq, whom the TDV article names as its author or translator for the Ottoman reception. The Arabic origin and date are not yet checked. not yet checked
- Date
- Core 8th c.; two recensions (short, long) by 10th c., Umayyad/Abbasid chancery; Syria/Iraq (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī, al-Uṣūl al-yūnāniyya li-l-naẓariyyāt al-siyāsiyya fī l-Islām (Cairo 1954); Ismāʿīl/Manzalaoui; critical edition still a desideratum (Forster 2006) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- English from Arabic: A. S. Fulton in Steele (1920); no standard modern English from the Arabic · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Lamp of Kings
سراج الملوك
Sirāj al-mulūk
al-Ṭurṭūshī (d. 520/1126)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 6th century AH · Listed only
A learned jurist's mirror: kingship as divine trust, with long stories of Persian kings and Prophetic ḥadīth;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1122, Alexandria (Fatimid vizier al-Maʾmūn al-Baṭāʾiḥī) (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Būlāq 1872; Jaʿfar al-Bayātī (London 1990) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Maurice Alarcón, Lámpara de los príncipes (Madrid 1930-31) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The spirit of holiness
روح القدس في محاسبة النفس
Rūḥ al-quds
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Lives and lineages · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: the portraits of his teachers.
- Attribution
- authentic: The reader catalogue lists it as his work; Yahia 1964 not yet in hand. probable
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
Read it hereReader: the portraits of his teachers. Letter of Ṭāhir to his son ʿAbd Allāh
رسالة طاهر بن الحسين إلى ابنه عبد الله
Risālat Ṭāhir b. al-Ḥusayn ilā ibnihi ʿAbd Allāh
Ṭāhir b. al-Ḥusayn (fl. 206/821)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 3rd century AH · Listed only
Instruction to a new governor: fear God, justice, no personal indulgence;
- Attribution
- authentic ✓ checked in Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
- Date
- 206/821, to his son ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir on his appointment; al-Maʾmūn had it copied and sent to governors (TDV, citing al-Ṭabarī VIII, 582–591) (basis: date of composition) ✓ checked in Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
- Editions
- Ṭabarī, vol. 3 (de Goeje series) text · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Bosworth, JNES 29 (1970) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Epistles of the Brethren of Purity; The Case of the Animals versus Man before the King of the Jinn
رسائل إخوان الصفا؛ نزاع الإنسان والحيوان
Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ; Tadāʿī al-ḥayawān ʿalā l-insān
Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (10th c. CE (anonymous group))
Philosophy · Other, or not yet classed · Arabic · 4th century AH · Listed only
Epistle 22 is a debate before a jinn-king;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- 10th c., Basra (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Cairo/Beirut editions; Butrus al-Bustani (Beirut 1957) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Lenn Goodman and Richard McGregor (OUP/IIS 2009) for the Animals; Epistles partial (IIS) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Republic The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: Kalīla and Dimna (Fables of Bidpai) The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
Pseudo-Aristotelian letters to Alexander (Arabic Alexander-romance epistolary corpus)
رسائل أرسطو إلى الإسكندر; الرسالة في السياسة للمدن
Rasāʾil Arisṭū ilā l-Iskandar; Risāla fī l-siyāsa li-l-mudun (Letter on the policy of cities)
Pseudo-Aristotle ((name borne by anonymous or later authors))
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 2nd century AH · Listed only
Aristotle, tutor of Alexander, counsels policy toward conquered cities and the control of the self;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- 8th-9th c. Arabic, Umayyad/early Abbasid chancery (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- S. M. Stern, Aristotle on the World State (Oxford: Cassirer 1970); Maróth, The Correspondence between Aristotle and Alexander the Great (Piliscsaba 2006) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Maróth (partial English) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Counsel for Kings; Facilitating Deliberation; Rules of the Vizierate; Conduct of Worldly and Religious Life
نصيحة الملوك؛ تسهيل النظر وتعجيل الظفر؛ قوانين الوزارة؛ أدب الدنيا والدين
Naṣīḥat al-mulūk; Tashīl al-naẓar wa-taʿjīl al-ẓafar; Qawānīn al-wizāra; Adab al-dunyā wa-l-dīn
al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 5th century AH · Listed only
Counsel to rulers grounded in sharia ethics and Greek moral philosophy: the ruler's knowledge, justice, consultation, and the ordering of the realm's elements.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1030-1058 (Naṣīḥa authorship in doubt), Baghdad (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Naṣīḥat al-mulūk: Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Munʿim (Alexandria 1988); Tashīl al-naẓar: Riḍwān al-Sayyid (Beirut 1981); Adab al-dunyā: Muṣṭafā al-Saqqā (Cairo 1955) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Partial in Marlow (2023) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Book of the Crown (on the characters of kings)
كتاب التاج في أخلاق الملوك
Kitāb al-Tāj fī akhlāq al-mulūk
al-Jāḥiẓ (attributed) (d. 255/868)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 3rd century AH · Listed only
Describes the ceremonial, conversation and etiquette of the Sasanian-style king, an exemplar for caliphal court.
- Attribution
- disputed: TDV says 'attributed to al-Jāḥiẓ' (Câhiz'e nisbet edilen). ✓ checked in İskender Pala, “Nasihatnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2006)
- Date
- 9th–10th c.; TDV (Siyâsetname) calls it one of the first works with the siyāsatnāma genre's marks, dedicated to the vizier al-Fatḥ b. Khāqān, in a preface and four parts (basis: date of composition) probable
- Editions
- Aḥmad Zakī Pasha (Cairo 1914) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Charles Pellat, Le Livre de la Couronne (Paris 1954) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Stations; Reminder to the Intelligent and Admonition to the Heedless
كتاب المواقف؛ ذكرى العاقل وتنبيه الغافل
Kitāb al-Mawāqif; Dhikrā l-ʿāqil wa-tanbīh al-ghāfil
Emir ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jazāʾirī (d. 1300/1883)
Sufism · The path · Arabic · 13th century AH · Listed only
A statesman-Sufi's meditations on the heart, reason and love;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- 1850s-1860s; Dhikrā 1855, Bursa, Damascus (after exile) (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Damascus ed. · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Michel Chodkiewicz (ed.), The Spiritual Writings of Amir ʿAbd al-Kader (SUNY 1995) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Kalīla and Dimna (Fables of Bidpai)
كليلة ودمنة
Kalīla wa-Dimna
Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (d. c. 139/756)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 2nd century AH · Listed only
Animal fables as indirect counsel to the king;
- Attribution
- authentic: TDV: the Pahlavi Pañcatantra was put into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ as Kalīla wa-Dimna. ✓ checked in İskender Pala, “Nasihatnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2006); Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
- Date
- c. 750; Persian 1144, Baghdad (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Louis Cheikho (Beirut 1905); ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ʿAzzām (Cairo 1941) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Thomas Irving (Kalilah and Dimnah, 1980); Wyndham Knatchbull (1819, free) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Commentary on Plato's Republic
جوامع سياسة أفلاطون
Jawāmiʿ siyāsat Aflāṭūn
Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (1126–1198)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 6th century AH · Listed only
Ibn Rushd's commentary on Plato's Republic, kept in Hebrew; it takes the Republic as the political philosophy he lacked in Aristotle's Politics.
- Attribution
- authentic: SEP: he wrote a commentary on Plato's Republic and begins it by saying he will abstract the demonstrative arguments and remove the dialectical ones. ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ibn Rushd [Averroes]”
- Date
- c. 1194 (draft; unchecked) (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- E. I. J. Rosenthal (ed. and tr.), Averroes' Commentary on Plato's Republic (Cambridge UP, 1956): the Hebrew text with English translation; the Arabic original is lost · cite only probable
- Translations
- Ralph Lerner, Averroes on Plato's Republic (Cornell UP, 1974) · en · cite only probable
- Rosenthal 1956 (with the Hebrew text) · en · cite only probable
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Opinions of the people of the virtuous city The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Lineage: Republic It is a commentary on the Republic (SEP, which also notes that its brevity does not show deep knowledge of the whole text). Confidence: high. ✓ checked in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ibn Rushd [Averroes]”; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “al-Farabi”
The book of circles
إنشاء الدوائر
Inshāʾ al-dawāʾir
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Metaphysics and cosmology · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: complete, from Nyberg 1919.
- Attribution
- authentic: The reader catalogue lists it as his work; Yahia 1964 not yet in hand. probable
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
- Editions
Read it hereReader: complete, from Nyberg 1919. The prayer of the highest circuit
حزب الدور الأعلى
Ḥizb al-dawr al-aʿlā
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Prayer and litany · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: complete; attributed to Ibn ʿArabī.
- Attribution
- disputed: The reader labels it 'Ibn ʿArabī (attributed)'; the basis for the attribution has not been checked. not yet checked
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
Read it hereReader: complete; attributed to Ibn ʿArabī. The ringstones of wisdom
فصوص الحكم
Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Metaphysics and cosmology · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: chapters 1–6 and 15 (Adam, Seth, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jesus); not the whole book.
- Attribution
- authentic: The reader catalogue lists it as his work; Yahia 1964 not yet in hand. probable
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
Read it hereReader: chapters 1–6 and 15 (Adam, Seth, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jesus); not the whole book. Treatise on the Differences between Breast, Heart, Inner Heart and Core
بيان الفرق بين الصدر والقلب والفؤاد واللب
Bayān al-farq bayn al-ṣadr wa-l-qalb wa-l-fuʾād wa-l-lubb
al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī (d. c. 295–320/910–930)
Sufism · The path · Arabic · 3rd century AH · Listed only
The soul as an inner city;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- late 9th-early 10th c., Tirmidh (Transoxiana) (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Bernd Radtke · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Wonders of Conduct in the Natures of Kingship
بدائع السلك في طبائع الملك
Badāʾiʿ al-silk fī ṭabāʾiʿ al-mulk
Ibn al-Azraq (d. 896/1491)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 9th century AH · Listed only
Follows Ibn Khaldūn's civilisation theory with Andalusi examples;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1480s, Granada, then Tlemcen/Málaga (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- ʿAlī Sāmī al-Nashshār (Baghdad 1977) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The weekly litanies
أوراد الأسبوع
Awrād al-usbūʿ
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Prayer and litany · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: the opening prayer and Sunday's prayers only.
- Attribution
- authentic: The reader catalogue lists it as his work; Yahia 1964 not yet in hand. probable
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
Read it hereReader: the opening prayer and Sunday's prayers only. Opinions of the people of the virtuous city
آراء أهل المدينة الفاضلة
Ārāʾ ahl al-madīna al-fāḍila
al-Fārābī (c. 870–950)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 4th century AH · Listed only
The virtuous city is ruled by a philosopher-prophet whose emanation from the Active Intellect orders the city like the cosmos from the First Cause;
- Attribution
- authentic: TDV: al-Madīna al-fāḍila was written with a thought like the ideal city of Plato's Republic. ✓ checked in Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
- Date
- c. 940s, Baghdad, Aleppo/Damascus (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Dunlop (Fuṣūl 1961); Walzer (Ārāʾ, Oxford 1985); Mahdi (Taḥṣīl) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Walzer, Al-Farabi on the Perfect State (Oxford 1985); Mahdi tr. in Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle (1962); Najjar in Lerner and Mahdi, Medieval Political Philosophy (1963) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Laws The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: Republic (recorded as lineage, shown as a resonance until its reference is checked) SEP: al-Fārābī takes 'some inspiration' from the Republic and Laws, though his access to them may have been limited since a full Arabic translation is doubted; TDV likens his Madīna to the ideal city of Plato's Republic. No quotation or named borrowing has been checked. Confidence: medium. probable
The Unique Necklace
العقد الفريد
al-ʿIqd al-farīd
Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih (d. 328/940)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 4th century AH · Listed only
Book 1 al-Luʾluʾa (The Pearl) on the sultan, one of the first Andalusi mirrors in anthology form.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- early 10th c., Cordoba (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Amīn, Zayn, Abyārī (Cairo 1940-53) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- partial · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Spiritual Physick
الطب الروحاني
al-Ṭibb al-rūḥānī
Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (d. c. 313/925)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 3rd century AH · Listed only
Reason as king of the soul against passion;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 900-925, Rayy (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Paul Kraus, Rasāʾil falsafiyya (Cairo 1939) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- A. J. Arberry, The Spiritual Physick of Rhazes (London 1950) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Republic The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: Phaedrus (chariot myth, 246a-254e) The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
Divine governance of the human kingdom
التدبيرات الإلهية في إصلاح المملكة الإنسانية
al-Tadbīrāt al-ilāhiyya fī iṣlāḥ al-mamlaka al-insāniyya
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 6th century AH · Listed only
Counsel on governing the human being as a kingdom under the intellect. Its preface sets it against the Sirr al-asrār's governance of the worldly kingdom, and addresses both the servant of kings and the traveller on the path.
- Attribution
- authentic: The text opens in his own name, 'Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-ʿArabī al-Ḥātimī al-Ṭāʾī' (Nyberg, first text page, unnumbered), and speaks in the first person of its composition (pp. 120–121). Yahia 1964, the specialist reference, is not yet in hand. ✓ checked in H. S. Nyberg (ed.), Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-ʿArabī (Leiden: Brill, 1919); the Tadbīrāt is printed in the Arabic section, text pp. 103–240 (see LEDGER)
- Date
- Composed at Mawrūr (Morón) 'in under four days' (dūn al-arbaʿa al-ayyām, Nyberg p. 121); the year is not yet established (draft: before 598/1202), Mawrūr (Morón), al-Andalus (basis: date of composition) probable
- Editions
- H. S. Nyberg (ed.), Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-ʿArabī (Leiden: Brill, 1919), Arabic text of the Tadbīrāt pp. 103–240 (title page unnumbered; p. 240 ends 'tamma al-kitāb'), with sigla B1, B2, B3, U · public domain ✓ checked in H. S. Nyberg (ed.), Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-ʿArabī (Leiden: Brill, 1919); the Tadbīrāt is printed in the Arabic section, text pp. 103–240 (see LEDGER)
- Critical Arabic edition with Urdu, Abrar Ahmed Shahi (Ibn al-Arabi Foundation, 2020, 3rd ed.) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi, Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom (Fons Vitae, 1997), reported by the draft as made from Ottoman Turkish; unchecked · en · cite only not yet checked
Connected works
- Resonance, not influence: Opinions of the people of the virtuous city The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: Epistles of the Brethren of Purity; The Case of the Animals versus Man before the King of the Jinn The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Resonance, not influence: The refinement of character The first draft claims influence; not yet checked. not yet checked
- Lineage: The Secret of Secrets The preface names it (Nyberg pp. 120–121, read from the page images). At Mawrūr, with Abū Muḥammad al-Mawrūrī, Ibn ʿArabī found the 'Kitāb Sirr al-asrār', which 'the sage' (al-ḥakīm) composed for Dhū l-Qarnayn; he was asked to set against it the governance of the human kingdom, 'in which is our happiness'. He says he put into his book more on governing a kingdom than the sage did and made clear what the sage left out, and that the sage's book is a quarter or a third of its size. He names the author only as 'the sage' and the king as Dhū l-Qarnayn; the title identifies the book. Confidence: high. ✓ checked in H. S. Nyberg (ed.), Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-ʿArabī (Leiden: Brill, 1919); the Tadbīrāt is printed in the Arabic section, text pp. 103–240 (see LEDGER)
- Resonance, not influence: Republic Both treat the ruled soul as a polity under reason. No source seen documents a route from the Republic to the Tadbīrāt; the Tadbīrāt's preface names the Sirr al-asrār, not the Republic or al-Fārābī. Confidence: low. probable
The political regime (also called the Principles of existing things)
السياسة المدنية
al-Siyāsa al-madaniyya
al-Fārābī (c. 870–950)
Philosophy · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 4th century AH · Listed only
The ruler, the virtuous city and its opposites, built from a doctrine of first principles.
- Attribution
- authentic: TDV names al-Siyāsa al-madaniyya (Mabādiʾ al-mawjūdāt), less systematic than the Madīna and complementing it. ✓ checked in Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
- Date
- c. 940s (draft; unchecked), Baghdad, Aleppo/Damascus (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Shining Meteors on Useful Policy
الشهب اللامعة في السياسة النافعة
al-Shuhub al-lāmiʿa fī l-siyāsa al-nāfiʿa
Ibn Riḍwān al-Mālaqī (d. 783/1381)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 8th century AH · Listed only
A Maghribi mirror building on Ṭurṭūshī and the philosophers, written for Marinid/Nasrid courts.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- late 14th c., Málaga, Fez (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- ʿAlī Sāmī al-Nashshār (Casablanca 1984) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The prayer of effusion
الصلاة الفيضية
al-Ṣalāt al-fayḍiyya
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Prayer and litany · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: complete; attributed to Ibn ʿArabī.
- Attribution
- disputed: The reader labels it 'Ibn ʿArabī (attributed)'; the basis for the attribution has not been checked. not yet checked
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
Read it hereReader: complete; attributed to Ibn ʿArabī. Introduction to History (Prolegomena)
المقدمة
al-Muqaddima
Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808/1406)
Further afield · Other, or not yet classed · Arabic · 8th century AH · Listed only
Dynasties rise by ʿasabiyya and fall in about three generations;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- 1377, Tunis, Qalʿat Ibn Salāma, Cairo (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Quatremère (Paris 1858); Dār Ṣādir ed. · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Franz Rosenthal (Princeton, Bollingen 1958; rev. 1967) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Metaphysics of the Shifāʾ, book X (prophecy, law and the city)
الإلهيات من الشفاء، المقالة العاشرة
al-Ilāhiyyāt min al-Shifāʾ, maqāla 10
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) (c. 370–428/980–1037)
Philosophy · Metaphysics and cosmology · Arabic · 5th century AH · Listed only
The closing book of the Metaphysics of the Shifāʾ: prophecy, the law-giver and the ordering of the city; his short Risāla fī l-siyāsa is a separate work.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1020s, Hamadhan, Isfahan (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Cairo ed. (Mūsā, Dunyā, Zāyid 1960) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Michael Marmura, The Metaphysics of the Healing (BYU 2005) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Meccan openings
الفتوحات المكية
al-Futūḥāt al-makkiyya
Ibn ʿArabī (560–638/1165–1240)
Ibn ʿArabī · Metaphysics and cosmology · Arabic · 7th century AH · In the reader
Reader: the introduction and chapter 1 only.
- Attribution
- authentic: The reader catalogue lists it as his work; Yahia 1964 not yet in hand. probable
- Date
- not yet checked (author d. 638/1240) (basis: the author's death date) not yet checked
Read it hereReader: the introduction and chapter 1 only. Al-Fakhri: on the systems of government and the Muslim dynasties
الفخري في الآداب السلطانية والدول الإسلامية
al-Fakhrī fī l-ādāb al-sulṭāniyya wa-l-duwal al-islāmiyya
Ibn al-Ṭiqṭaqā (fl. 701/1302)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 8th century AH · Listed only
A mirror in the first half, then a short history of caliphs and viziers as exemplars.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- 1302, Mosul (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Ahlwardt (Gotha 1860); Cairo ed. · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- C. E. J. Whitting, Al-Fakhri on the Systems of Government (London 1947) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Ordinances of Government
الأحكام السلطانية والولايات الدينية
al-Aḥkām al-sulṭāniyya wa-l-wilāyāt al-dīniyya
al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058)
Further afield · Law · Arabic · 5th century AH · Listed only
The caliphate and offices defined by law: the imam's contract, appointment of ministers, judges, war, taxes.
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- c. 1045-58, Baghdad (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Muḥammad Fahmī al-Sarjānī (Cairo 1909); Aḥmad Mubārak al-Baghdādī (Kuwait 1989) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Asadullah Yate (London: Ta-Ha 1996); Wafaa Wahba (Garnet 1996) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
The Great Book of Conduct; The Little Book of Conduct; Epistle on the Caliph's Entourage
الأدب الكبير؛ الأدب الصغير؛ رسالة في الصحابة
al-Adab al-kabīr; al-Adab al-ṣaghīr; Risāla fī l-ṣaḥāba
Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (d. c. 139/756)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 2nd century AH · Listed only
Adab as a code of reason and restraint;
- Attribution
- authentic: TDV names al-Adab al-kabīr, al-Adab al-ṣaghīr and the Risāla fī l-ṣaḥāba among his works, and calls him an early pioneer of the siyāsatnāma tradition. ✓ checked in Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
- Date
- c. 750s, Basra, Baghdad (al-Manṣūr's court) (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Muḥammad Kurd ʿAlī, Rasāʾil al-bulaghāʾ (Cairo 1913); Pellat, Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ 'mort en 757' conseilleur du calife (Paris 1976) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Pellat (French); partial English in Lambton and Marlow · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet
Courtesies of Kings; Gift for Viziers; Histories of the Persian Kings
آداب الملوك؛ تحفة الوزراء؛ غرر أخبار ملوك الفرس
Ādāb al-mulūk; Tuḥfat al-wuzarāʾ; Ghurar akhbār mulūk al-Furs
al-Thaʿālibī (d. 429/1038)
Further afield · Counsel and governance · Arabic · 5th century AH · Listed only
Courtly adab and Persian king-lore for Khurasani rulers;
- Attribution
- authentic not yet checked
- Date
- early 11th c., Nishapur / Ghazna (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
- Editions
- Jalīl al-ʿAṭiyya (Ādāb al-mulūk, Beirut 1990); Zotenberg (Ghurar, Paris 1900) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
- Translations
- Zotenberg (French, Ghurar) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet