The Book of Enjoyment and Companionship

Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi is a capable writer and philosopher, who did not receive enough attention for his knowledge and literature during his lifetime, to the extent that he burned most of his works before his death, and only a few remain. One of the most important of those remaining works is the book in our hands today, which has a story behind its writing told by "Ahmed Amin" (one of its researchers); for Abu Al-Wafa' al-Muhandis was a friend of al-Tawhidi and close to one of the ministers, and he brought al-Tawhidi closer to this minister. After thirty-seven nights of chatting between the minister and al-Tawhidi, Abu Al-Wafa' asked al-Tawhidi to tell him what happened during those nights, or he would distance himself and punish him. So he put those nights into this book, which he called "Enjoyment and Companionship." A gathering that produced a series of fascinating topics that were not arranged or categorized, including entertaining anecdotes, and overall considered a mirror of the land of the two rivers in the second half of the 4th century AH.