The flowers of manners and the fruits of minds

Zahr al-Adab and Thamar al-Alabab is an literary book compiled by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ali al-Husri al-Qayrawani (d. 413 AH, 1061 AD). A writer from the writers of the Maghreb, an eloquent author and prose writer. He was a contemporary of the famous poet Abu al-Hassan al-Husri al-Qayrawani, and they are related. Al-Husri, Abu al-Hassan, is the author of the famous poem "Ya Layl al-Sabb." Zahr al-Adab is a purely literary book; the author did not include anything about grammar, morphology, or language, but confined himself to the arts of speech, from poetry and prose, and related forms of rhetoric, beauty of phrasing, effective similes, good composition, and eloquent speech. The book is based on collection and narration; its author did not focus on scrutinizing news and poetry, discussing them, or commenting on them. The book does not follow a specific method or a studied style; rather, it is a collection of texts and news gathered by al-Husri at different times, then compiled without any particular order. For example, he talks about Zubayr ibn Badr, then about Aliyah bint al-Mahdi, then about the Prophet, and some of his sayings about poetry and eloquence, and others, then returns to talk about Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma and his poetry, all without order or categorization. This is why some early scholars described this book as a compilation that gathers all strange and rare things. The predominant topics of the book are serious; it is confined to the circle of morality and religion, far from frivolity and looseness, because it contains news about the Prophet, the Companions, and the Tabi‘un, and their sayings. It is as if the author wanted to purify the book from anything shameful, as it included news of the righteous predecessors. This is confirmed by the fact that al-Husri himself authored another book called "Jama‘ al-Jawahir fi al-Mulah wa al-Nawadir" (Collection of Gems in Jests and Anecdotes), known as "Zayl Zahr al-Adab" (An Appendix to Zahr al-Adab). Perhaps he added in it some news he avoided mentioning in the first book, which is an acceptable approach. The author clarified his methodology in the introduction, saying: "This is a book in which I have chosen a sufficient piece of rhetoric in poetry, news, chapters, and paragraphs, of good wording and meaning... I have no pride in its compilation other than good selection. And choosing is a piece of one’s mind." Abu Ishaq al-Husri paid special attention to the subject of description, frequently including texts describing the night, eloquence, water, thunder, lightning, and others. The book’s style was dominated by rhyme, typical of that era. The book has been published in many editions, annotated, well-organized, and indexed.