Today you enter the full council, and you find whatever you want of men of dignity and dignity, not referring to one another;

They bowed their heads, fixed their eyes on their palms that held their phones, and some of them were busy talking, others browsing, and a third watching.

Hours pass, then they stand up, and none of them benefited, and no wisdom was established in his ear, and no affection was documented between him and his brothers, and no need for them passed. They gathered as friends, and dispersed as strangers!

This is what our councils have come to these days, after people became subject to digital culture.

The backwardness that we live in today in our Arab world is not confined to our political situation only, but in some of its aspects it is a social backwardness, as society fails to manage itself away from the state and its institutions, and this, although in one aspect due to the penetration of the modern state and its apparatus, it is in part One of its parts is due to the negligence of our societies in some of its social institutions, which had - in the old days - a role in caring for and strengthening our social effectiveness.

Our plan in this article is to present some drawings of councils and their etiquette in our culture, and how these drawings contributed to the establishment of a distinctive pattern of social culture and practical wisdom, and how those councils embodied the categories of this culture that are based on morals and work, then we present to mention a unique class of society in civilization Islamic, is the "cute" class whose emergence was the result of the interactions of members of society in their councils, and the strict rules of social "etiquette" they humbled themselves to.

Through our review of these cartoons, the reader will glimpse the mixing of Arab values ​​with Islamic guidance, and how Muslims succeeded in integrating the good of Arab culture with the teachings and principles of Islam, and taking from the causes of civilization everything that helps them to carry out their social role and their civilized message.

A seasoned culture


The morals that constitute the highest values ​​of the Arab person are - at their core - collective morals such as generosity, help and chivalry, and Arab culture is a free interactive culture because the Arabs were a vaccinated people who did not submit to the control and pressure of the authority, and did not know the structural hierarchy in their society, but rather their social sovereignty was based On the qualities of honor, and honor, even if they have a part of its composition based on lineage, it depends on the completion of virtues and honors.

This is a field in which councils form a cornerstone and cornerstone.

In it, a person informs about his mind and opinion, and tests his forbearance and generosity, and it is an exhibition to explore his knowledge and experience, and thus the councils among the early Arabs become a kind of social institutions based on group interaction and sorting out the leaders and notables of society, as we find, for example, in the “Dar Al-Nadwa” that was taken by the Quraysh as Nadia and " her diwaniya in Mecca.

Thus, Islam was presented to a people who had their own customs and social tools, so it was with it rationalization and correction.

As his message did not mean a denial of the virtues and virtues in these norms, and therefore the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “I was sent to complete the righteousness of morals”;

(Bukhari in literature singular').

This is what we find embodied in his dealings with the phenomenon of community councils, whose hadith of Abu Saeed al-Khudri (d. 74 AH / 693 CE) - contained in the 'Sahihs' - reflects to us its centrality in Arab culture.

As it is narrated that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the Companions from sitting in the streets, “They said: O Messenger of God, we have no choice but to talk about it!

And through the following presentation of the traditions and fees of the majlis in our heritage, we will see how Islam fused its sublime values ​​with the Arab culture in evaluating this social phenomenon, and how it guided it to reach its perfection and to be a factory of societal intimacy, and a space for the development of members of society at the level of education, spiritual purification and morals.

Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Andalusi (d. 463 AH / 1071 CE) transmits - in his book “Bahjat al-Majalis wa Anas al-Majalis” - the words of the Tabi’i Ibrahim al-Nakhai (d. 96 AH / 715 CE): “A man sits with the people and speaks with words, wanting God, so mercy befalls him, and it spreads to those around him. And a man sits with the people and speaks words that anger God with it, so the anger befalls him and spreads to those around him.”

The first Arab did not see in the councils anything but a space for managing opinion and sharing knowledge, and they had a special way to review them and arrange a decree.

The Umayyad caliph Al-Walid bin Yazid (d. 126 AH / 744 CE) asked an elderly Bedouin about the bargaining, and he said: The bargaining is news to the listener, listening to an informant, and negotiating about what is pleasing and appropriate, so Al-Walid said: Well done!

I will not test you more, so say listen to what you say!

The old man said: O Commander of the Faithful, there are two types of compromise: one: informing what corresponds to what is heard, and the second: informing what corresponds to a proposed purpose. The book 'Silwanat' by Ibn Zafar al-Siqali (d. 568 AH / 1173 CE).

Preservation of the fittest


The teachings of Islam urged spreading the meanings of brotherhood in society and documenting the bonds of affection among its members, and the legal texts in this matter are too famous to be mentioned, but what matters to us here is to see how these values ​​were employed and applied to reality in the form of applied norms, and fees that a Muslim envisages with his companion ;

The Holy Qur’an enjoined the relaxation of gatherings for their pioneers, and clarified the etiquette of staying in them and departing from them.

And it came on the authority of the Rightly Guided Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (d. 23 AH / 644 CE), according to what Ibn Abd al-Barr quoted from him: “What purifies your brother’s affection is that you start him with peace if you meet him, and that you call him with the most beloved of names to him, and that you expand for him in the council.”

It was also reported on the authority of Al-Ahnaf bin Qais (d. 72 AH / 692 CE) as saying: "If a hundred people sat to me, I would like to seek the satisfaction of each one of them."

And Al-Ahnaf - despite the ugliness of his appearance and his moral defects - had proven his superiority by having knowledge of council drawings, and his appearance in them with his dream and good opinion, and by mastering the arts of wooing people in councils.

Ibn Qutayba al-Dinuri (d. 276 AH / 890 CE) narrated about him - in 'Uyun al-Akhbar' - that it was "if a man came to him wider for him, and if he did not have capacity [in his council], I would see him as if he was expanding for him!"

Like him in this is the ink of the nation Abdullah bin Abbas (d. 68 AH / 688 CE), who was very keen on his sitting, reverence for them, and affection for them;

Here he says - as Ibn Abd al-Barr narrated on his authority - when he was asked: "Who is the most generous of people to you? My sitter said until he leaves me!"

And he had a high sensitivity in sensing the gestures of friendliness and the rights of companionship, as in his saying: “My sitter has three things: to throw him at my sides if he comes, and to make room for him if he sits, and listen to him if he speaks.”

We are interrupted by a conversation that took place between Caliph Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (d. 60 AH / 680 CE) and the companion Araba al-Ausi (d. about 60 AH / 680 CE);

Muawiyah Araba asked about the reason for the poets praising him, and he was described as the most generous of the people of his time.

As in 'council literature' by Ibn Abd al-Barr.

Arabah's father - who is Aws bin Qayzi - was one of the great hypocrites, and yet Arabah was generous and deserved praise for his morals in the councils and his generosity with people.

And the Muslims followed these fees in gaining affection and endearment to the sitting people, recommended by the previous one;

This is Yahya bin Khalid Al-Barmaki (d. 190 AH / 806 CE) - whom al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1348 CE) describes in “Biography of the Flags of the Nobles” as “one of the men of time, firmness, opinion, politics and reason” - addressing his son as narrated by Ibn Abd al-Barr;

He advises him: “My son, if your babysitter speaks to you, then turn to him and listen to him, and do not say that you have heard him, even if you have memorized for him, as if you did not hear it except from him, because that earns you love and inclination to you”!

This is one of the abandoned Sunnahs of honorable people.

The virtuous of us today, if his aspiration is high, he sought to learn to speak, and he did not care about good listening, and our predecessors were very attentive to good listening, so that they made signs that the eye could not miss.

Al-Mubarrad (d. 286 AH / 899 CE) says: “Listening with the eye! If you see the eye of the person speaking to you looking at you, know that he is listening well.”

And this is Abu Mushar (d. 218 AH / 833 CE): “He says: I have never spoken to a man but he spoke to me, listening to him, whether he understood or was lost!”

According to Ibn Qutayba in 'Oyoun al-Akhbar'.

Therefore, Abu Mushar was among those whom social intelligence bequeathed great acceptance to people. Imam Abu Hatim Al-Razi (d. 277 AH / 891 CE) says in his regard: “I have not seen anyone of greater worth than Abu Mushar! "!

If you are confused about the boundary between the time of speaking and silence;

Al-Hassan Al-Basri (d. 110 AH / 729 CE) made for you a sign by which you know the preferred time for silence, as he says in what Imam Ibn Abi Shaybah (d. 235 AH / 849 CE) narrated in Al-Musannaf: “Speak to the people of what they approached you with their faces, and if they turn, know that they have needs.”

There is nothing more difficult on the soul than the forced listening imposed on you by some chatters in the councils.

And this miserable habit was forbidden by the modern imam Mutrif Ibn al-Shakhir (d. 95 AH / 714 CE) with the most beautiful phrase, as he said, as in “Uyun al-Akhbar”: “Do not feed your food to someone who does not desire it.

Choosing and selecting


, and the same speaker may sometimes become strong, so he punishes his listener for neglecting to follow up on his speech.

The writer Abu Abbad Al-Razi (d. 220 AH / 835 CE) said, according to what Ibn Abd Rabbo Al-Andalusi (d. 328 AH / 940 CE) narrated on his authority in “The Unique Contract”: “If the speaker denies the eye of the listener, let him ask him about the passages of his speech, and the reason for which he performed that for him, and if he finds it, he stands On the truth, complete the hadeeth for him, otherwise he will cut him off and deprive him of his friendship.

Perhaps we are not surprised by this sharp behavior on the part of Abu Abbad if we evoke Al-Dhahabi’s description of his morals, including that “he was a secret, tolerant horse (= noble), except that he was frowning”!

The people used to be very careful about the councils of interest, and they avoided themselves from the councils of gossip and idleness, until they said: “Beware of every sitting that does not bring good from it”!

And they were urging to improve the selection of the sitting, just as the choice of the companion was sought.

Al-Hassan Al-Basri said: “Choose the Brotherhood, the companions, and the councils”!

And this is Abu Darda (d. 32 AH / 653 CE) telling his assignment to councils whose owners choose their speech by choice and dress up in it with elegance, and he expresses his eagerness to "sitting with people who choose good speech as the best fruits are selected"!

There was also awareness of the importance of diversity in the councils that one attends, and that this increases experience and the acquisition of different experiences.

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (d. 52 AH / 672 CE) said, as in “Bahjat al-Majalis”: “Whoever wants to increase his knowledge, let him sit with someone other than his clan.”

That is why the more the council expanded and included a large number, the more I benefit from them.

In 'Oyoun al-Akhbar', that al-Muhallab ibn Abi Safra (d. 82 AH / 702 CE) used to see that the best councils are "what is far beyond the scope of the limb and the benefit of the sitting person abounds." Where he says: "All living is in the pleasant companion";

According to the 'unique contract'.

Al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 869 CE) tells us - in "The Statement and Demonstration" - how mastering the etiquette of councils, and preserving their drawings and traditions are among the tools of sovereignty that those with political ambition are keen on and raised on.

It was narrated that a man from the Quraishites mentioned one day Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (d. 86 AH / 705 CE) - and Abd al-Malik at that time was a young man - and he said: “He takes four things and leaves four: he takes the best speech if he speaks, the best listening if he speaks, the easiest provision if he is challenged, and the best Human beings when they meet; abandoning the conversation of the mean, arguing with arrogance, playing (= arguing with) the foolish, and accompanying the insane (= weak-minded).

Among the etiquette of the councils is choosing a place to sit in them, and they hated the frequent movement in it because it violates dignity, and they also avoided taking the initiative to sit in the front of the council, lest an emergency arise with which the one sitting in it is forced to leave it.

They even said, "Beware of the chest of the council, for it is a fortress (= its owner does not settle)"!

Ka’b al-Ahbar (d. 32 AH / 653 CE) diverged from Omar’s council, so he denied that to him, and he said: “In Luqman’s wisdom and his will to his son: If you sit with a ruler, let there be a man’s seat between you and him, so perhaps he will come to him who has preferred you, so he will spare you, and [that] will be a deficiency upon you"!

As it was their drawing - especially in the councils of the elders of society - that the export in the council should be according to status and virtue, and that the seated should not tyrannize the honor of the council if he knew that there was someone in the council who surpassed him in knowledge and virtue.

Al-Jahiz narrates that Ziyad bin Abi Ziyad (d. after 101 AH / 720 CE), the mawla of Ayyash bin Abi Rabia (d. 64 AH / 684 CE) - who is the "divine scholar" as described by al-Dhahabi - used to say: "I entered upon Umar bin al-Aziz (d. 101 AH / 720 CE). When he saw me slipping away (= he stepped aside) from his council, and said: If a man enters upon you, and you do not see any merit over him, then do not take the honor of the council from him.”

This and Ziyad at that time were a slave owned before people paid their money to free him in honor of his position.

Desirable diversity


, and they considered steadfastness in the council and not taking into account the people of fate from the reprehensible weight and bad morals, and perhaps they sang in it the part of the house of Al-Farazdaq (d. 110 AH / 728 CE), exposing the heavy: "Thahlan with plateaus does not dissolve!"

And as long as we mention the heavy ones;

A person must pay attention to the hidden signals in his council, be highly vigilant in picking them up, and know when it is desirable for him to stay and when it is desirable for him to leave.

Among these signs is his negligence on the part of the owner of the council.

Saeed bin Salam (d. after 200 AH / 815 CE) said, "If you are not the hadeeth or the hadeeth, get up!"

Also from the weight is the return of what your sitting honors you with, such as pillows, bedding, or a gift, and therefore came in the hadith of Ibn Omar - which was narrated by Al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH / 892 CE) in Al-Sunan - the prohibition of returning pillows.

Abu Qilabah Al-Jarmi (d. 104 AH / 723 CE) - as in “Bahjat al-Majlis” - presented a pillow to one of his sitting people, and he returned it to him.

So he said to him: “Have you not heard the hadith: Do not return his honor to your brother?”

And Ibn Abd Rabbo outlined for us - in “The Unique Contract” - some of the fees that one should take into account in what he attends from the councils of society.

He said: “And it is good manners not to overpower anyone over his words, and if someone else is asked, do not answer him, and if he speaks a hadith, do not dispute him and do not storm into it, and do not show him that you know him. Show victory over him, and learn to listen well as you learn to speak well.”

It is also customary for the council to be accompanied by an invitation to food - without affectation - at the end of it in order to complete the honor, and it is reprehensible to delay it - if there is any - from the sitting people, because of what they said, which was narrated by Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. It is exhausting: a lamp that does not light, a slow messenger, and a table at which whoever comes is waiting for it!

And their opinion differed regarding the matter of talking about food, so some people approved it and some people hated it, and others mediated and said that it is from the owner of the house and the table that is better than him from the visiting guarantor.

As in “Al-Nadim Literature” by Abi Al-Fath Ibn Shahik Al-Ramli, known as “Kashajim” (d. 360 AH / 971 CE).

It is desirable in the conversations of the councils to mention the salt and the party, and to mix the humor with the seriousness if there are peers in the council, and they hate it with the presence of the sheikhs.

Someone said to the caliph al-Ma’mun (d. 218 AH / 833 CE): “Does the Commander of the Faithful give permission for foreplay? He said: Is living except in it?”

According to what was narrated by al-Rafiq al-Qayrawani (d. 425 AH / 1034 CE) in Qutb al-Surur.

And they preferred that the council not be limited to one type of hadith, but rather that it should diversify with the diversity of its attendees, so that each of them would participate in it. Bashar bin Burd (d. 168 AH / 785 CE) said, as reported by Al-Husri Al-Qayrawani (d. 453 AH / 1062 CE) in “Zahr Al-Adab”: Do not make all of our assembly singing, nor all poetry, nor all brown, but plunder it vehemently!"

One of the etiquette of councils is that you seek permission from your sitter if you intend to leave, and do not leave without notifying him of your departure.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr narrated - in 'Bahjat al-Majalis' - that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "If a man sits with you, do not get up until you ask his permission."

And Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated - in “Al-Musannaf” - that a man came to Al-Hassan bin Ali (d. 49 AH / 670 CE) "and he said to him: You sat with us while we were standing up, so will you give permission?"

This is so that he does not think that the dissolution of the council was due to his arrival, for that is what upsets the chest.

The craftsmanship of Al -Nadim


The Arabs knew in its pre-Islamic period the character of “Al-Nadim”, whose name was derived from “regret because he regrets his separation”;

As Al-Rafiq Al-Kairouani says in 'Qutb Al-Surour'.

And in the beginning of Islam;

The councils of the Rightly Guided Caliphs were held in a rational manner, neither the common people nor those with needs, and it was not different from the open people’s councils.

When the political tyranny arose with the Umayyads and the Abbasids, the drawings of the sultans’ councils changed, so luxury took over them, imitating the Roman Caesars and the Persian kings.

Then the protocols of the councils became more complicated when the Islamic civilization tended to ease and luxury, as we find it disseminated in the books of history, literature and conversations, so that the Arab culture became indebted to the councils of dignitaries - from princes and statesmen and even scholars and intellectuals - with great credit for producing books of the utmost value and wit. Such as the two books of Tawheed “Enjoyment and Sociability” and “Al-Muqabasat”, and the two books of Judge Abi Ali Al-Tanukhi (d.

They also wrote in the "Literature of the Nadim", which was the burden of conversation with the kings and their conciliation in the gatherings of their people, and they explained what he should possess of beautiful qualities and diverse cultures, to be a helper for the owners of prestige in completing their pleasures and achieving their pleasures.

The books of this art help us by defining the drawings of the mourning councils and what their masters stipulate in the “Nadeem”;

One of the oldest and kindest of what we have received from what was put into the culture and literature of al-Nadim is what the poet Kashajim - the forerunner mentioned - collected in his treatise 'Literature of al-Nadim'.

The elite of the people among the statesmen were scrutinizing the selection of remorse, working with what Al-Masoudi (d. 346 AH / 958 CE) narrated - in “Mourouj Al-Dahab” - on the authority of the writer Kulthum Al-Atabi (d. 220 AH / 835 CE), who is described as “the ingenuity of eloquence and the kingship of sitting”, which is his saying “A man writes with his tongue, his eyebrows with his face, and with all of his sitting.”

Also, whoever attains this status confirms his connection and his affection with his host and friend, who is often the head of the state or one of its senior officials.

Therefore, "Al-Nadeem" has become an official title given to everyone who assumes the "regret" function, enjoying its connections, enjoying its privileges, and may bear its consequences.

And due to the strong connection that exists between the two sides of the craft “al-Nadamah,” they called al-Munadamah “the second breast-feeding,” as stated in Tabaqat al-Shu’ara’ by Ibn al-Mu’tazz (d. D. 244 AH / 859 CE):


Convey peace upon the Emir and say to him, ** The waitress is the second breast-feeding!


The remorse that regretted me ** lifted my reins above all reins

And they stipulated in Al-Nadim that he possess a kind of high social intelligence and acumen, and that he combine between his sides contradictory morals in order to be able to keep pace with the volatile conditions of his host;

“So there will be in it with the honor of kings the humility of the slaves, and with the chastity of the hermits the indecency of the killer, and with the reverence of the elders the banter of the youths”;

According to what Kashagm says.

And he also has "from the strength of the mind, what he understands the conscience of the president who attends to him, according to what he tests (= tests) of his morals, and knows from the meanings of his moment and his signs what dispenses him from the cost of his expression and the disclosure of [a], so he precedes him to his lust and rushes him to his will."

strange normative,


and it is funny what they proposed in the morals of al-Nadim and its combination of opposing qualities;

Kashajim’s saying that “it is characteristic of the penitent that he combines patience with the reluctance (= intensity) of hunger, with the possibility of gluttony (= pressure) of increasing satiety, because he is driven to eat one of two men: either a generous person who loves to eat his food, then he demands that he eat more .., and if he does That was his luck and closeness to his heart with problems (= similarity), if he limited it to miserliness to him and deliberately miserable him ...; or his food was mean to him in the status of his hearing and sight, then he [the Nadim] hurried in it or ate from his delicacies, as if he was eating from his limbs!!

One of the wonders of the news is that the ability to devour food is a judge for the advancement of one person over another in the structure of the state and its positions, and this is what happened to Judge Ahmed bin Abi Duwad (d. 240 AH / 855 CE), as his rival in the Abbasid court, Minister Muhammad bin Abd al-Malik al-Zayat (d. 233 AH / 848 AD);

For he said in what he recounted as Shajim: “He helped Ali Ahmed bin Abi Dawad with things that I did not help him with the same, so that he helped Ali to establish his condition with [the caliph] Al-Wathiq (d. So I attended him [one day] eating al-Wathiq, and there was no third with them, and al-Wathiq invited me to food, so I began to peck according to my habit and subdued my lust, and they competed in enlarging the morsels and the quality of the food, so Ahmad did not see that from me, so he said: O Commander of the Faithful, what is the sitting of this protected (= dieter) With us, he counts the morsels for us..? Al-Wathiq said: Ahmed is right, so eat or leave!

They also preferred that Al-Nadim - with his broad general culture - be surrounded by some light, enjoyable knowledge, and therefore "it is desirable for him to describe the strange color (= meal) of cooking, the wonderful voice, melodious poetry, and the melody of singing."

Kashajim points out the centrality of these acquaintances in the literature of regret, to the extent that one would be late with them by neglecting them.

He says: “And I saw the navigator from among the people of this class saying: He who does not make ten voices, and judges from the oddities of cooking ten colors, they do not have a perfect gentleman nor a comprehensive gentleman”!!

And in elegance and good dress, they stipulated that Al-Nadim should run with the fashion of his era, some of the details of which we will come up with.

Kashajem says: "Nadim does not deserve this name until he has beauty and chivalry. As for his beauty, his clothes are clean, his scent is good, and his tongue is eloquent. As for his chivalry, his abundance of modesty in beautiful simplicity, and the solemnity of his council with the fluency of his face."

It was one of the fashions of the ancient era to wear turbans and slippers in the councils of kings in particular: “As for the turban and slippers, his way (= al-Nadeem) is not to prejudice them and he may soften and lighten them, but the purpose of their adherence is that the head does not recede and the foot appears,” out of respect for the position and position of the Sultan.

And with these external descriptions that comfort the beholder;

They required in al-Nadim that he possess the skills of conversation, management of discussion, and good questioning, and he sets for us a precise description of what he should be in terms of good listening, and he says that “good listening is the delay of the speaker until his speech ends, and the lack of volatility to the answer, and the turnout for him with the face, and the consideration and awareness of what he says And do not race him to a hadith that he begins with because of your knowledge of that hadith, rather you show him comfort and amazement at it, what you imagined that it did not cross your mind or settle in your hearing!

And from the perfection of their mastery of the craft of hadith, they deplored its scattering and the transition between topics without reason, but rather guided them in this “not to cut [the hadith] succinctly and not attack it, and to reach it to regurgitate it with what it troubles, and cause it what is good to run with it in its purpose”;

The sequence of conversations and topics in the council will be more organized and streamlined.

One of their controls in mentioning the news was that it should not be long, and that it be brief and conducive to the purpose for which it was narrated. “One of the drawings of the stories is that they should not be long until the time of the council has passed by cropping them up, because that is with the storytelling councils more like it than with the private councils!!”

Adverbs and adverbs


after the culture of the councils in the Islamic civilization was strengthened by its Arab extension and Islam's evaluation of it.

The culture of the elite councils produced a class that was an adornment for society in general, the “cute” class, so they had their own fees and social etiquette (etiquette) in public behavior, personal relationships, speech, dress, adornment, and appeasement.

In a way, Kashajim devoted a treatise explaining "Al-Nadeem literature";

We find his contemporary, the poet Aba al-Tayyib al-Washa (d. 325 AH / 937 CE) dedicating his book “Al-Zarf and Al-Zarfa” (also called: Al-Mosha) to monitor this societal phenomenon, and perhaps he used his experience in educating the loyalists of the kings, which is evidenced by the words of Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi (d. 463 AH / 1071 CE) in writing it. In the “History of Baghdad” Al-Washa’ narrated about him, Muniya, a slave-girl, the caliphate of Umm Walad Al-Mu’tamid Ali God (d. 279 AH / 892 CE), which allowed him to communicate with the circles of this class, and to learn about the rules of her private life that helped him draw up a practical methodology for the requester of the circumstance, and the lover to join this Luxurious and refined class.

Perhaps he also benefited from works that preceded him by talking about the cute ones, but they did not reach us.

Such as the book 'Akhbar al-Muttarfiat', which was mentioned by al-Nadim (d. 384 AH / 995 CE) - in 'Al-Fihrist' - among the works of the poet Abi al-Fadl Ahmed bin Tayfur (d. 280 AH / 894 CE), who was "one of the children of the state", and therefore the news of the councils of its elders and what goes on in them from the envelope fee;

Likewise, the authorship of his son Ubaid Allah bin Ahmed (d. 313 AH / 926 CE): “The Book of Adverbs and Adventists.”

Al-Washa tells us about his book that it is neither a strange book nor an anomalous study, but rather it came as a result of field research that gathered the rules of social behavior that the councils of that class are full of, which became for them "limited laws ... when they deviated (= changed) from it, they were called other than the name of the cute among the people Envelope";

Here he says: “And we did not invent knowledge in this book of ours from ourselves.., but we compiled it and collected it from the sayings of a group of cute and extravagant women, and people of literature and chivalry. We heard them speak about it and use it, so we loved to collect that.”

Then he defines his selections for us in that as "funny news, cute poems, and things that have grown to us from the costume of cute people in food, drink, perfume, and clothing, and their doctrine in what they avoided from reprehensible actions, and they approved of the beautiful character and morals!"

And if we want to formulate a comprehensive definition of the circumstance;

So we should look at the totality of what was mentioned by Al-Washaa of the qualities and characteristics that funny people have, recalling that here the adverb does not mean in its general concept that goes to “cuteness” in the sense of having a sense of humor and the ability to make a funny joke.

At the outset, it seems to us that the adverb - in its special sense at will - is organically linked to the concepts of politeness and chivalry, and thus his following phrase indicates: "There is no etiquette for the one who has no chivalry, nor chivalry for the one who has no circumstance, and no circumstance for the one who has no etiquette."

Then we find him enumerating some of the adjectives and definitions of this adverb, saying: “Know that the mainstay of the adverb is for gentlemen, people of knowledge, and men of letters: preserving neighbourhood, fulfilling slander (= covenant), avoiding disgrace, and seeking safety from burdens. An adverb will not be cute until it meets four characteristics: eloquence, eloquence, chastity and integrity";

We see in his definition of this adverb speech on personal characteristics, moral perfection, and social skills.

Customs and etiquette


. In some of these definitions, we find that cute is synonymous with what we call today "the cultured";

That is because “al-Zarif [is] the one who has been disciplined and taken from all sciences and has become a vessel for it, so he is: an adverb” for it.

This circumstance also includes the most important knowledge of the era, which they used to express as "literature" in the sense that Ibn Khaldun (d. 808 AH / 1406 CE) clarified, when he said - in the 'Introduction' - that "literature is the memorization of Arab poetry and its news, and the taking from every knowledge of a party."

The adverb also includes personal and social skills, such as rhetoric, eloquence, courtship, and good listening.

Considering the adverb as inclusive of all these matters supports what Al-Washaa mentioned that “it is necessary for the envelope to use all that we mentioned of the limits of politeness and the laws of virility.”

Hence, we understand the secret of Sheikh President Ibn Sina’s call (d. 428 AH / 1037 CE) - in the “Book of Politics” - to entrust the education and discipline of children to someone belonging to the class of cuteness, so that this culture becomes widespread in society and grows with its members from childhood, spreading and taking root.

This physician-philosopher stipulated that "the boy's educator should be sane, religious, insightful in the sport of morals, skillful in graduating boys, dignified and sober ... of chivalry, cleanliness and integrity, having served the secrets (= notables) of people and knowing what they boast about in terms of the morals of kings, and borrowing from him in terms of morals Fools, know the etiquette of sitting, eating, conversation and cohabitation.

Below, we offer our readers a brief summary of the limits of politeness and the laws of chivalry, and some of the provisions of the code of conduct and civil taste that gentlemen adhered to in the brightest eras of Islamic civilization.

The first thing that the seeker of circumstance begins with - at will - is getting used to the councils of people of knowledge and literature, and adhering to their drawings and acquiring knowledge by “sitting with people of understanding, looking into the avenues of literature, reading books and antiquities, narrating news and poems, and that he improves the question and confirms the article, and does not talk too much.” And discourse, if he is asked about what he knows, he answers, and if he is not asked, he is silent to listen.

It is also recommended to the student of the circumstance to be careful about the question and to be proficient in turning the conversation around, and among the principles of the circumstance is to take care of dignity, lack of humor, and keep away from absurdity.

Al-Washa said: “Among the uniforms of writers, people of knowledge, wise people, and people of virility and geniality: lack of speech without desire (= need) and arrogance (= disdain) for foreplay and play, and abandoning vulgarity with absurdity and shouting with humor and joking, because a lot of banter humiliates a person, subjugates fate, removes chivalry and corrupts the brothers".

If a person achieves these descriptions of the causes of the circumstance, then his councils become a paradise for the sitter, and a garden for the guest, and he obtains great pleasure and a great benefit from his councils, which the elders and their elite flock to.

As Al-Washa says, it is "nothing that is more captivating to those with a pulp, nor is it better for the heart than the conversation of the wise and the sitting of the writers, for that is what the minds are herniated, the heavens are gladdened by, the pulp is increased, and the heart lives by it."

extended relationships


and since the circumstance - as one of the phenomena of social intelligence - is an adjective that is rooted in practice and consolidated by perseverance;

Taking the Brotherhood and choosing friends has become the biggest helper for his student to be empowered in himself and characterized by his morals. Surrounding oneself with the Brotherhood motivates him to feign honors and perform virility that grows amid the warmth of the congregation.

Judge Abu Bakr al-Dinuri al-Maliki (d. 333 AH / 945 CE) - in 'Al-Majlisah wa Jawahir al-Ilm' - narrated on the authority of Imam al-Abid Muhammad ibn al-Nadr al-Harithi al-Kufi (d. Fulfillment.”

Provided that this companionship and brotherhood be avoided by the frequent visitation, because its abundance brings boredom and independence, until they said - according to the will - that "the one who is addicted to visiting friends is not gathering to meet"!

Moreover, the adverb imposes on its owner a strict commitment to social etiquette that distinguishes the class of cute ones so that “their defect is not coveted by the defector, and the student is not able to mislead them.” This includes that in their gatherings and meetings, “they do not spit, do not yawn ... do not burp ..., do not sign their palms or sign They interlock their fingers and do not stretch their legs, and do not scratch their bodies and do not touch their noses, especially if one of them is in the hands of his boyfriend ... or his lover, or someone who respects him (= respects him) and whoever honors him.

And the owner of the envelope pledges himself always to maintain the beauty of appearance, good dress, elegance of body, and cleanliness of the body;

One of their drawings is that "from the perfection of the cute circumstance ... the appearance of his good smell ... and the cleanliness of his body, and his clothes are not dirty, his pocket is not turned, his tail is not cut open, he is not seen ... a hole in his pants, he does not have a long nail, he does not have much hair, and he does not have His armpit smells of duff (= a stench)...and his nose does not flow, nor does his palm prevail...and his spittle is not sprayed."

And when the cute ones walk the paths of public life in the corners of society, they "do not enter the toilet from where someone sees it ..., and it is not their uniform ... the speed of walking, nor turning around in the path they intended or turning back in the path they took ..., and they do not drink the water of loved ones (= Jars of water) nor the water in the drink shops, nor the water of the mosques and the way.., and they do not enter the shop of Haras (= the seller of harissa) nor the shop of Rawas (= the seller of cooked heads).., and they do not eat anything that is taken in the markets, and they do not eat on the side of the road Neither in a mosque nor in a market.., and a gentleman should not walk without trousers.., nor be tempted to drink, nor ride a curry donkey!!

One of the characteristics of the gentleman is that he is keen to build healthy relationships with people, and seeks everything that keeps them away from troubles.

Al-Washa says: “Know that it is from the perfection of the literature of the writers and the good manners of the witty that they are patient with what is generated by honors and that they avoid the despicable sins. And they do not ask about what their knowledge has been revealed to them.”

Moreover, the gentleman is also required to preserve the integrity of their inter-relationships with others, so he does not seek to upset or spoil them.

Therefore, he "does not backbite anyone, does not mention badly a brother, does not sleep in his bed..., does not betray a covenant, does not break a promise..., does not corrupt between two boyfriends, does not seek [by slander] to power, does not violate the sanctity of..., and does not lie."

Antiques and Gifts


Al-Wisha tells us about what this class likes from "the costume of the two teams of cute and cute", specifying in detail their preferences in the types of clothing according to the country of manufacture and the destination of import;

And he says: "Know that it is from the uniform of the cute ones... the thinner garments, and the immoral shirts (= the roughness) are made of fine linen, soft and pure in color."

It seems that their preference for clothes of bright colors - such as whiteness in its degrees - was more than their preference for others, "It is not advisable to wear clothes that are wax colors dyed with perfume and saffron," and the care for the consistency of the colors of the dress was very present with them, until they set rules for that, including that "the best dress What is problematic, agreed, converged, and agreed.”

أما النعال فقد كانوا يستحسنون منها ما جمع لونًا آخر مع الأسود كالأحمر والأصفر ويكرهون الأحمر الخالص، ويستحسنون من الأحذية ما لبس معه جوارب من الحرير. وكانوا يتختّمون بالعقيق الأحمر والفيروز الأخضر والفضة، ويتجنب رجالهم التختّم بالذهب لأنه من عادة النساء. أما التطيّب والتعطر فقد اقتصروا منه على سبعة ألوان، منها المسك الممزوج بماء الورد، والعود المخلوط بماء القرفة المخمّر، وكانوا يتجنبون كلّ طيب يصبغ الثياب بلون لأن ذلك من طيب النساء. ومن رسمهم في الطعام تصغير اللُّقَم وتجنّب الشَّرَهَ والنَّهَم، وترك كل ما في أكله انتثار أو رائحة "ولن يقع الثوم في قِدر فيذوقونه ولا البصل فيقربونه"!!

وكان لهم في الهدايا سمت عجيب وعادات طريفة فاستحقت بذلك عندهم أن تفرد بالتأليف، ومن هنا جاء تأليف رسالة ‘التُّحف والهدايا‘ للأخويْن الأديبين الخالدييْن: أبي عثمان ابن هاشم (ت 371هـ/982م) وأبي بكر ابن هاشم (ت نحو 380هـ/991). وكان من آداب الظرفاء في الهدايا أنهم يستقبحون أن تكون في هداياهم ثمرة أتْرُجّ لأن باطنه خلاف ظاهره فهو طيب الرائحة حامض الطعم، ولا زهر السوسن لأن الاسم يحتوي على معظم أحرف لفظ "السوء"، ولا الياسمين لاشتماله على كلمة "اليأس" فكانوا يتشاءمون منه.

وهم يستحسنون إهداء الورد وزهر البنفسج في هداياهم، ويفضّلون من الثمار هدايا الخوخ والتفاح؛ وهذا الأخير "ليس في هداياهم ما يعادله.. لغلبة شبهه بالخدود المورّدة، والوجنات المضرّجة"! وكذلك "تهادى أهل الظرف المساويك، وأقاموها مقام الرهينة والتذكرة والوديعة والقُبلة، كما فعلوا باللُّبان الممضوغ والتفاح المعضوض (= المقضوم)"!! ولكنهم اختلفوا في إهداء الخاتم فـ"قد تطير بعض الظرفاء من هدية الخاتم وزعموا أنه يدعو إلى القطيعة، وتهاداه آخرون وأقاموه مقام التذكرة والوديعة..، والعلة فيما كرهه الظرفاء.. من هدية.. الخاتم.. أن الواحد إذا أهدى إلى خليله.. وأرسل إلى حبيبه بخاتمه.. ففُقِد ذلك من يده أو حوزته، بعثه باعث من غيرته على قطيعته وهجرته"!!

ثم إنهم كانوا إذا كتبوا رسائلهم اتخذوا لها "طرائف المناديل الرِقاق.. وطيبوها بالمسك..، وعَنْوَنوها بمتظرفات الأمثال والنوادر، وختموها بالغالية (= طِيب)"؛ حسبما يقوله الوشّاء. كما كانوا يختارون "مستظرَفاتِ الأشعار، ومُستحسَنَ الأخبار، ومُتنَخَّلَ الأبيات، ومنتخَبَ المقطَّعات، ونوادرَ الأمثال، ومُلَحَ الكلام"؛ ويكتبون بعض تلك المختارات على مقتنياتهم من "الفُصوص والتفّاح، والقناني والأقداح، وفي ذيول الأقمصة والأعلام، وطُرُز الأردية (= جمع رداء) والكِمام والقلانس.. والعصائب..، وعلى المناديل والوسائد والمخادّ والمقاعد.. والأسرّة..، وفي المجالس والإيوانات وصدور البيوت والقِباب، وعلى السُّتور والأبواب، والنعال..، وعلى الجِباه.. وعلى الخدود بالغالية والعَنبر..، والطبول والمَعازف والنايات والأقلام"!!
ومن نماذج تقليد كتابتهم على مقتنياتهم الشخصية أن أحد هؤلاء الظرفاء كتب على مخدته:
يا راقدَ اللـــــيلِ ممّن شَفَّهُ السَّقَمُ ** وهَــــدَّه قلقُ الأحـــــــزانِ والألمِ
جُدْ بالوصال لمَنْ أمسيتَ تملكه ** يا أحسنَ الناس مِن قَرْنٍ إلى قَدَمِ!

نقل واقتباس
وقبل الختام؛ لا بد أن نلفت نظرك -أيها القارئ الكريم- إلى ما تشير إليه معطيات مؤلَّفات النِّدامة والظَّرف من ارتياد أصحابها لبلاطات الحكم وصلاتهم بالطبقات المخملية في المجتمع العباسي انتماءً أسَريا أو مخالطةً وظيفيةً أو هما معاً، على نحو ما رأينا في الشاعريْن ابن طيفور والوشّاء؛ وهنا ينبغي لنا أيضا التعريج على شخصية ثالثة كانت ذات أثر كبير في هذا الشأن، ونعني الموسيقار العراقي زرياب الموصلي (ت 243هـ/858م) الذي غادر بلاط الخلافة العباسية ببغداد إلى جنان أندلس الأمويين فوصلها سنة 206هـ/822م، مستصحبا معه خلاصة ما وصلت إليه الحياة البغدادية من أبهة وأناقة في أذواق العوائد وأطباق الموائد.

فقد قال المقّري التلمساني (ت 1041هـ/1632م) -في ‘نفح الطيب‘- إن زرياباً "جمع إلى خصاله هذه [في معارف المعازف] الاشتراكَ في كثير من ضروب الظَّرف وفنون الأدب، ولطف المعاشرة، وحوى من آداب المجالسة وطيب المحادثة ومهارة الخدمة الملوكية ما لم يُجِدْه أحد من أهل صناعته، حتى اتخذه ملوك أهل الأندلس وخواصّهم قدوةً فيما سنَّه لهم من آدابه، واستحسنه من أطعمته، فصار -إلى آخر أيام أهل الأندلس- منسوبا إليه معلوما به"!

وقد كانت صيحات الموضة البغدادية -في عالم الأزياء والزينة وتصفيف الشَّعر- من أول أصداء مَقدم زرياب وقْعاً في الأندلس فصارت أقواها انتشارا وأبقاها آثارا؛ فالمقري يروي أن زرياباً "دخل إلى الأندلس وجميعُ مَن فيها -من رجل أو امرأة- يُرسِل جُمَّتَه (= شَعَر مقدَّم الرأس) مفروقا وسط الجَبِين عامًّا للصُّدغيْن والحاجبيْن، فلما عاين ذوو التحصيل تحذيقه هو وولده ونساؤه لشعورهم، وتقصيرها دون جباههم، وتسويتها مع حواجبهم، وتدويرها إلى آذانهم، ولإسبالها إلى أصداغهم.. هَوَتْ إليه أفئدتهم واستحسنوه"!

As for costumes, the Andalusians were known for the introduction of Ziryab, the habit of allocating each season of the year with the appropriate type and color of clothing, and he set known time limits for them between them for that;

So they imitated him in “wearing every kind of clothing in his time that befits him, because he saw that the people’s beginning to wear white clothing and their taking off of the colored one from the day of .. six remaining of the solar month of June of their Roman months, so they wear it until the first of the solar month of October, of which they are three consecutive months, and they wear For the rest of the year, colorful clothes, and he thought that they should wear during the season that is between heat and cold - which is called spring by them - from their dyeing, jabab (= plural of jubba) khaza (= a kind of silk) .. and shields that have no linings ..; and he also saw that they should wear at the end Summer and at the beginning of autumn ... light colored clothes ... until the cold becomes strong, so they move to thicker ones of colored ones, and they seek protection from under them if they need different types of furs!