A Treasury of Virtues : Sayings, Sermons, and Teachings of 'Ali,
with the One Hundred Proverbs, Attributed to Al-Jahiz, [Arabic and English],
*[A5+] Hardback with Dust Jacket, 310 pages,
by Al-Qadi Al-Quda'i al-Shafi'i,
Edited & Translated by Tahera Qutbuddin.





Description :


A Treasury of Virtues is a collection by the Fatimid Shafi‘i judge al-Quda‘i, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, (d. 454 H/1062 CE) of sayings, sermons, and teachings attributed to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, (d. 40 H/661 CE). ‘Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the fourth Sunni Caliph and shia Imam. An acknowledged master of Arabic eloquence and a sage of Islamic wisdom, Ali was renowned for his words, which were collected, quoted, and studied over the centuries, and extensively anthologized, excerpted, and interpreted.


Of the many compilations of ‘Ali’s words, A Treasury of Virtues arguably possesses the broadest compass of genres, and the largest variety of themes. Included are aphorisms, proverbs, sermons, speeches, homilies, prayers, letters, dialogues and verse, all of which provide instruction on how to be a morally upstanding human being.


The shorter compilation included here, One Hundred Proverbs, is attributed to the eminent writer al-Jahiz (d. 255 H/869 CE). This volume presents a new critical edition of the Arabic based on several original manuscripts, the first English translation of both these important collections, and an extended introduction.



Al-Qadi al-Quda'i (d. 454 H/1062 CE), rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alayhi, was a Sunni jurist, a scholar of hadith and history, and a senior government official of the Fatimid dynasty in Cairo, Egypt.



Review :
"The quality of the translation is superior… and the choice of maxims is well advised, as they constitute a major category of Arabic (and also medieval European) literature, a genre with which modern readers are not acquainted. This translation will introduce them to it."
_{---Beatrice Gruendler, Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Yale University}.





Table of Contents :


---Letter from the General Editor iii,
---Acknowledgements x,
---Abbreviations xii,
---Introduction xiii,
---A Note on the Text xxv,
---Notes to the Introduction xxxiv,

---A Treasury of Virtues 2,
---Wise Sayings 8,
---Censure of this World and Exhortations to Reject Worldliness 42,
---Counsel 66,
---Prescriptions and Proscriptions 74,
---ʿAlī’s Questions with Answers, and ʿAlī’s Answers to Questions 108,
---Sayings with Unusual Words 138,
---Unique Sayings and Pithy Words 148,
---Prayers and Supplications 176,
---Verse 198,

---One Hundred Proverbs 220,
---Notes 235,
---Glossary of Names and Terms 239,
---Bibliography 251,
---Further Reading 257,
---Index 259.

---About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 270,
---About the Typefaces 271,
---About the Editor-Translator 272.