''Hadīth Bayāḍ wa Riyāḍ'' (, "The Story of Bayad and Riyad") is a 13th-century
Arabic love story. The main characters of the tale are Bayad, a merchant's son and a foreigner from
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
; Riyad, a well-educated slave girl in the court of an unnamed
Hajib (
vizier
A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
or minister) of 'Iraq (
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
); and a "Lady" (al-sayyida).
Manuscript
The ''Hadīth Bayāḍ wa Riyāḍ'' manuscript, Vatican City,
Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
, Codex
Vat. Arabo 368, is one of three surviving illustrated manuscripts from
medieval al-Andalus (in modern
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
).
Many non-illustrated Andalusi books do survive, so illustrated manuscripts may have been rare.
Gallery
File:Bayad-wa-riyadبياض-و-رياض-.jpg
File:Maler der Geschichte von Bayâd und Riyâd 001.jpg
File:Maler der Geschichte von Bayâd und Riyâd 002.jpg
File:Maler der Geschichte von Bayâd und Riyâd 003.jpg
See also
*
Arabic epic literature
*
Arabic literature
Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
Further reading
* Alois R. Nykl. ''Historia de los amores de Bayad wa Riyad: Una chantefable oriental en estilo persa (Vat. Ar. 368)''. New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1941.
Arianna D'Ottone, ''Il manoscritto Vaticano arabo 368: Hadith Bayad wa Riyad. Il codice, il testo, le immagini: alcune note'', «Rivista di Storia della Miniatura» 14 (2010): 55-70* ''La storia di Bayad e Riyad (Vat.ar. 368). Una nuova edizione e traduzione'', ed. and trans. Arianna D'Ottone. Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2013 (Studi e Testi 479). .
*Cynthia Robinson, ''Medieval Andalusian Courtly Culture in the Mediterranean: Hadith Bayad Wa Riyad''. New York: Routledge, 2007. .
References
External links
Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Hadith Bayad wa Riyad (see index)
13th-century Arabic-language books
Islamic illuminated manuscripts
13th-century illuminated manuscripts
Manuscripts in the Vatican Library
Islamic art of Spain
Medieval Arabic literature
Literature of al-Andalus
Arabic manuscripts
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