Ahmad al-Tifashi whose full name is Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Yusuf al-Ḳaysi al-Tifachi (), born in Tifash, a village near

Gafsa Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...

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(1184 – died 1253 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

) was an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

poet, writer, and anthologist, best known for his work ''

A Promenade of the Hearts ''A Promenade of the Hearts'' () is a collection of stories, anecdotes, and poems from the Arab Middle Ages, including some poems on homosexual and lesbian themes. Ahmad al-Tifashi, the compiler (1184–1253), was born in Tiffech now in Algeria ...

'' ().Ahmad al-Tifachi, ''Les Délices des cœurs ou ce que l'on ne trouve en aucun livre'', traduction de René R. Khawam, éd. Phébus, Paris, 1981, pp. 15-16. "Il naquit donc à Tifâche de Gafsa en 1184"

Biography

Little is known of al-Tifashi's life. He appears to have lived mostly in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, and Damascus, although he may even have been nomadic. He was highly educated and cultured. He compiled ''A Promenade of the Hearts'', a 12-chapter anthology of Arabic poetry and

jokes A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

about erotic and sexual practices, that featured both heterosexual and

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

entries with a bias towards the latter. A French translation by René R. Khawam, based on an Arabic copy held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, was published as ''Les Délices des cœurs par Ahmad al-Tifachi'' (1971 and 1981). A scholarly translation by Edward A. Lacey of the homoerotic sections was published in English as ''The Delight of Hearts, or What You Will Not Find In Any Book'' (1988). This version won a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in 1989. al-Tifashi also wrote several treatises concerned with sexual hygiene, one of which is preserved in a copy at The

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Its ...

. He is, however, primarily known for his

lapidary Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A lap ...

, which was the most famous and most comprehensive medieval Arabic treatise on the use of minerals. It covers 25 gems and minerals in great detail, giving medicine and magical uses for each as well as some

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

etymologies of the names. It is preserved in numerous manuscript copies and was used by many subsequent writes.

References

Sources

For his life and writings, see: * J. Ruska and O. Kahl, "Tifashi" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition, ed. by H.A.R. Gibbs, B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, C. Bosworth et al., 11 vols. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960-2002), vol. 10, p. 476 *Manfred Ullmann, Die Medizin im Islam, Handbuch der Orientalistik, Abteilung I, Erg?nzungsband vi, Abschnitt 1 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), p. 196 *C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, Supplement, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1937-1942). vol. 1, p. 904. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tifashi, Ahmad 1184 births 1253 deaths Arabic-language poets 13th-century writers 13th-century people of Ifriqiya