''Lubab ul-Albab'' (, variously translated as "Quintessence of Hearts", "The best selection", or "The select of the select") is a renowned

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

written by

Muhammad Aufi Sadīd ud-Dīn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad 'Aufī Bukhārī (; ), also known under the laqab Nour ud-Dīn, was a Persian historian, philologist, and author. Biography Born in Bukhara, Aufi claimed descent from Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (d. 654) a c ...

in eastern

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It was reportedly completed in 1221. It is considered as the oldest extant biographical work in

Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...

and the most important collection of biographies of Persian poets. It is essentially a history of literature, or more accurately, a collection of biographies of poets written in a highly ornate style. Although Aufi was not a distinguished stylist, the significance of both the ''Lubab ul-Albab'' and the '' Jawami ul-Hikayat'' lies in their practical value.''The Cambridge History of Iran'', Ed. J. A. Boyle, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 616. This book includes 27 biographies of the poets who lived in the same era. It serves as a key resource for studying the poetry of the Seljuq period. Aufi begins by acknowledging the contributions of royal figures who wrote poetry, listing 27 rulers from the late 10th to the 12th century, whose works constitute about 6% of the anthology. Following the kings, the anthology includes works by

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 ...

s (14%), religious scholars (''

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

'', 38%), and a substantial group of court poets, who make up 62% of the content.

Modern era

Only one hand-written copy is known to exist, owned by Nathaniel Blend in 1846 and the other resides in the Berlin Imperial Library. Later, the orientalist Edward Brown published Blend's copy in 1906.

References

Sources

External links

The Text
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

with a preface by

Edward Granville Browne Edward Granville Browne FBA (7 February 1862 – 5 January 1926) was a British Iranologist. He published numerous articles and books, mainly in the areas of history and literature. Life Browne was born in Stouts Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, ...

Persian literature Anthologies 13th-century Persian books {{lit-bio-book-stub