Nawadir al-Ayk

Nawāḍir ʾal-ʾAyk fī Maʿrifat al-Nayk (Arabic: نواضر الأيك في معرفة النيك, "The Thicket's Blooms of Gracefulness on the Art of the Fleshly Embrace")^[1] is an Arabic manuscript allegedly attributed to Islamic scholar Al-Suyuti in the late fourteen century, a summary of an earlier one written by the author, Al-Wishāḥ fī Fawāʾid al-Nikāḥ.^[2][3][4][5] The book is one of many books on the same subject attributed to the author, such as Shaqāʾiq al-Utrunj fī Raqāʾiq al-Ghunj.

Subject

Most of the chapters of the book deal with sex education as showing various sex positions and giving advice that told by whom were considered as experts on these subjects. The other chapters contain poetry (usually happens to be short) and urban tales, mostly using explicit and vulgar words^[6] and some are attributed to well-known figures such as Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Rumi, Al-Asmaʿi and Al-Ṣafadī. Some old Arab scholars classified this kind of books as 'Ilm al-Bah ("The Art of Coition"). The book also has some chapters relating tales about homosexuals and eunuchs, but in most occasions the author tries to depict the mainstream preferences of adult men at the time.

Author controversy

Regarding the sensitive and explicit subjects mentioned in the book, some modern Islamic scholars condemn and believe it is impossible to accredit the manuscript to Al-Suyuti, who is considered one of the most important figures in the literature of Sunni Islam. Some claim the attribution of the book is forged, and it was a scheme made by an anonymous writer to give the book authenticity to sell more copies.^[7] Other opinions say he may had this book written but at least he must have renounced it before he died.^[8][9] Though, there are some scholars who agreed to credit the book to Al-Suyuti.^[10]

The title is not mentioned in the author's own bibliography list.^{[citation needed]} However, it is indexed in some old major resources like Kâtip Çelebi's Kashf al-Ẓunūn ‘an Asāmī al-Kutub wa-al-Funūn^[11] and Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi's Hadiyat al-ʻArifīn.

Resources

1. Al-Suyūṭī, a Polymath of the Mamlūk Period: Proceedings of the Themed Day of the First Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies (Ca' Foscari University, Venice, June 23, 2014). Ghersetti, Antonella. Leiden. 2017. p. 256. ISBN 9789004334502. OCLC 956351174.
2. Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab (2013). Sexuality in Islam. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 9781135030377.
3. "Bibliography of Erotic Mamluk Books". lib.uchicago.edu.
4. "Nawāḍir al-ayk fī maʻrifat al-nayk / taʾlīf Jalāl al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī ; taḥqīq wa-taʻlīq Ṭalʻat Ḥasan ʻAbd al-Qawī. - Princeton University Library Catalog". catalog.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
5. Baker, Raymond William (2015). One Islam, Many Muslim worlds: Spirituality, Identity, and Resistance across Islamic Lands. New York. pp. 131, 143. ISBN 9780199846474. OCLC 898113440.
6. Ghersetti, Antonella (2016). Al-Suyūṭī, a Polymath of the Mamlūk Period: Proceedings of the Themed Day of the First Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies. Venice: Brill. p. 256. ISBN 9789004334526.
7. كدر, جورج (2011). فن النكاح في تراث شيخ الإسلام جلال الدين السيوطي - الكتاب الأول. Atlas Publishing. ISBN 9789953583129.
8. "حكم قراءة كتاب نواضر الأيك..." Islamweb إسلام ويب. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
9. "شخصية السيوطي بين التاريخ والإيروتيكية.. | ميقات الذاكرة". miqat-aldakera.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-07-21.
10. "مؤلف كتاب نواضر الأيك". Islamweb إسلام ويب. Archived from the original on 2018-07-21. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
11. Kâtip Çelebi (2008). Kashf al-Ẓunūn ʻan Asāmī al-Kutub wa-al-Funūn. ʻAṭā, Muḥammad ʻAbd al-Qādir., Bābānī, Ismāʻīl Bāshā, -1920 or 1921., عطا، محمد عبد القادر., باباني، إسماعيل باشا،, - 1920 أو 1921. (al-Ṭabʻah 1 ed.). Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah. p. 1985. ISBN 978-2745155009. OCLC 759122072.