The ultimate ambition in the arts of erudition
Subtitle: a compendium of knowledge from the classical Islamic world
By: Shihāb al-Dīn al-Nuwayrī ; edited, translated, and with an Introduction and notes by Elias Muhanna
Contributors: Muhanna, Elias, editor, translator
Series: Penguin classics; Penguin classics
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 318
ISBN-13: 9780143107484
Subjects: Translations into English; Arabic Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Work titles: Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab
Description: "An astonishing record of the knowledge of a civilization, the book catalogs everything known to exist from the perspective of a fourteenth-century Egyptian scholar and litterateur. More than 9,000 pages and thirty volumes--here abridged to one volume, and translated into English for the first time--it contains entries on everything from medieval moon-worshipping cults, sexual aphrodisiacs, and the substance of clouds, to how to get the smell of alcohol off one's breath, the deliciousness of cheese made from buffalo milk, and the nesting habits of flamingos."--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Translated from Arabic.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Translated from Arabic.
Table of contents: title: The first book: on the heavens and the earth; title: The heavens; title: Meteorological phenomena; title: The nights and days; title: The earth, mountains, seas, islands, rivers, and springs; title: The natures of different nations and the inherent dispositions of their inhabitants; title: The second book: on the human being; title: The life stages and nature of the human being; title: Proverbs and parables; title: Praise, invective, entertaining anecdotes, wine, and music; title: On the ruler, his subjects, and advisers; and on the craft of secretaryship; title: The third book: on the mute beasts; title: Carnivorous animals; title: Other wild beasts; title: Livestock; title: Venomous creatures; title: Birds and fish; title: The fourth book: on plants; title: Vegetables and foodstuffs; title: Trees and fruit; title: Aromatic plants; title: Gum resins, mannas, and saps; title: Aromatics, sexual medicines, and the magical properties of nature; title: The fifth book: on history; title: Adam and Eve; title: On the history of the Mamluk State.