Al-Mustatraf fi Kull Fann Mustazraf (The Delightful in Every Admirable Art)

Author's Name: Muhammad Fouad ibn Ahmad Abi Al-Fath Al-Ibshīhī

The book “Al-Mustatraf fi Kull Fann Mustazraf” by Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abi Al-Fath Al-Ibshīhī is considered one of the most important and widely disseminated books authored by Al-Ibshīhī. It is an enjoyable book, an intimate companion that draws you in and captivates your heart, leaving you no way to escape its company and companionship. This is because it brings together between its covers what purifies the soul, refines morals, sharpens intellect and conscience, and everything that the soul cherishes, holds onto, and finds comfort in. Furthermore, it is a comprehensive encyclopedic book covering various aspects of literature, wisdom, and sayings, and it is not limited to a single topic or a specific idea. However, this does not mean that it is a book with scattered ideas and topics, lacking connections and links, because its author, when he wrote it, aimed for a specific goal: to cultivate human virtues in souls, after they had been lost in his era, having suffered from a decline in many of the foundations and principles of their construction due to circumstances that contributed to promiscuity, debauchery, and abandonment of good Islamic values, in addition to the prevalence of many customs and traditions that have no connection to the divine faith. Therefore, the author of Al-Mustatraf made every effort to collect and arrange much of what he aimed for within comprehensive chapters of comprehensive sayings, such that we see a chapter beginning either with verses from the Holy Quran that suit its topic, then followed by hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that do not deviate from its content, and then much wisdom, stories, poems, and amusing anecdotes are appended to it that do not contradict the intended meaning of their inclusion and the goal he aims to highlight through them.