Skip to content

طوق الحمامة في الألفة والألاف

طوق الحمامة في الألفة والألاف

EssaysPhilosophy & ReligionClassics
Pages
144
Published
1022
Language
Arabic

Synopsis

Composed around 1022 while Ibn Hazm was living in Játiva, in Al-Andalus, 'Tawq al-Hamama' ('The Ring of the Dove') is a treatise on the nature and course of romantic love, unfolding across thirty chapters on its signs, its stages, fidelity, betrayal, separation and loss. Ibn Hazm draws on his own life and on stories of lovers he knew in Andalusian society, illustrating his prose observations throughout with his own poetry. It is his only surviving work of literature, otherwise known as a jurist and theologian, and survives today in a single medieval manuscript (Leiden University Library, MS Or. 927). English readers reach it chiefly through A.J. Arberry's 1953 translation, 'The Ring of the Dove: A Treatise on the Art and Practice of Arab Love.'

Prose complexity
10/10

Vibe

Thought-ProvokingReflectiveIntellectualPhilosophical

Genres

Philosophy & Religion Classics Essays History Islam Philosophy Psychology Poetry

About the author

I
Ibn Hazm

Ibn Hazm (994–1064) was an Andalusian jurist, theologian, historian and man of letters, active in and around Córdoba during the decline of its Caliphate. A leading exponent of the Zahiri school of Islamic law, he is credited with several hundred works on jurisprudence, logic, ethics and comparative religion, most of them now lost. He is best known outside specialist circles for Tawq al-Hamama (The Ring of the Dove), a treatise on the nature and stages of love illustrated with anecdotes from his...

Frequently asked questions

  • When was "The Ring of the Dove" written?

    Ibn Hazm composed it around 1022 CE, while living in Játiva (Xàtiva) in Al-Andalus, at the request of a friend who asked him to write on the nature of love. It is his only surviving work of literature — he was otherwise known as a jurist, theologian and scholar of comparative religion.

  • What is the book about, and how is it structured?

    It is a treatise on romantic love in thirty chapters, each examining a stage or aspect of love — its signs, love at first sight, correspondence between lovers, fidelity, betrayal, separation, and death. Ibn Hazm illustrates his prose analysis with anecdotes from Andalusian society, including his own experience, and with his own poetry woven throughout the text.

  • Is there a well-known English translation?

    Yes. A.J. Arberry's translation, "The Ring of the Dove: A Treatise on the Art and Practice of Arab Love," was published by Luzac & Co. in 1953 and remains the translation most English readers encounter. An earlier translation by A.R. Nykl appeared in 1931.