Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 (26 page)
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Authors: Khaled El-Rouayheb
BOOK: Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800
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116
One of the other youths mentioned, ʿAbd al-Rah
ma
n al-Mani
ni
(d. 1758/9), who went on to become a prominent belletrist, appears in independent sources where he was said to be “lovable, of beautiful countenance” and “the magnet of love and fancy; the mirror of his handsome face is polished as the surface of a river is polished by the breeze; he who looks at him enjoys a beautiful and blooming garden.”
117
ʿAbd al-Rah
ma
n al-Mani
ni
was born in 1730/1 and would have been around 14 years old when ʿAbdallah al-Suwaydi
was in Damascus.
116
One of the other youths mentioned, ʿAbd al-Rah
man al-Manini(d. 1758/9), who went on to become a prominent belletrist, appears in independent sources where he was said to be “lovable, of beautiful countenance” and “the magnet of love and fancy; the mirror of his handsome face is polished as the surface of a river is polished by the breeze; he who looks at him enjoys a beautiful and blooming garden.”117
ʿAbd al-Rah
man al-Maniniwas born in 1730/1 and would have been around 14 years old when ʿAbdallah al-Suwaydiwas in Damascus.In the three cited examples, the poems and tracts in rhymed prose themselves indicate the identity of the beloved youth. Many similar cases can be cited. The Damascene Zakariyya al-Bu
snawi
(d. 1662/3) was, according to the biographer Muh
ibbi
, extremely handsome in his youth, and caught the fancy of many poets and belletrists. One of these was the poet Manjak al-Yu
sufi
(d. 1669), who expressed his love for the youth in several poems, one of which opened with the line:
snawi(d. 1662/3) was, according to the biographer Muhibbi, extremely handsome in his youth, and caught the fancy of many poets and belletrists. One of these was the poet Manjak al-Yusufi(d. 1669), who expressed his love for the youth in several poems, one of which opened with the line:Whenever I proceed to think of Zakariyya, my heart returns full of ardent passion.
118
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