ABSTRACT
Yiisufb. Mu1:lammad b. 'Abd al-Jawfrd b. KhaQr al-Shirbini's book Hazz al-qul]uf.fi sharI] qa~fd Abf-Shiidii.f was first published in Cairo in the year A. H. 1274/1857-8 C. E. 1 Since then it has been mentioned in many works on Egyptian colloquial Arabic and on the history of modern Arabic literature. 2 However, to the best of our knowledge no systematic study has yet been made of Shirbini's book. Such a study cannot be the work of a single scholar, since Hazz al-qul]ii.fis capable of yielding a rich harvest in various fields. Notwithstanding Mehren's and VoIlers' beginnings, much linguistic material still awaits analysis. 3 Moreover, no attempt has yet been made to explain this work in the context of literary history, to reveal its antecedents, show its influences on later works and find parallels in the literatures of other languages. 4 Hazz al-qul]u.falso abounds in invaluable anthropological material, such as information on dress, diet, customs and agricultural work. 5 In addition, the book makes an important contribution to our knowledge of agrarian relations in Ottoman Egypt which have so far been described primarily from external sources, such as the Description de l'Egypte, and in any case from sources dating from the end of the eighteenth century. From Shirbini we learn of village institutions in the seventeenth century and of the relations between the fellah and the multazim, the ~arrii.f, the mushidd etc. 6 Finally, Shirbini touches on many aspects of the relations between the fellah and the city and between urban and rural 'ulamii '. These relations may well be considered the central theme of his book, and they form the main subject of the following study.
