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Budayrī (al-), Ḥawādiṯ Dimašq al-yawmiyya 1154-1175h/1741-1762ce. ed. Muḥammad Saʻīd al-Qāsimī & Aḥmad ʻIzzat ʻAbd al-Karīm, Damascus, Dār al-ṭabbāʻ li-l-ṭibāʻa wa-al-Našr wa-l-tawzīʻ, 1997.
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Ibn Ṭūlūn, al-Qalāʾid al-ǧawharīyya fī tārīḫ al-Ṣāliḥiyya, ed. Muḥammad Aḥmad Duhmān, 2 vol., Damascus, Matbūʿāt maǧmaʿ al-luġa al-ʿarabiyya, 1949-1956.
Ibn al-Rāʻī, al-barq al-mutʿalliq fī maḥāsin ǧilliq, ed. Muḥammad Adīb al-Ǧābir, Damascus, Maǧmaʻ al-luġa al-ʻarabiyya bi-Dimašq, 2006.
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Ibn Kannān, al-Murūǧ al-sundusiyya al-fasīḥa fī talḫīṣ tārīḫ al-Ṣāliḥiyya, ed. Muḥammad Aḥmad Duhmān. Damascus, Maṭbaʻat al-taraqī, 1947.
Ibn Kannān, al-Mawākib al-islāmiyya fī-l-mamālik wa-l-maḥāsin al-šāmīyya, ed. Ḥikmat Ismāʻīl. 2 vol., Damascus, Wizārat al-ṯaqāfa, 1992.
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Muḥibbī (al-), Ḫulāṣat al-aṯar fī aʻyān al-qarn al-ḥādī ʻašar, ed. Muḥammad Ḥasan Ismāʻīl, Beirut, Dār al-kutub al-ʻilmiyya, 2006.
Murādī (al-), Silk al-durar fī aʻyān al-qarn al-ṯānī ʻašar, ed. Muḥammad ʻAbd al-Qādir Šāhīn, 4 vol. Beirut, Dār al-kutub al-ʻilmiyya, 1997.
Nābulusī (al-), Burǧ Bābil wa šadū al-balābil, ed. Aḥmad al-Ǧundī, Damascus, Dār al-ma‘rifa, 1988.
Qaṣāṭilī (al-), al-Rawḍa al-ġannāʼ fī Dimašq al-Fayḥāʼ, Beirut, Dār al-rā’id al-ʻarabī, 1982.
Qāsimī (al-), Muḥammad Saʻīd, ʻAẓim (al-), Ḫalīl & Qāsimī (al-), Ǧamāl al-Dīn, Qāmūs al-ṣināʻāt al-šāmīyya, ed. Ẓāfir al-Qāsimī, Damascus, Dār Ṭalās, 1988.
Saḫāwī (al-), al-Ḍawʾ al-lāmiʻ li-ahl al-qarn al-tāsiʻ, 12 vol., Beirut, Dār al-Ǧīl, 1992.
Ziriklī (al-), al-Aʻlām: Qāmūs tarāǧim li-ašar al-riǧāl wa-l-nisā’ min al-ʻarab wa-al-mustaʻribīn wa-al-Mustašriqīn, 8 vol., Beirut, Dār al-ʻilm li-l-malāyīn, 1979.
European Sources
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Baedeker, Karl, 1893: Palestine et Syrie: Manuel du voyageur, 2nd ed., Leipzig.
Bartlett, Henry William, Purser, William & Carne, John, 1836: Syria, the Holy Land, Asia Minor & C, 3 vol., London, Paris.
Michaud, Joseph François & Poujoulat, Jean Joseph François, 1833: Correspondance d’Orient 1830-1831, Paris.
Monconys, Balthasar de, 1665: Journal des voyages de Monsieur de Monconys, Lyon.
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Akkach, Samer, 2007: “The Wine of Babel: Landscape, Gender and Poetry in Early Modern Damascus”, Literature & Aesthetics 17, p. 107-24.
Akkach, Samer, 2007: ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi: Islam and the Enlightenment, Oxford, Oneworld.
Andrews, Walter, 2008: “Gardens-Real and Imagined-in the Social Ecology of Early Modern Ottoman Culture” in Michel Conan (ed.), Garden Imagination: Historical Forms and Cultural Roles, Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard University Press.
Blair, Sheila, Bloom, Jonathan and VCU Qatar, 2009: Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art and Culture, New Haven, Yale University Press.
Burns, Ross, 2005: Damascus: A History, London and New York, Routledge.
Clark, Emma, 2004: The Art of the Islamic Garden, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, Crowood Press.
Conan, Michel (ed.), 2007: Middle East Garden Traditions: Unity and Diversity: Questions, Methods, and Resources in a Multicultural Perspective, Washington, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University.
Degeorge, Gérard, 2004: Damascus, trans. David Radzinowicz. Paris, Flammarion.
Bianquis, Thierry, Bosworth, Clifford E., Van Donzel, Emeri & Heinrichs. Wolfhart P., 2010: “Ghūṭa”, E.I.2. Leiden, Brill.
Écochard, Michel, Le Cœur, Claude, 1942: Les bains de Damas, monographies architecturales, 2 vol., Beyrouth, Institut français de Damas.
Grehan, James, 2007: Everyday Life & Consumer Culture in Eighteenth century Damascus, Seattle, University of Washington Press.
Grehan, James, 2006: “Smoking and “Early Modern” Sociability: The Great Tobacco Debate in the Ottoman Middle East (Seventeenth to Eighteenth centuries)”, The American Historical Review 111, p. 1352-1377.
Hamadeh, Shirine, 2007: “Public Space and the Garden Culture of Istanbul in the Eighteenth century”, in Virginia H. Aksan & Daniel Goffman (ed.), The Early Modern Ottomans: Remapping the Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 277-312.
Hamadeh, Shirine, 2008: The City’s Pleasures: Istanbul in the Eighteenth century, Seattle, University of Washington Press.
Ḫayr, Ṣaffūḥ, 1982: Madīnat Dimašq: Dirāsa fī ǧuġrāfīyyat al-mudun, Damascus, Wizārat al-ṯaqāfa.
Kurd ʻAlī, Muḥammad, 1949: Ġūṭat Dimašq, Damascus, Maṭbūʻāt maǧmaʻ al-luġa al-ʻarabiyya bi-Dimašq.
MacDougall, Elisabeth B. & Richard Ettinghausen 1976: The Islamic Garden, Washington, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University.
Munaǧǧid, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (al-), 1949: Ḫiṭaṭ Dimašq, Beirut, al-Maṭbaʻa al-kaṯūlīkiyya, 1949.
Mubaiḍīn, Muhannad, 2009: Ṯaqāfat al-tarfīh wa-l-madīna al-ʻarabiyya fi l-azminat al-ḥadīṯa: Dimašq al-ʿuṯmāniyya namūzaǧa, Beirut, Al-dār al-ʻarabiyya li-l-ʻulūm.
Necipoglu, Gülru, 1997: “The Suburban Landscape of Sixteenth-Century Istanbul as a Mirror of Classical Ottoman Garden Culture”, in Attilio Petruccioli (ed.), In Gardens in the Time of the Great Muslim Empires: Theory and Design, Leiden-New York, Brill.
Nu‘aysa, Yūsuf Ǧamīl, 1968: Muǧtamaʻ madīnat Dimašq: fī al-fatra mā Bayn 1186-1256h/1772-1840ce, 2 vol., Damascus, Dār Ṭlās li-l-dirāsa wa al-našr.
Pascual, Jean-Paul, 1995-1996: “Café et cafés à Damas: Contribution à la chronologie de leur diffusion au xvie siècle”, Berytus Archaeological Studies 42, p. 141-156.
Pascual, Jean-Paul, 2001: “Boutiques, ateliers et corps de métiers à Damas d’après un dénombrement effectué en 1827-28”, in Brigitte Marino (ed.), Études sur les villes du Proche-Orient, xvie-xixe siècle- Hommage André Raymond, Damascus, Institut français d’études arabes, p. 177-99.
Petruccioli, Attilio (ed. ), 1997: Gardens in the Time of the Great Muslim Empires: Theory and Design, Leiden- New York, Brill.
Reilly, James A., 1990: “Properties around Damascus in the Nineteenth century”, Arabica 37, p. 91-114.
Ruggles, D. Fairchild, 2000: Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain, Pennsylvania State University Press.
Ruggles, D. Fairchild, 2008: Islamic Gardens and Landscapes, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Sāmī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Bik, 1981: Al-qawl al-ḥaqq fī Bayrūt wa-Dimašq: Riḥla ilā Sūriyya wa-Lubnān fī awākhir al-qarn al-tāsiʻ ʻašr, Beirut, Dār al-rāʾid al-ʻarabī.
Weber, Stefan, 2009: Damascus: Ottoman Modernity and Urban Transformation (1808-1918), Aarhus, Aarhus University Press.
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Notes
I would like to express my gratitude towards Associate Professor Samer Akkach for our fruitful discussions on this topic and for his ongoing support during the preparation of my successfully completed Master’s Thesis (University of Damascus, 2011) “Dimašq: al-Mutanazahāt wa ṯaqāfat al-tanazzuh fi al-qarnayn al-sābi‘ ‘ašr w-al-ṯāmin ‘ašr,” that resulted in the preparation of a map of the most popular Damascene gardens in the 17th-18th centuries. I conducted this research as a post-graduate student in the University of Adelaide, at the Centre for Asian and Middle Eastern Architecture (CAMEA) for a thesis called “Gardens and the Culture of Recreation in the Early Modern Damascus,” under the supervision of A/Prof Samer Akkach and Dr. Katharine Bartsch. I am also immensely grateful for Dr. Katharine Bartsch’s suggestions and comments and her help in improving the English language of the text. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Jean-Paul Pascual for his comments and continuous assistance on different versions of this paper.
MacDougall & Ettinghausen 1976.
Petruccioli 1997.
Ruggles 2000 et 2008.
Conan 2007.
Hamadeh 2007 et 2008.
Sajdi 2007.
Andrews 2008.
Akkach 2007 et 2010.
Al-Nābulusī, Burǧ.
Grehan 2007.
Mubaiḍīn 2009.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha; Ibn Kannān al-Ṣāliḥī, Mawākib.
Al-Zubaydī, Tāǧ.
Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root ḥadaq.
Al-Zubaydī, Tāǧ, I; Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root basta.
Al-Zubaydī, Tāǧ, XVIII; Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root rawḍ.
Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root ǧanan; Law-Court Records, Damascus, vol. 88, document no153.
Sūrat al-Baqara, 266.
Sūrat al-Rūm, 15.
Al-Zubaydī, Tāǧ, XXXVI ; Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root nazah.
Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root nazah.
Burns 2005, p. xvii-xviii.
For detailed information about the Baradā River, see Ibn al-Rāʻī, Barq, p. 159-169; Ḫayr 1982, p. 83-108; al-Munaǧǧid 1949, p. 23-24; Nu‘aysa 1968, p. 149-185.
Ibn Kannān, Yawmiyyāt, I, p. 340.
According to the lexicographer Ibn Manẓūr, the original meaning of Ġūṭa or al-Ġūṭa derives from the root ġawṭ. Al-Ġūṭa is the slope in the ground and it refers to a place with water, trees and plants. Al-Ġūṭa is also a name given to the basātīn (gardens) that surrounded Damascus in all directions, the Ġūṭa Dimašq (Damascene gardens). See Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root ġawṭ; Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿǧam, IV, p. 219.
Kurd ʻalī 1949, p. 16-17 ; Reilly 1990, p. 91.
Kurd ʿalī 1949, p. 18.
Waterwheels were frequently used for irrigation, and were linked to palaces, houses, religious schools and other structures in the city. For information about the locations of waterwheels in Damascus, see Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 259.
Ḫayr 1982, p. 128 ; Bianquis et alii 2010.
Sīrān, in Damascene dialect comes from the root sayr which means stroll and walk, see Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root sayr.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 309-310. The editor Ibrāhīm Ṣāliḥ mentioned that Suġd Samarqand, Šiʻb Bawwān and Nahr al-Ubulla are three rivers surrounded by gardens, water and palaces. The translation is done from the origin in Arabic by the author.
“وأجمع سواح الأرض والأقطار، على أنّ منتزهات الدنيا أربعة، وهي صغد سمرقند، وشعب بوّان، ونهر الأبلة، وغوطة دمشق... رأيتها كّلها، فكان فضل غوطة دمشق على الثلاث...كأنها الجنّة وقد زخرفت وصوّرت على وجه الأرض.”
The British traveler and artist William Henry Bartlett, visited Damascus in 1840 and represented the city’s topography in many famous drawings. See Bartlett, Purser & Carne 1836. Unlike Istanbul, the illustrations and accounts of Damascus on the subject of gardens and landscapes in late the Mamluk-Ottoman period, did not trigger to the amount of prints and accounts that emerged about gardens in Istanbul. Many paintings are available about urban centers and landscapes of Istanbul, including those made by Thomas Allom, Robert Walsh, and W.H Bartlett, and other illustrations from Enderunlu Fazil in the Hûbânnâme ve Zenânnâme book. For information on recreational gardens in Istanbul, see Hamadeh 2007; Hamadeh 2008; Necipoglu 1997; Andrews 2008.
See Al-Saḫāwī, Ḍaw’, XI, p. 40; al-Ziriklī, Aʿlām, II, p. 66.
Al-Murādī, Silk, IV, p. 85.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 222.
There are numerous amounts of the Damascene beauties which are “difficult to count”, al-Badrī said. See also al-Nābulusī, Burǧ, p. 103.
Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root ḥusn.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 176.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, 85. The translation is done from the original text in Arabic by author Samer Akkach. See Akkach 2007, 116.
“إن نور الدين لما أن رأى في البساتين قصور الأغنياء
عمّر الربوة قصرا شـاهـقا نـــزهة مـطــــلقــة لـلفـــقـــراء”
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 83-89.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 301.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 289, footnote n° 7. See also, Aḥmad Duhmān introduction in Ibn Ṭūlūn, Qalā’id, p. 11.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 295; al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 86.
The term tuḫūt is still used in other cities in Syria such as Ḥamā. According to a Ḥamā citizen it refers to a bench or a seat that used to be in the gardens.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 307, footnote n° 2.
Michaud & Poujoulat 1833, p. 201-202.
Ḥusayn Afandī Ibn Muṣṭafā Ibn Ḥasan, known as Ibn Qarnaq al-Dimašqī (d. 1090/1679), was famous for his skills in enchantment, sorcery, magic, witchery and other occult sciences. He became a wealthy man, who had many properties and built his palace and hall (qāʿa) in al-Ṣāliḥiyya. He held high official financial positions in the Province and in the managing of many important waqf-s such as al-Salīmiyya, al-Sulaymāniyya, al-Ḥaramayn al-Miṣriyyin and Umayyad Mosque. He travelled twenty times to al-Rūm. He was chosen by the pilgrims’ elites (a‘yān al-ḥuǧǧāǧ) to become the amīr al-ḥaǧǧ (the military official, in charge of conducting the pilgrim caravan) after the death of the existing official during this pilgrimage. He travelled one more time to al-Rūm and took Baalbek tax-farming and had many slaves, female and male, and even children. See al-Muḥibbī, Ḫulāṣat, II, p. 118-120.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 307.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 307.
Unfortunately Ibn Kannān did not state the reason for the destruction of the maqāʻid. In the same year, in 1080/1669-1670, Ibn Ǧumʻa al-Maqqār –a historian of the late 17th to early 18th century—stated that Damascus was devastated by a severe plague that resulted in huge damages (ḍarar) and led to “a thousand funerals in one day.” However, if there is any relation between the two events requires more investigation. See Ibn Ǧumʻa, Bāšāt, p. 40.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 291-307. At the beginning of the 17th century around 1011/1602, most of the gardens in al-Mazza and al-Rabwa, were put under the control of Kīwān Ibn ʻAbd Allāh. He was one of the elite soldiers of the Damascene army (kubarā’ aǧnād al-Šām), who seized these gardens from their owners either voluntarily or by force, by cheating and colluding with the deputies court, who were paid by Kīwān. See al-Muḥibbī, Ḫulāṣat, III, p. 299-301. As noticed, al-Mazza, around 1011/1602 was under Kīwan's control, but it mentioned by Ibn Kannān that it was a village divided among many owners in 1080/1669. Yet, the question is still open about the property of al-Mazza.
Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root qaṣab. Ibn Manẓūr mentioned many definitions of qaṣaba: a recently excavated well, or a qaṣaba of a location refers to that location’s core, or a qaṣaba means a village etc. Here, the interpretation of qaṣaba as a small village is viable in the context.
In Arabic dictionaries the word ḥāna pl. ḥānūt means a place for drinking wine or a winery. See Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root ḥnt. However, the meaning of ḥanūt in this context is a shop or boutique, because this meaning is used in the court documentation of the same period.
Aṭbāq or ṭibāq according to Ibn Manẓūr, means layers situated above each other. See Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root ṭbq.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 229-230.
See for information about the emergence of coffee: Pascual 1995-96, p. 141-156.
De Monconys 1665, p. 345. “Ils sont tout couverts, avec des vitres au milieu ; il y a une belle fontaine à plusieurs jets qui tombent dans un grand bassin carré ; tous les bancs sont couverts de tapis, et il y a des théâtres où des chantres et joueurs d’instruments divertissent les buveurs.” The translation is done from the origin in French by author David Radzinowicz. See Degeorge 2004, p. 176.
For instance: Ḥammām al-Nuzha in al-Ǧabha: al-Badrī, Nuzha, 80; Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 227-228.
Sāḥat Taḥt al-Qalʿa–the square under the citadel- was famous for its various types of markets: fur, cloaks and cloth market, copper, sieves and glass market, fruits, vegetables, butchers and nuts market as well as carpenters and tailors shops. See al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 66-67; Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 247.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 86.
See al-Ǧabha: al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 79; Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 222-223. See also Qaṭya garden in Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 229-230.
A ḫān was only mentioned in al-Ǧabha garden. See Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 222-28.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 79. There is scant information about the building materials used for the structures in the gardens. Perhaps we could assume that the canteens were constructed using light materials such as thatch. These light structures were probably temporary, and used to build coffeehouses in spring that were demolished in autumn and winter when the garden was returned to agricultural use. Alternatively, it could be interpreted that the owner of the garden rented the place to the maqāsifī in the spring and summer when the recreational activities (tanazzuh/sīrān) took place. These are unanswered questions that require further research.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 254.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 83-89.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 80-81.
It could be assumed that the famous gardens equipped with all facilities were intended for rich people who were able to afford the expenses. However, we do not have more information to enforce that assumption and this require further research.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 69; Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 244-246.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 247. Ḥikmat Ismāʻīl in the footnote identified Muḥammād Bāšā Ibn Bayram, an Ottoman vizier who ruled Damascus twice, from 1114/1702 to 1115/1703 and from 1117/1705 to 1118/1706.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 82-83. Al-Nayrabayn was divided into al-Nayrab al-a‘lā—situated between Yazīd and Ṯawrā Rivers, and al-Nayrab al-adnā -located between Ṯawrā and Baradā Rivers.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 231. See also: Ibn Kannān, Murūǧ, p. 66.
The location of al-Bahnasiyya was in the east of al-Rabwā and neighbouring al-Dahša and the bridge (ǧisr) Ibn Šawwāš still exists near to the mill of Kīwān land (see the attached map).
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 81-82; Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 230-231; See also Ibn Manẓūr, Līsān, the root qaṣar.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 274.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 307.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 289-290.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 285.
Al-Munaybiʻ was irrigated by the Bānyās River and paralleled by al-Qanawāt to the south.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 270. Al-Zuhrabiyya location has the al-Barāmka cemetery for elite’ (a‘yān) tombs, such as Ibn Taymiyya, and used to be a place of Turk residence.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 275.
Ḥusayn Bāšā (d. 1094/1682), a famous vizier in Damascus, built his palace in al-Ḫātūniyya, in al-Šaraf. The location of the palace was filled with all kinds of plants and trees, including both native Damascene flora and imported varieties. See al-Muḥibbī, Ḫulāṣat, II, p. 124.
Hamadeh 2007, p. 287.
Necipoglu1997, p. 3.
Al-Qāsimī et alii, Qāmūs, see the letter b, bustānī.
For the recreational gathering in the days of roses in spring, see al-Ṣālihī, Yawmiyyāt, p. 301, 463, 478.
Al-Nābulusī, Burǧ.
For information about the Damascene beauties, public recreation, secularity and fame derived from ʻAbd al-Ġanī anthology, see Akkach 2007.
Al-Nābulusī, Burǧ, 21. The translation from the original text in Arabic was done by author Samer Akkach. See Akkach 2007, p. 111-112. For information on different kinds of leisure and entertainment activities in Damascus during the Ottoman period, see Mubaiḍīn 2009. See also a recent publication about recreational Damascene gardens: Akkach 2010.
”جِب دعاة الصبا ولبّ الجماعة وأبدل النسك في الهوى بالخلاعه
والزم الشــــــطح والهيــام ودع عنـــــك كلام النصــوح واترك ســــماعه
فاز باللذة الجســـــــــــــــــــور وما قصر عنها إلا الجبــــــــــان اللكـــــــــاعــــه
لا تظن السرور يبقي ولا الحــــزن وإن طال سوف يبدي انقطاعه“
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 249-253.
See the architectural description of the palace in: Law-Court Records, Damascus, vol. 60, document no818, case dated to 1138/1725.
Law-Court Records, Damascus, vol. 62, document n° 114, case dated to 1141/1728.
D’Arvieux 1735 : II, p. 458.
De Monconys, Journal, 343. The translation from the original text in French was done by the author and revised by Jean-Paul Pascual: “Nous fûmes avec nos hôtes à un village dit Salaié au pied de la montagne à un quart de lieue de Damas d’où l’on le voit fort bien et toute la campagne : nous fûmes dans un fort agréable jardin tant pour les arbres et eaux que pour la vue ; c’est en effet en ce village que les principaux de la ville, ont leur maison de plaisance.”
Ibn Kannān’s diary indicates that mostof these elite gatherings were held on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
Ibn Kannān, Yawmīyyāt, p. 367.
Ibn Kannān, Mawākib, I, p. 248.
Ibn Kannān, Yawmīyyāt, p. 103.
Al-Budayrī, Ḥawādiṯ, p. 193-194. The translation from the origin in Arabic is done by author.
“في يوم الخميس ثامن عشر ربيع الأول خرجنا إلى سيران بناحية الشرف المطل على المرجة مع بعض أحبابنا. وكان الوقت في مبادئ خروج الزهر، وجلسنا مطلين على المرجة والتكية السليمية، وإذا بالنساء أكثر من الرجال جالسين على شفير النهر، وهم على أكل وشرب وقهوة وتتن. كما تفعل الرجال، وهذا شيء ما سمعنا بأنّه وقع نظيره حتى شاهدناه...”
For information on the Islamic garden, see MacDougall & Ettinghausen 1976; Ruggles 2000; Clark 2004; Ruggles 2008; Blair 2009.
Al-Badrī, Nuzha, p. 79.
Michaud & Poujoulat 1833, p. 206. The translation from the original text in French was done by the author and revised by Jean-Paul Pascual : “Et pourtant Salahhié peut passer pour un des endroits les plus délicieux de la terre. Là se voient les plus charmans jardins, la plus aimable nature du pays de Damas ; les riches habitans de la sainte ville ont choisi ces lieux de préférence pour y bâtir leurs kiosques.”
Al-Qaṣāṭilī, Rawḍa, p. 115-116.
Pascual 2001, p. 184.
Al-Qaṣāṭilī, Rawḍa, p. 109. In 1890, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Bik Sāmī mentioned 122 coffeehouses which varied between large and small sizes, and hight and low prices, see Sāmī, Qawl, p. 93.
Baedeker 1893, p. 309. The translation from the original text in French was done by the author and revised by Jean-Paul Pascual: “les cafés de Damas sont les plus grands d’Orient (...) La plupart sont situés au bord d’un cours d’eau. Ce sont de grandes salles ou des jardins avec une quantité de petites tables et de chaises plus petites encore, ou des bancs sur lesquels l’habitant de Damas s’assied les jambes croisées pour fumer son narghilé en jouant au trictrac.”
Baedeker 1893, p. 319.
For information about which days and which places that were used for recreational practices, see al-ʿAllāf, Dimašq, p. 171.
Al-ʿAllāf, Dimašq, p. 208-210. For information about the games that were famous among public and young people see the previous source page 212-217.
Weber 2009.
Al-ʿAllāf, Dimašq, p. 35.
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