''A Promenade of the Hearts'' () is a collection of stories, anecdotes, and poems from the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Middle Ages, including some poems on homosexual and lesbian themes.

Ahmad al-Tifashi Ahmad al-Tifashi whose full name is Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Yusuf al-Ḳaysi al-Tifachi (), born in Tifash, a village near Gafsa in Tunisia (1184 – died 1253 in Cairo) was an Arabic poet, writer, and anthologist, best known for hi ...

, the compiler (1184–1253), was born in Tiffech now in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and studied in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. His interests included

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and the

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

. A French translation by

René R. Khawam René Rizqallah Khawam (1917 in Aleppo, Ottoman Empire – 22 March 2004 in Paris, France) was a Syrian translator foremost known for his translations of the Qur'an, '' One Thousand and One Nights'', ''The Perfumed Garden'' and Ahmad al-Tifashi's ...

, titled ''Les Délices des cœurs par Ahmad al-Tifachi'', was published in 1971 and 1981, and an English translation by Edward A. Lacey, titled ''The Delight of Hearts, or What You Will Not Find in Any Book'', was published in 1988 by Gay Sunshine Press. The English version won a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

at the 1st Lambda Literary Awards in 1989.

References

LGBT poetry Medieval Arabic poems 13th-century Arabic books Lambda Literary Award-winning works Arabic anthologies Arabic erotic literature {{lgbt-book-stub

See also

References