What is Jāmiʿ farā’id al-malāḥah fī jawāmiʿ fawā’id al-filāḥah about?
The Comprehensive Collection of the Most Beneficial Practices in Studying the Uses and Methods of Agriculture (Jāmiʿ farā’id al-malāḥah fī jawāmiʿ fawā’id al-filāḥah)
This encyclopaedic book on farming and land husbandry, which is published for the very first time, relates to the period between the 15th and 16th century CE (9th and 10th century Hijrī). It includes a large volume of agricultural content, including farming skills and practical experience gained and applied by the Levantines, as well as many medical and health facts, commonly-known at that time. Furthermore, one may extract lists of the implements, tools, utensils, weights and scales used by the Levantine farmer of the time.
As Raḍī al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-‘Āmirī al-Ghazzī was outstanding for his broad knowledge, culture and experience, he explained the book’s content using succinct and meaningful wording, addressing soil, water, trees, combining cultivars (al-tarkīb), grafting (al-taṭ‘īm), breeding (al-tawlīd), improving cultivars (al-taḥsīn), beautification (al-tajmīl), treating diseases of soil and plant, repelling pests, and elucidating what is planted and what is sown for each time and place… etc.
This book’s importance lies in that it preserves the knowledge and agricultural skills of Levantine farmers, and some of their daily customs and expressions, including part of their popular proverbs relating to climate, agriculture, and peoples’ social beliefs and popular culture passed on through generations.
At the same time, this book surpasses many of the books on Arab agricultural heritage given its depth, comprehensiveness, and proximity to modern agricultural concepts, making it an important reference for researchers and those interested in agricultural matters, which necessitates a special study focused on these aspects.