The Fadili Epistle: A Thematic and Artistic Study

Abstract

This study examines The Fadili Epistle, composed by al-Qadi al-Faḍil as a proclamation voiced in the name of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Din al-Ayyubi, and addressed to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad following the liberation of Jerusalem and the Muslims’ decisive victory at the celebrated Battle of Ḥattin in 583 AH. The study seeks to shed light on the thematic and artistic dimensions of the epistle, highlighting its portrayal of the triumph over the Franks. Particular emphasis is placed on the principle of expressing joy and exultation, as reflected in the epistle’s motifs of glad tidings and festivity. The epistle also reinforces the religious spirit by underscoring adherence to sound doctrine, the adoption of the necessary means to achieve victory, and the contrast it draws between true belief and the corrupted Frankish creed of the Trinity. In this, the epistle served to inspire the soldiers and prepare them psychologically for battle.

Methodology:

The research adopts a descriptive-analytical method to examine the text, identifying its thematic issues alongside its literary and artistic features.

Findings:

The study describes the atmosphere of joy and jubilation that swept through the Islamic world upon receiving this epistle of glad tidings, which congratulated the faithful on the victory and the liberation of Jerusalem. It also examines the text artistically in terms of its structure, language, style, and rhetorical embellishment.

Conclusion:

The research concludes that the epistle holds both historical and literary significance. On the one hand, it is a historical document attesting to the events of a specific period; on the other, it represents a distinguished example of artistic prose writing in the Ayyubid era.