Al-Mustatraf fi Kull Fann Mustazraf المستطرف في كل فن مستظرف

Al-Mustaṭraf fī Kull Fann Mustaẓraf (المستطرف في كل فن مستظرف) by Shihāb al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ibshīhī (d. 850 AH / 1446 CE) is a celebrated classical anthology of Arabic adab, combining religious instruction, ethics, literature, history, wisdom, anecdotes, poetry, and accounts of the natural world.

Organized into 84 chapters, the work covers a remarkably broad range of subjects, including faith and worship, morality and character, justice and governance, family and social relations, friendship and etiquette, eloquence and poetry, humorous anecdotes, and descriptions of animals and other natural phenomena.

Al-Ibshīhī brings together Qur’anic verses, Hadith, sayings of scholars and earlier sages, proverbs, historical anecdotes, and Arabic poetry. He drew extensively upon earlier works of adab and literary anthology, making Al-Mustaṭraf a rich repository of material from the classical Arabic literary tradition.

Its varied subject matter and accessible style have made it one of the best-known works of Arabic adab, offering readers a broad introduction to the literary, ethical, intellectual, and cultural heritage reflected in classical Islamic literature.