Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 (27 page)
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Authors: Khaled El-Rouayheb
BOOK: Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800
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Another Damascene poet, Abu
al-Fath al-Ma
liki
(d. 1567/8), composed a poem eulogizing a handsome youth by the name of Muhammad ibn H
usa
m in which the opening line was:
al-Fath al-Maliki(d. 1567/8), composed a poem eulogizing a handsome youth by the name of Muhammad ibn Husam in which the opening line was:How often has he assailed his lovers with the name of his father [
h
= sword], oh what sorrows result from his glances!
119
Muhammad ibn H
usa
m, Zakariyya al-Bu
snawi
, ʿAbd al-Rah
ma
n al-Mani
ni
, and Muhammad ibn Shaykh al-H
aram are examples of youths who seem to have gained a public reputation on account of their beauty. As pointed out by Kenneth Dover in his path-breaking study of classical Greek homosexuality, in a society that placed great value on keeping women hidden from the eyes of men, the status of “pin-ups” in the male public sphere tended to be associated with handsome youths.
120
The Damascene belletrist Muhammad al-Kanji
(d. 1740), in an anthology of singers, mentioned two local youths in his time who were admired for their beauty as well as their voices: Muhammad Abu
Kulthu
m was described as “a youth cast in the mold of beauty... the luster of his youth delights hearts, and the beauty of his countenance is of perfect purity and radiance, and how often has his angelic beauty possessed and captured admirers ...”; the dark-skinned Ahmad Qust
ant
usam, Zakariyya al-Busnawi, ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Manini, and Muhammad ibn Shaykh al-Haram are examples of youths who seem to have gained a public reputation on account of their beauty. As pointed out by Kenneth Dover in his path-breaking study of classical Greek homosexuality, in a society that placed great value on keeping women hidden from the eyes of men, the status of “pin-ups” in the male public sphere tended to be associated with handsome youths.120
The Damascene belletrist Muhammad al-Kanji
(d. 1740), in an anthology of singers, mentioned two local youths in his time who were admired for their beauty as well as their voices: Muhammad AbuKulthum was described as “a youth cast in the mold of beauty... the luster of his youth delights hearts, and the beauty of his countenance is of perfect purity and radiance, and how often has his angelic beauty possessed and captured admirers ...”; the dark-skinned Ahmad QustantOther books
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