The ornament of generous people

Ḥilyat al-Kuramāʾ (The Ornament of Generous People), which is an interesting example of this flourishing genre of texts, was written by an Egyptian judge and man of letters, Ibn Abī al-ʿĪd al-Sakhāwī al-Mālikī, who lived in Cairo and Medina in the 15th c. and practiced charity all lifelong. The book is a sample of the intense cultural and literary activity the scholars of that time engaged in even outside the highest literary circles. The Ornament of Generous People contains stories, poems, and sayings on openhanded figures that exemplify their generosity by presenting lavish gifts and abundant sums of money to needy persons or succoring them in many other ways. Caliphs and viziers, but also saint men and common people, feature in the book, thus giving lively examples of charity intended to urge to generosity, welfare, and assistance of poor people. The Ornament of Generous People contains the first reliable and critical edition of the Arabic text accompanied by an introductory study on the work and its author. The English translation and the indexes aim at rendering the text and information contained therein easily accessible also to a larger audience.