Suyuti's celebration of plumpness is not without nuance. He acknowledges the cultural debate surrounding body types, noting that some prefer the majdula-a woman who is neither too plump nor too slender.
The celebration of fatness was deeply gendered, with different standards for men and women. While fatness was celebrated in women as a sign of beauty and fertility, it was often stigmatized in men as a sign of laziness and lack of self-control. This gendered double standard reflects the broader social and cultural values of medieval Muslim societies, where women's bodies were often seen as sites of beauty and desire, while men's bodies were associated with strength and discipline. This is evident in the literature and arts of the 14th to 15th century Muslim societies. In poetry, the fat woman is often celebrated as a muse and a symbol of beauty and abundance, while the fat man is ridiculed as lazy and undisciplined.
This book is divided into three distinct yet interconnected parts, each offering a unique perspective on the subject. Part I serves as an introduction, providing readers with a brief biography of the author, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, and setting the stage for the themes explored in the subsequent sections. Part II delves into the technical aspects of the topic, examining how the Arabic language defines the fat woman, the Islamic traditions and narrations that celebrate her, and the rich poetic heritage that immortalizes her beauty. Finally, Part III elevates the discussion to discover the complex interplay between beauty, history, spirituality, power, marriage, identity and even religious rituals, focusing on the fat woman as a symbol of abundance, grace, and divine favor.
This book has been denounced by the 15th century ascetics of Cairo and the Ulama of Azhar, labeled as "a devil's mimicry of divine beauty" and "a feast for the eyes of lust."
There was a time when poets compared hips to sand dunes
For colonizers? They wielded measuring tapes-this is a journey through beauty's lost lexicon.
About the Book
The book is originally a short Arabic treatise and the sources of this translation is based on a number of earlier publications dating as far back as the year 996 AH (1588 AD), but mainly from the 2016 Edition by the Tunisian Books, Mediterranean Publisher. Thanks also to the 2003 Edition by the Dar al-Mizan, and a part of Majmu¿at Rasäil fi al-Jamal wa-l-Zina (Kuwait: Dar al-Diyä, 2016), pp. 87-102, the digitized 19th-century manuscripts.
