Love, Money, Power: Emotions and Social Standing in Fourth/Tenth Century Iraq

This paper discusses the relation between love, wealth, and social standing as it is described in two fourth/tenth century sources, the Kitāb al-Muwashshā (The Book of Brocade) by al-Washshāʾ (d. 325/937), a manual for refined litterateurs, and the Jawāmiʿ al-ladhdha by ʿAlī b. Nasr al-Kātib (d. perhaps 377/987), a compendium of sexual knowledge containing medical and legal as well as literary material. Through the analytical framework of the history of emotions, the paper argues that, despite their different outlooks, both al-Washshāʾ and ʿAlī b. Nasr connect love with practical circumstances which influence the ability, or opportunity, to nurture it. However, this does not mean that they describe specific social groups.