Advice and advice literature - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Marlow, Louise
Leiden
Brill
(18,486 words)
Advice literature , as the term is understood in modern scholarly discourse, primarily denotes works of counsel for rulers and members of the political and cultural elites. Such compositions are also sometimes known as "mirrors for princes," a phrase that served as a title for many mediaeval European works of political advice and has been adopted by Islamicists to describe similar books written in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. The soliciting, offering, and receiving of advice or counsel constitute important elements in social relationships, and from antiquity onwards, many cultures have produced