The “Bestsellers” of al-Andalus

There is almost no library holding Arabic manuscripts that does not include copies of some works written by Andalusi scholars, such as al-Shāṭibı̄’s (d. 590/1194) poem on Qur’ānic readings and Ibn Mālik al-Jayyānı̄’s (d. 672/1274) poem on grammar. The popularity of these and other works—related in some cases to their didacticism and in others to their encyclopaedic character—can now be ascertained thanks to the database Historia de los Autores y Transmisores Andalusíes. But why did they become so popular given that similar works produced outside al-Andalus also enjoyed circulation in the Islamic world? Are these works today those that enjoy greater popularity from among the Andalusi production? This chapter aims to provide answers to these and other questions.This paper was written within the framework of the projects Contextos locales y dinámicas globales: al-Andalus y el Magreb en el Oriente islámico (Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghrib in the Islamic East) FFI2016-78878-R AEI/FEDER, EU, IPs M. Fierro and M. Penelas, and Practicing knowledge in Islamic societies and their neighbours, Anneliese Maier Award 2014 (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation).Peer reviewe