"The first who composed fables and made books of them and put them by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speakingPersian origin of the 'Thousand and One Nights.'them were the Ancient Persians. Afterwards the Parthian kings, who form the third dynasty of the kings of Persia, showed the utmost zeal in this matter. Then in the days of the Sásánian kings such books became numerous and abundant, and the Arabs translated them into the Arabic tongue, and they soon reached the hands of philologists and rhetoricians, who corrected and embellished them and composed other books in the same style. Now the first book ever made on this subject was the Book of the Thousand Tales (Hazár Afsán), on the following occasion: A certain king of Persia used to marry a woman for one night and kill her the next morning. And he wedded a wise and clever princess, called Shahrázád, who began to tell him stories and brought the tale at daybreak to a point that induced the king to spare her life and ask her on the second night to finish her tale. So she continued until a thousand nights had passed, and she was blessed with a son by him.... And the king had a stewardess (qahramána) named Dínárzád, who was in league with the queen. It is also said that this book was composed for Ḥumání, the daughter of Bahman, and there are various traditions concerning it. The truth, if God will, is that Alexander (the Great) was the first who heard stories by night, andTheHazár Afsán.he had people to make him laugh and divert him with tales; although he did not seek amusement therein, but only to store and preserve them (in his memory). The kings who came after him used the 'Thousand Tales' (Hazár Afsán) for thispurpose. It covers a space of one thousand nights, but contains less than two hundred stories, because the telling of a single story often takes several nights. I have seen the complete work more than once, and it is indeed a vulgar, insipid book (kitábunghaththunbáridu ’l-hadíth).845Abu ‘Abdalláh Muḥammad b. ‘Abdús al-Jahshiyárí (†942-943a.d.), the author of the 'Book of Viziers,' began to compile a book in which he selected one thousand stories of the Arabs, the Persians, the Greeks, and other peoples, every piece being independent and unconnected with the rest. He gathered the story-tellers round him and took from them the best of what they knew and were able to tell, and he chose out of the fable and story-books whatever pleased him. He was a skilful craftsman, so he put together from this material 480 nights, each night an entire story of fifty pages, more or less, but death surprised him before he completed the thousand tales as he had intended."
"The first who composed fables and made books of them and put them by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speakingPersian origin of the 'Thousand and One Nights.'them were the Ancient Persians. Afterwards the Parthian kings, who form the third dynasty of the kings of Persia, showed the utmost zeal in this matter. Then in the days of the Sásánian kings such books became numerous and abundant, and the Arabs translated them into the Arabic tongue, and they soon reached the hands of philologists and rhetoricians, who corrected and embellished them and composed other books in the same style. Now the first book ever made on this subject was the Book of the Thousand Tales (Hazár Afsán), on the following occasion: A certain king of Persia used to marry a woman for one night and kill her the next morning. And he wedded a wise and clever princess, called Shahrázád, who began to tell him stories and brought the tale at daybreak to a point that induced the king to spare her life and ask her on the second night to finish her tale. So she continued until a thousand nights had passed, and she was blessed with a son by him.... And the king had a stewardess (qahramána) named Dínárzád, who was in league with the queen. It is also said that this book was composed for Ḥumání, the daughter of Bahman, and there are various traditions concerning it. The truth, if God will, is that Alexander (the Great) was the first who heard stories by night, andTheHazár Afsán.he had people to make him laugh and divert him with tales; although he did not seek amusement therein, but only to store and preserve them (in his memory). The kings who came after him used the 'Thousand Tales' (Hazár Afsán) for thispurpose. It covers a space of one thousand nights, but contains less than two hundred stories, because the telling of a single story often takes several nights. I have seen the complete work more than once, and it is indeed a vulgar, insipid book (kitábunghaththunbáridu ’l-hadíth).845
Abu ‘Abdalláh Muḥammad b. ‘Abdús al-Jahshiyárí (†942-943a.d.), the author of the 'Book of Viziers,' began to compile a book in which he selected one thousand stories of the Arabs, the Persians, the Greeks, and other peoples, every piece being independent and unconnected with the rest. He gathered the story-tellers round him and took from them the best of what they knew and were able to tell, and he chose out of the fable and story-books whatever pleased him. He was a skilful craftsman, so he put together from this material 480 nights, each night an entire story of fifty pages, more or less, but death surprised him before he completed the thousand tales as he had intended."
Evidently, then, theHazár Afsánwas the kernel of the 'Arabian Nights,' and it is probable that this Persian archetype included the most finely imaginative tales in the existing collection,e.g., the 'Fisherman and the Genie,' 'Camaralzamán andDifferent sources of the collection.Budúr,' and the 'Enchanted Horse.' As time went on, the original stock received large additions which may be divided into two principal groups, both Semitic in character: the one belonging to Baghdád and consisting mainly of humorous anecdotes and love romances in which the famous Caliph 'Haroun Alraschid' frequently comes on the scene; the other having its centre in Cairo, and marked by a roguish, ironical pleasantry as well as by the mechanic supernaturalism which is perfectly illustrated in 'Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.' But, apart from these three sources, the 'Arabian Nights' has in the course of centuries accumulated and absorbed an immense number of Oriental folk-tales of every description, equally various in origin and style. The oldest translation by Galland (Paris, 1704-1717) is a charmingparaphrase, which in some respects is more true to the spirit of the original than are the scholarly renderings of Lane and Burton.
The 'Romance of ‘Antar' (Síratu ‘Antar) is traditionally ascribed to the great philologist, Aṣma‘í,846who flourished in the reign of Hárún al-Rashíd, but this must be considered as an invention of the professional recitersThe 'Romance of ‘Antar.'who sit in front of Oriental cafés and entertain the public with their lively declamations.847According to Brockelmann, the work in its present form apparently dates from the time of the Crusades.848Its hero is the celebrated heathen poet and warrior, ‘Antara b. Shaddád, of whom we have already given an account as author of one of the sevenMu‘allaqát. Though the Romance exhibits all the anachronisms and exaggerations of popular legend, it does nevertheless portray the unchanging features of Bedouin life with admirable fidelity and picturesqueness. Von Hammer, whose notice in theMines de l'Orient(1802) was the means of introducing theSíratu ‘Antarto European readers, justly remarks that it cannot be translated in full owing to its portentous length. It exists in two recensions called respectively the Arabian (Ḥijáziyya) and the Syrian (Shámiyya), the latter being very much curtailed.849
While the decadent state of Arabic literature during allthese centuries was immediately caused by unfavourable social and political conditions, the real source of the malady lay deeper, and must, I think, be referred to the spiritual paralysis which had long been creeping overOrthodoxy and mysticism.Islam and which manifested itself by the complete victory of the Ash‘arites or Scholastic Theologians about 1200a.d.Philosophy and Rationalism were henceforth as good as dead. Two parties remained in possession of the field—the orthodox and the mystics. The former were naturally intolerant of anything approaching to free-thought, and in their principle ofijmá‘,i.e., the consensus of public opinion (which was practically controlled by themselves), they found a potent weapon against heresy. How ruthlessly they sometimes used it we may see from the following passage in theYawáqítof Sha‘rání. After giving instances of the persecution to which the Ṣúfís of old—Báyazíd, Dhú ’l-Nún, and others—were subjected by their implacable enemies, the‘Ulamá, he goes on to speak of what had happened more recently850:—
"They brought the Imám Abú Bakr al-Nábulusí, notwithstanding his merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from thePersecution of heretics.Maghrib to Egypt and testified that he was a heretic (zindíq). The Sultan gave orders that he should be suspended by his feet and flayed alive. While the sentence was being carried out, he began to recite the Koran with such an attentive and humble demeanour that he moved the hearts of the people, and they were near making a riot. And likewise they caused Nasímí to be flayed at Aleppo.851When he silenced them byhis arguments, they devised a plan for his destruction, thus: They wrote theSúratu ’l-Ikhláṣ852on a piece of paper and bribed a cobbler of shoes, saying to him, 'It contains only love and pleasantness, so place it inside the sole of the shoe.' Then they took that shoe and sent it from a far distance as a gift to the Shaykh (Nasímí), who put it on, for he knew not. His adversaries went to the governor of Aleppo and said: 'We have sure information that Nasímí has written,Say, God is One, and has placed the writing in the sole of his shoe. If you do not believe us, send for him and see!' The governor did as they wished. On the production of the paper, the Shaykh resigned himself to the will of God and made no answer to the charge, knowing well that he would be killed on that pretext. I was told by one who studied under his disciples that all the time when he was being flayed Nasímí was recitingmuwashshaḥsin praise of the Unity of God, until he composed five hundred verses, and that he was looking at his executioners and smiling. And likewise they brought Shaykh Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-Shádhilí853from the West to Egypt and bore witness that he was a heretic, but God delivered him from their plots. And they accused Shaykh ‘Izzu ’l-Dín b. ‘Abd al-Salám854of infidelity and sat in judgment over him on account of some expressions in his‘Aqída(Articles of Faith) and urged the Sultan to punish him; afterwards, however, he was restored to favour. They denounced Shaykh Táju ’l-Dín al-Subkí855on the same charge, asserting that he held it lawful to drink wine and that he wore at night the badge (ghiyár) of the unbelievers and the zone (zunnár)856; and they brought him, manacled and in chains, from Syria to Egypt."
"They brought the Imám Abú Bakr al-Nábulusí, notwithstanding his merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from thePersecution of heretics.Maghrib to Egypt and testified that he was a heretic (zindíq). The Sultan gave orders that he should be suspended by his feet and flayed alive. While the sentence was being carried out, he began to recite the Koran with such an attentive and humble demeanour that he moved the hearts of the people, and they were near making a riot. And likewise they caused Nasímí to be flayed at Aleppo.851When he silenced them byhis arguments, they devised a plan for his destruction, thus: They wrote theSúratu ’l-Ikhláṣ852on a piece of paper and bribed a cobbler of shoes, saying to him, 'It contains only love and pleasantness, so place it inside the sole of the shoe.' Then they took that shoe and sent it from a far distance as a gift to the Shaykh (Nasímí), who put it on, for he knew not. His adversaries went to the governor of Aleppo and said: 'We have sure information that Nasímí has written,Say, God is One, and has placed the writing in the sole of his shoe. If you do not believe us, send for him and see!' The governor did as they wished. On the production of the paper, the Shaykh resigned himself to the will of God and made no answer to the charge, knowing well that he would be killed on that pretext. I was told by one who studied under his disciples that all the time when he was being flayed Nasímí was recitingmuwashshaḥsin praise of the Unity of God, until he composed five hundred verses, and that he was looking at his executioners and smiling. And likewise they brought Shaykh Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-Shádhilí853from the West to Egypt and bore witness that he was a heretic, but God delivered him from their plots. And they accused Shaykh ‘Izzu ’l-Dín b. ‘Abd al-Salám854of infidelity and sat in judgment over him on account of some expressions in his‘Aqída(Articles of Faith) and urged the Sultan to punish him; afterwards, however, he was restored to favour. They denounced Shaykh Táju ’l-Dín al-Subkí855on the same charge, asserting that he held it lawful to drink wine and that he wore at night the badge (ghiyár) of the unbelievers and the zone (zunnár)856; and they brought him, manacled and in chains, from Syria to Egypt."
This picture is too highly coloured. It must be admitted for the credit of the‘Ulamá, that they seldom resorted to violence. Islam was happily spared the horrors of an organised Inquisition. On the other hand, their authority wasnow so firmly established that all progress towards moral and intellectual liberty had apparently ceased, or at any rate only betrayed itself in spasmodic outbursts. Ṣúfiism in some degree represented such a movement, but the mystics shared the triumph of Scholasticism and contributed to the reaction which ensued. No longer an oppressed minority struggling for toleration, they found themselves side by side with reverend doctors on a platform broad enough to accommodate all parties, and they saw their own popular heroes turned into Saints of the orthodox Church. The compromise did not always work smoothly—in fact, there was continual friction—but on the whole it seems to have borne the strain wonderfully well. If pious souls were shocked by the lawlessness of the Dervishes, and if bigots would fain have burned the books of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí and Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ, the divines in general showed a disposition to suspend judgment in matters touching holy men and to regard them as standing above human criticism.
As typical representatives of the religious life of this period we may take two men belonging to widely opposite camps—Taqiyyu ’l-Dín Ibn Taymiyya and ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb al-Sha‘rání.
Ibn Taymiyya was born at Ḥarrán in 1263a.d.A few years later his father, fleeing before the Mongols, brought himIbn Taymiyya (1263-1328a.d.).to Damascus, where in due course he received an excellent education. It is said that he never forgot anything which he had once learned, and his knowledge of theology and law was so extensive as almost to justify the saying, "A tradition that Ibn Taymiyya does not recognise is no tradition." Himself a Ḥanbalite of the deepest dye—holding, in other words, that the Koran must be interpreted according to its letter and not by the light of reason—he devoted his life with rare courage to the work of religious reform. His aim, in short, was to restore the primitive monotheism taught by the Prophet and to purge Islamof the heresies and corruptions which threatened to destroy it. One may imagine what a hornet's nest he was attacking. Mystics, philosophers, and scholastic theologians, all fell alike under the lash of his denunciation. Bowing to no authority, but drawing his arguments from the traditions and practice of the early Church, he expressed his convictions in the most forcible terms, without regard to consequences. Although several times thrown into prison, he could not be muzzled for long. The climax was reached when he lifted up his voice against the superstitions of the popular faith—saint-worship, pilgrimage to holy shrines, vows, offerings, and invocations. These things, which the zealous puritan condemned as sheer idolatry, were part of a venerable cult that was hallowed by ancient custom, and had engrafted itself in luxuriant overgrowth upon Islam. The mass of Moslems believed, and still believe implicitly in the saints, accept their miracles, adore their relics, visit their tombs, and pray for their intercession. Ibn Taymiyya even declared that it was wrong to implore the aid of the Prophet or to make a pilgrimage to his sepulchre. It was a vain protest. He ended his days in captivity at Damascus. The vast crowds who attended his funeral—we are told that there were present 200,000 men and 15,000 women—bore witness to the profound respect which was universally felt for the intrepid reformer. Oddly enough, he was buried in the Cemetery of the Ṣúfís, whose doctrines he had so bitterly opposed, and the multitude revered his memory—as a saint! The principles which inspired Ibn Taymiyya did not fall to the ground, although their immediate effect was confined to a very small circle. We shall see them reappearing victoriously in the Wahhábite movement of the eighteenth century.
Notwithstanding the brilliant effort of Ghazálí to harmonise dogmatic theology with mysticism, it soon became clear that the two parties were in essence irreconcilable. The orthodox clergy who held fast by the authority of the Koran and the>Traditions saw a grave danger to themselves in the esoteric revelation which the mystics claimed to possess; while the latter, though externally conforming to the law of Islam, looked down with contempt on the idea that true knowledge of God could be derived from theology, or from any source except the inner light of heavenly inspiration. Hence the antithesis offaqíh(theologian) andfaqír(dervish), the one class forming a powerful official hierarchy in close alliance with the Government, whereas the Ṣúfís found their chief support among the people at large, and especially among the poor. We need not dwell further on the natural antagonism which has always existed between these rival corporations, and which is a marked feature in the modern history of Islam. It will be more instructive to spend a few moments with the last great Muḥammadan theosophist, ‘Abdu ’l-WahhábSha‘rání † 1565a.d.).al-Sha‘rání, a man who, with all his weaknesses, was an original thinker, and exerted an influence strongly felt to this day, as is shown by the steady demand for his books. He was born about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Concerning his outward life we have little information beyond the facts that he was a weaver by trade and resided in Cairo. At this time Egypt was a province of the Ottoman Empire. Sha‘rání contrasts the miserable lot of the peasantry under the newrégimewith their comparative prosperity under the Mamelukes. So terrible were the exactions of the tax-gatherers that the fellah was forced to sell the whole produce of his land, and sometimes even the ox which ploughed it, in order to save himself and his family from imprisonment; and every lucrative business was crushed by confiscation. It is not to be supposed, however, that Sha‘rání gave serious attention to such sublunary matters. He lived in a world of visions and wonderful experiences. He conversed with angels and prophets, like his more famous predecessor, Muḥyi ’l-Dín Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí, whoseMeccan Revelationshe studied and epitomised. His autobiography entitledLaṭá’ifu ’l-Minandisplays the hierophant in full dress. It is a record of the singular spiritual gifts and virtues with which he was endowed, and would rank as a masterpiece of shameless self-laudation, did not the author repeatedly assure us that all his extraordinary qualities are Divine blessings and are gratefully set forth by their recipientad majorem Dei gloriam. We should be treating Sha‘rání very unfairly if we judged him by this work alone. The arrogant miracle-monger was one of the most learned men of his day, and could beat the scholastic theologians with their own weapons. Indeed, he regarded theology (fiqh) as the first step towards Ṣúfiism, and endeavoured to show that in reality they are different aspects of the same science. He also sought to harmonise the four great schools of law, whose disagreement was consecrated by the well-known saying ascribed to the Prophet: "The variance of my people is an act of Divine mercy" (ikhtiláfu ummatí raḥmatun). Like the Arabian Ṣúfís generally, Sha‘rání kept his mysticism within narrow bounds, and declared himself an adherent of the moderate section which follows Junayd of Baghdád († 909-910a.d.). For all his extravagant pretensions and childish belief in the supernatural, he never lost touch with the Muḥammadan Church.
In the thirteenth century Ibn Taymiyya had tried to eradicate the abuses which obscured the simple creed of Islam. He failed, but his work was carried on by others and was crowned, after a long interval, by the Wahhábite Reformation.857
Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahháb,858from whom its name isArabia. In his youth he visited the principal cities of theMuḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahháb and his successors.East, "as is much the practice with his countrymen even now,"859and what he observed in the course of his travels convinced him that Islam was thoroughly corrupt. Fired by the example of Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings he copied with his own hand,860Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahháb determined to re-establish the pure religion of Muḥammad in its primitive form. Accordingly he returned home and retired with his family to Ḍira‘iyya at the time when Muḥammad b. Sa‘úd was the chief personage of the town. This man became his first convert and soon after married his daughter. But it was not until the end of the eighteenth century that the Wahhábís, under ‘Abdu ’l-‘Azíz, son of Muḥammad b. Sa‘úd, gained their first great successes. In 1801 they sacked Imám-Ḥusayn,861a town in the vicinity of Baghdád, massacred five thousand persons, and destroyed the cupola of Ḥusayn's tomb; the veneration paid by all Shí‘ites to that shrine being, as Burckhardt says, a sufficient cause to attract the Wahhábí fury against it. Two years later they made themselves masters of the whole Ḥijáz, including Mecca and Medína. On the death of ‘Abdu ’l-‘Azíz, who was assassinated in the same year, his eldest son, Sa‘úd, continued the work of conquest and brought the greater part of Arabia under Wahhábite rule. At last, in 1811, Turkey despatched a fleet and army to recover the Holy Cities. This task was accomplished by Muḥammad ‘Alí, the Pasha of Egypt (1812-13), and after five years' hard fighting the war ended in favour of the Turks, who in 1818 inflicted a severe defeat on the Wahhábís and took their capital, Ḍira‘iyya, by storm. The sect, however, still maintainsits power in Central Arabia, and in recent times has acquired political importance.
The Wahhábís were regarded by the Turks as infidels and authors of a new religion. It was natural that they shouldThe Wahhábite Reformation.appear in this light, for they interrupted the pilgrim-caravans, demolished the domes and ornamented tombs of the most venerable Saints (not excepting that of the Prophet himself), and broke to pieces the Black Stone in the Ka‘ba. All this they did not as innovators, but as reformers. They resembled the Carmathians only in their acts. Burckhardt says very truly: "Not a single new precept was to be found in the Wahaby code. Abd el Waháb took as his sole guide the Koran and the Sunne (or the laws formed upon the traditions of Mohammed); and the only difference between his sect and the orthodox Turks, however improperly so termed, is, that the Wahabys rigidly follow the same laws which the others neglect, or have ceased altogether to observe."862"The Wahhábites," says Dozy, "attacked the idolatrous worship of Mahomet; although he was in their eyes a Prophet sent to declare the will of God, he was no less a man like others, and his mortal shell, far from having mounted to heaven, rested in the tomb at Medína. Saint-worship they combated just as strongly. They proclaimed that all men are equal before God; that even the most virtuous and devout cannot intercede with Him; and that, consequently, it is a sin to invoke the Saints and to adore their relics."863In the same puritan spirit they forbade the smoking of tobacco, the wearing of gaudy robes, and praying over the rosary. "It has been stated that they likewise prohibited the drinking of coffee; this, however, is not the fact: they have always used it to an immoderate degree."864
The Wahhábite movement has been compared with theProtestant Reformation in Europe; but while the latter was followed by the English and French Revolutions, the former has not yet produced any great political results. It has borne fruit in a general religious revival throughout the world of Islam and particularly in the mysterious SanúsiyyaThe Sanúsís in Africa.Brotherhood, whose influence is supreme in Tripoli, the Sahara, and the whole North African Hinterland, and whose members are reckoned by millions. Muḥammad b. ‘Alí b. Sanúsí, the founder of this vast and formidable organisation, was born at Algiers in 1791, lived for many years at Mecca, and died at Jaghbúb in the Libyan desert, midway between Egypt and Tripoli, in 1859. Concerning the real aims of the Sanúsís I must refer the reader to an interesting paper by the Rev. E. Sell (Essays on Islam, p. 127 sqq.). There is no doubt that they are utterly opposed to all Western and modern civilisation, and seek to regenerate Islam by establishing an independent theocratic State on the model of that which the Prophet and his successors called into being at Medína in the seventh century after Christ.
Since Napoleon showed the way by his expedition to Egypt in 1798, the Moslems in that country, as likewise in Syria and NorthIslam and modern civilisation.Africa, have come more and more under European influence.865The above-mentioned Muḥammad ‘Alí, who founded the Khedivial dynasty, and his successors were fully alive to the practical benefits which might be obtained from the superior culture of the West, and although their policy in this respect was marked by greater zeal than discretion, they did not exert themselves altogether in vain. The introduction of the printing-press in 1821 was an epoch-making measure. If, on the one hand, the publication ofmany classical works, which had well-nigh fallen into oblivion, rekindled the enthusiasm of the Arabs for their national literature, the cause of progress—I use the word without prejudice—has been furthered by the numerous political, literary, and scientific journals which are now regularly issued in every country where Arabic is spoken.866Besides these ephemeral sheets, books of all sorts, old and new, have been multiplied by the native and European presses of Cairo, Búláq, and Beyrout. The science and culture of Europe have been rendered accessible in translations and adaptations of which the complete list would form a volume in itself. Thus, an Arab may read in his own language the tragedies of Racine, the comedies of Molière,867the fables of La Fontaine, 'Paul and Virginia,' the 'Talisman,' 'Monte Cristo' (not to mention scores of minor romances), and even the Iliad of Homer.868Parallel to this imitative activity, we see a vigorous and growing movement away from the literary models of the past. "Neo-Arabic literature is only to a limited extent the heir of the old 'classical' Arabic literature, and even shows a tendency to repudiate its inheritance entirely. Its leaders are for the most part men who have drunk from other springs and look at the world with different eyes. Yet the past still plays a part in their intellectual background, and there is a section amongst them upon whom that past retains a hold scarcely shaken by newer influences. For many decades the partisans of the 'old' and the 'new' have engaged in a struggle for the soul of the Arabic world, a struggle in which the victory of one side over the other is even yet not assured. The protagonists are (to classify them roughly for practical purposes) the European-educated classes of Egyptians and Syrians on the one hand, and those in Egypt and the less advanced Arabic lands whose education has followed traditionallines on the other. Whatever the ultimate result may be, there can be no question that the conflict has torn the Arabic world from its ancient moorings, and that the contemporary literature of Egypt and Syria breathes in its more recent developments a spirit foreign to the old traditions."869
Hitherto Western culture has only touched the surface of Islam. Whether it will eventually strike deeper and penetrate the inmost barriers of that scholastic discipline and literary tradition which are so firmly rooted in the affections of the Moslem peoples, or whether it will always remain an exotic and highly-prized accomplishment of the enlightened and emancipated few, but an object of scorn and detestation to Muḥammadans in general—these are questions that may not be fully solved for centuries to come.
Meanwhile the Past affords an ample and splendid field of study.
"Man lam ya‘i ’l-ta’ríkha fí ṣadrihíLam yadri ḥulwa ’l-‘ayshi min murrihiWa-man wa‘á akhbára man qad maḍáAḍáfa a‘máranilá ‘umrihí.""He in whose heart no History is enscrolledCannot discern in life's alloy the gold.But he that keeps the records of the DeadAdds to his life new lives a hundredfold."
"Man lam ya‘i ’l-ta’ríkha fí ṣadrihíLam yadri ḥulwa ’l-‘ayshi min murrihiWa-man wa‘á akhbára man qad maḍáAḍáfa a‘máranilá ‘umrihí."
"He in whose heart no History is enscrolledCannot discern in life's alloy the gold.But he that keeps the records of the DeadAdds to his life new lives a hundredfold."
P. xxii,l. 2. Arabic begins to appear in North Arabian inscriptions in the third centurya.d.Perhaps the oldest yet discovered is one, of which the probable date is 268a.d., published by Jaussen and Savignac (Mission archéologique en l'Arabie, vol. i, p. 172). Though it is written in Aramaic characters, nearly all the words are Arabic, as may be seen from the transcription given by Professor Horovitz inIslamic Culture(Hyderabad,Deccan), April 1929, vol. iii, No. 2, p. 169, note 2.P. 4foll. Concerning the Sabaeans and the South Arabic inscriptions a great deal of valuable information will be found in the articleSaba’by J. Tkatsch in theEncyclopædia of Islam. The writer points out the special importance of the epigraphic discoveries of E. Glaser, who, in the course of four journeys (1882-94), collected over 2000 inscriptions. See also D. Nielsen,Handbuch der altarabischen Altertumskunde, vol. i (Copenhagen and Paris, 1927).P. 13, note 2. Excerpts from theShamsu ’l-‘Ulúmrelating to South Arabia have been edited by Dr ‘Azímu’ddín Aḥmad (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xxiv).P. 26foll. For contemporary and later Christian accounts of the martyrdom of the Christians of Najrán, see the fragmentaryBook of the Himyarites(Syriac text and English translation), ed. by A. Moberg in 1924, and cf. Tor Andrae,Der Ursprung des Islams und das Christentum(Uppsala, 1926), pp. 10-13.P. 31. The collection of Arabic proverbs, entitledKitábu ’l-Fákhir, by Mufaḍḍal b. Salama of Kúfa, is now available in the excellent edition of Mr C. A. Storey (Leyden, 1915).P. 32, note 1. An edition of theAgháníwith critical notes is in course of publication at Cairo.P. 52, l. 9 foll. The battle mentioned here cannot be the battle of ‘Ayn Ubágh, which took place between Ḥárith, the son of Ḥárith b. Jabala, and Mundhir IV of Ḥíra about 583a.d.(Guidi,L'Arabie antéislamique, p. 27).P. 127, l. 16. The odeBánat Su‘ádis rendered into English in myTranslations of Eastern Poetry and Prose, pp. 19-23.P. 133. As regards the authenticity of the Pre-islamic poems which have come down to us, the observations of one of the greatest authorities on the subject, the late Sir Charles J. Lyall, seem to me to be eminently judicious (Introduction to theMufaḍḍalīyāt, vol. ii, pp. xvi-xxvi). He concludes that "upon the whole, the impression which a close study of these ancient relics gives is that we must take them, generally speaking, as the production of the men whose names they bear." All that can be urged against this view has been said with his usual learning by Professor Margoliouth (The Origins of Arabic Poetry, J.R.A.S., 1925, p. 417 foll.).P. 145, l. 2. The oldest extant commentary on the Koran is that of Bukhárí in ch. 65 of theṢaḥíḥ, ed. Krehl, vol. iii, pp. 193-390.P. 146, note 2. Recent investigators (Caetani and Lammens) are far more sceptical. Cf. Snouck Hurgronje,Mohammedanism, p. 22 foll.P. 152, note 5. As suggested by Mr Richard Bell (The Origin of Islam in its Christian environment, p. 88), the wordrujzis in all likelihood identical with the Syriacrugza, wrath, so that this verse of the Koran means, "Flee from the wrath to come."P. 170, l. 2 foll. This is one of the passages I should have liked to omit. Even in its present form, it maintains a standpoint which I have long regarded as mistaken.P. 184, l. 4 foll. Professor Snouck Hurgronje (Mohammedanism, p. 44) asks, "Was Mohammed conscious of the universality of his mission?" and decides that he was not. I now agree that "in the beginning he conceived his work as merely the Arabian part of a universal task"—in which casedhikrunli ’l-‘álamínin the passage quoted will mean "a warning to all the people (of Mecca or Arabia)." But similar expressions in Súras of the Medina period carry, I think, a wider significance. The conception of Islam as a world-religion is implied in Mohammed's later belief—he only came to it gradually—that the Jewish and Christian scriptures are corrupt and that the Koran alone represents the original Faith which had been preached in turn by all the prophets before him. And having arrived at that conviction, he was not the man to leave others to act upon it.P. 223, l. 9. In an article which appeared in theRivista degli studi orientali, 1916, p. 429 foll., Professor C. A. Nallino has shown that this account of the origin of the name "Mu‘tazilite" is erroneous. The word, as Mas‘údí says (Murúju ’l-Dhahab, vol. vi, p. 22, and vol. vii, p. 234), is derived fromi‘tizál,i.e.the doctrine that anyone who commits a capital sin has thereby withdrawn himself (i‘tazala) from the true believers and taken a position (described asfisq, impiety) midway between them and the infidels. According to the Murjites, such a person was still a true believer, while their opponents, the Wa‘ídites, and also the Khárijites, held him to be an unbeliever.P. 225, l. 1. The Ḥadíth, "No monkery (rahbániyya) in Islam," probably dates from the third century of the Hijra. According to the usual interpretation of Koran, LVII, 27, therahbániyyapractised by Christian ascetics is condemned as an innovation not authorised by divine ordinance; but Professor Massignon (Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane, p. 123 foll.) shows that by some of the early Moslem commentators and also by the Ṣúfís of the third centurya.h.this verse of the Koran was taken as justifying and commending those Christians who devoted themselves to the ascetic life, except in so far as they had neglected to fulfil its obligations.P. 225, l. 6 from foot. For the life and doctrines of Ḥasan of Baṣra, see Massignon,op. cit., p. 152 foll.P. 228foll. It can now be stated with certainty that the name "Ṣúfí" originated in Kúfa in the second centurya.h.and was at first confined to the mystics of ‘Iráq. Hence the earliest development of Ṣúfiism, properly so called, took place in a hotbed of Shí‘ite and Hellenistic (Christian and Gnostic) ideas.P. 233, l. 4 from foot. InRābi‘a the Mystic(Cambridge, 1928) Miss Margaret Smith has given a scholarly and sympathetic account of the life, legend, and teaching of this celebrated woman-saint. The statement that she died and was buried at Jerusalem is incorrect. Moslem writers have confused her with an earlier saint of the same name, Rábi‘a bint Ismá‘íl († 135).P. 313foll. The text and translation of 332 extracts from the Luzúmiyyát will be found in ch. ii of myStudies in Islamic Poetry, pp. 43-289.P. 318, l. 12. Since there is no warrant for the antithesis of "knaves" and "fools," these verses are more faithfully rendered (op. cit., p. 167):They all err—Moslems, Christians, Jews, and Magians;Two make Humanity's universal sect:One man intelligent without religion,And one religious without intellect.P. 318, l. 7 from foot.Al-Fuṣúl wa ’l-Gháyát. No copy of this work was known before 1919, when the discovery of the first part of it was announced (J.R.A.S., 1919, p. 449).P. 318, note 2. An edition of theRisálatu ’l-Ghufránby Shaykh Ibráhím al-Yáziji was published at Cairo in 1907.P. 319, l. 6. The epistle of ‘Alí b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalabí (Ibnu ’l-Qáriḥ), to which theRisálatu ’l-Ghufránis the reply, has been published inRasá’ilu ’l-Bulaghá, ed. Muḥammad Kurd ‘Alí (Cairo, 1913).P. 332, note 2. For rhymed prose renderings of the 11th and 12thMaqámas, seeTranslations of Eastern Poetry and Prose, pp. 116-124.P. 367, l. 7 from foot. New light has recently been thrown upon the character of the Mu‘tazilite movement by the publication of the Mu‘tazilite al-Khayyáṭ'sKitábu ’l-Intiṣár(ed. H. S. Nyberg, Cairo, 1926), a third (ninth) century polemical work directed against the Shí‘ite freethinker Ibnu ’l-Ráwandí (cf. p. 375supra). It is now evident that this "heretical" sect played an active part as champions of Islam, not only in the early controversies which arose between Moslems and Christians in Syria but also against the more dangerous attacks which proceeded in the first hundred years of the ‘Abbásid period from the Manichæans and other "zanádiqa" in Persia and especially in ‘Iráq (cf. I. Guidi,La Lotta tra l'Islam e il Manicheismo(Rome, 1927)). In order to meet these adversaries on equal terms, the Mu‘tazilites made themselves acquainted with Greek philosophy and logic, and thus laid the foundations of an Islamic scholasticism. Cf. H. H. Schaeder,Der Orient und die Griechische Erbein W. Jaeger'sDie Antike, vol. iv, p. 261 foll.P. 370, I. 3 foll. From what has been said in the preceding note it follows that this view of the relation between the Mu‘tazilites and theIkhwánu ’l-Ṣafárequires considerable modification. Although, in contrast to their orthodox opponents, the Mu‘tazilites may be described as "rationalists" and "liberal theologians," their principles were entirely opposed to the anti-Islamic eclecticism of theIkhwán.P. 375, note 2. Professor Schaeder thinks that Middle Persianzandíkhas nothing to do with the Aramaiczaddíq(Z.D.M.G., vol. 82, Heft 3-4, p. lxxx).Pp. 383-393. During the last twenty years our knowledge of early Ṣúfiism has increased, chiefly through the profound researches of Professor Massignon, to such an extent as to render the account given in these pages altogether inadequate. The subject being one of great difficulty and unsuitable for detailed exposition in a book of this kind, I must content myself with a few illustrative remarks and references, which will enable the student to obtain further information.P. 383. Massignon's view is that Ṣúfiism (down to the fourth centurya.h.) owed little to foreign influences and was fundamentally Islamic, a product of intensive study of the Koran and of inward meditation on its meaning and essential nature. There is great force in his argument, though I cannot help believing that the development of mysticism, like that of other contemporary branches of Moslem thought, must havebeen vitally affected by contact with the ancient Hellenistic culture of the Sásánian and Byzantine empires on its native soil. Cf. A. J. Wensinck,The Book of the Dove(Leyden, 1919) andMystic Treatises by Isaac of Niniveh(Amsterdam, 1923).P. 384, l. 1. The identity of third-century Ṣúfiism with the doctrines of the Vedanta is maintained by M. Horten (Indische Strömungen in der Islamischen Mystik, Heidelberg, 1927-8). Few, however, would admit this. The conversion of Ṣúfiism into a monistic philosophy was the work of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí (1165-1240a.d.). See p. 402 foll.P. 384, l. 5. The so-called "Theology of Aristotle," translated from Syriac into Arabic about 830a.d., is mainly an abstract of theEnneadsof Plotinus. There is an edition with German translation by Dieterici.P. 385, l. 11. All previous accounts of the development of mystical doctrines in Islam during the first three centuries after the Hijra have been superseded by Massignon's intimate analysis (Essai, chs. iv and v, pp. 116-286), which includes biographies of the eminent Ṣúfís of that period and is based upon an amazingly wide knowledge of original and mostly unpublished sources of information. A useful summary of these two chapters is given by Father Joseph Maréchal in hisStudies in the Psychology of the Mystics, tr. Thorold (1927), pp. 241-9.P. 386, l. 6 from foot. For Dhu ’l-Nún, see Massignon,op. cit., p. 184 foll.P. 389, l. 12.The Book of the Holy Hierotheoshas recently been edited in Syriac for the first time, with English translation, by F. S. Marsh (Text and Translation Society, 1927).P. 391. For Báyazíd of Bisṭám, see Massignon,op. cit., p. 243 foll. The oldest complete Arabic version of his "Ascension" (Mi‘ráj)—a spiritual dream-experience—has been edited and translated into English inIslamica, vol. ii, fasc. 3, p. 402 foll.P. 396, l. 8. See my essay on the Odes of Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ (Studies in Islamic Mysticism, pp. 162-266), which comprises translations of the Khamriyya and three-fourths of theTá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá.P. 399, note 1. With Ḥalláj, thanks to the monumental work of Massignon (La Passion d'al-Ḥalláj, 2 vols., Paris, 1922), we are now better acquainted than with any other Moslem mystic. His doctrine exhibits some remarkable affinities with Christianity and bears no traces of the pantheism attributed to him by later Ṣúfís as well as by Von Kremer and subsequent European writers. Cf. the summary given by Father Joseph Maréchal,op. cit., pp. 249-281, andThe Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism(Cambridge, 1922), pp. 26-37.P. 402, l. 9. For Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's theory of the Perfect Man, see Tor Andrae,Die Person Muhammeds, p. 339 foll., and for the same theory as expounded by ‘Abdu ’l-Karím al-Jílí († circ. 1410a.d.), a follower of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí, in his famous treatise entitledal-Insán al-Kámil, cf.Studies in Islamic Mysticism, pp. 77-142.P. 456, l. 1 foll. Here, though he is out of place in such an academic company, mention should have been made of Ibn Baṭṭúṭa of Tangier († 1377), whose frank and entertaining story of his almost world-wide travels, entitledTuḥfatu ’l-Nuẓẓár, is described by its latest translator, Mr H. A. R. Gibb, as "an authority for the social and cultural history of post-Mongol Islam."P. 465, last line. For a summary of the doctrines and history of the Wahhábís, see the articleWahhābīsby Professor D. S. Margoliouth in Hastings'Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics.P. 469.La littérature arabe au xixesiècle, by L. Cheikho (Beyrouth, 1908-10), which deals chiefly with the literature produced by the Christian Arabs of Syria, deserves mention as one of the few works on the subject written in a European language. The influence of Western ideas on Moslem theology may be studied in theRisálatu ’l-tauḥídof the great Egyptian divine, Muḥammad ‘Abduh (1842-1905), which has been translated into French by B. Michel and Mustapha ‘Abd el Razik (Paris, 1925).
P. xxii,l. 2. Arabic begins to appear in North Arabian inscriptions in the third centurya.d.Perhaps the oldest yet discovered is one, of which the probable date is 268a.d., published by Jaussen and Savignac (Mission archéologique en l'Arabie, vol. i, p. 172). Though it is written in Aramaic characters, nearly all the words are Arabic, as may be seen from the transcription given by Professor Horovitz inIslamic Culture(Hyderabad,Deccan), April 1929, vol. iii, No. 2, p. 169, note 2.
P. 4foll. Concerning the Sabaeans and the South Arabic inscriptions a great deal of valuable information will be found in the articleSaba’by J. Tkatsch in theEncyclopædia of Islam. The writer points out the special importance of the epigraphic discoveries of E. Glaser, who, in the course of four journeys (1882-94), collected over 2000 inscriptions. See also D. Nielsen,Handbuch der altarabischen Altertumskunde, vol. i (Copenhagen and Paris, 1927).
P. 13, note 2. Excerpts from theShamsu ’l-‘Ulúmrelating to South Arabia have been edited by Dr ‘Azímu’ddín Aḥmad (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xxiv).
P. 26foll. For contemporary and later Christian accounts of the martyrdom of the Christians of Najrán, see the fragmentaryBook of the Himyarites(Syriac text and English translation), ed. by A. Moberg in 1924, and cf. Tor Andrae,Der Ursprung des Islams und das Christentum(Uppsala, 1926), pp. 10-13.
P. 31. The collection of Arabic proverbs, entitledKitábu ’l-Fákhir, by Mufaḍḍal b. Salama of Kúfa, is now available in the excellent edition of Mr C. A. Storey (Leyden, 1915).
P. 32, note 1. An edition of theAgháníwith critical notes is in course of publication at Cairo.
P. 52, l. 9 foll. The battle mentioned here cannot be the battle of ‘Ayn Ubágh, which took place between Ḥárith, the son of Ḥárith b. Jabala, and Mundhir IV of Ḥíra about 583a.d.(Guidi,L'Arabie antéislamique, p. 27).
P. 127, l. 16. The odeBánat Su‘ádis rendered into English in myTranslations of Eastern Poetry and Prose, pp. 19-23.
P. 133. As regards the authenticity of the Pre-islamic poems which have come down to us, the observations of one of the greatest authorities on the subject, the late Sir Charles J. Lyall, seem to me to be eminently judicious (Introduction to theMufaḍḍalīyāt, vol. ii, pp. xvi-xxvi). He concludes that "upon the whole, the impression which a close study of these ancient relics gives is that we must take them, generally speaking, as the production of the men whose names they bear." All that can be urged against this view has been said with his usual learning by Professor Margoliouth (The Origins of Arabic Poetry, J.R.A.S., 1925, p. 417 foll.).
P. 145, l. 2. The oldest extant commentary on the Koran is that of Bukhárí in ch. 65 of theṢaḥíḥ, ed. Krehl, vol. iii, pp. 193-390.
P. 146, note 2. Recent investigators (Caetani and Lammens) are far more sceptical. Cf. Snouck Hurgronje,Mohammedanism, p. 22 foll.
P. 152, note 5. As suggested by Mr Richard Bell (The Origin of Islam in its Christian environment, p. 88), the wordrujzis in all likelihood identical with the Syriacrugza, wrath, so that this verse of the Koran means, "Flee from the wrath to come."
P. 170, l. 2 foll. This is one of the passages I should have liked to omit. Even in its present form, it maintains a standpoint which I have long regarded as mistaken.
P. 184, l. 4 foll. Professor Snouck Hurgronje (Mohammedanism, p. 44) asks, "Was Mohammed conscious of the universality of his mission?" and decides that he was not. I now agree that "in the beginning he conceived his work as merely the Arabian part of a universal task"—in which casedhikrunli ’l-‘álamínin the passage quoted will mean "a warning to all the people (of Mecca or Arabia)." But similar expressions in Súras of the Medina period carry, I think, a wider significance. The conception of Islam as a world-religion is implied in Mohammed's later belief—he only came to it gradually—that the Jewish and Christian scriptures are corrupt and that the Koran alone represents the original Faith which had been preached in turn by all the prophets before him. And having arrived at that conviction, he was not the man to leave others to act upon it.
P. 223, l. 9. In an article which appeared in theRivista degli studi orientali, 1916, p. 429 foll., Professor C. A. Nallino has shown that this account of the origin of the name "Mu‘tazilite" is erroneous. The word, as Mas‘údí says (Murúju ’l-Dhahab, vol. vi, p. 22, and vol. vii, p. 234), is derived fromi‘tizál,i.e.the doctrine that anyone who commits a capital sin has thereby withdrawn himself (i‘tazala) from the true believers and taken a position (described asfisq, impiety) midway between them and the infidels. According to the Murjites, such a person was still a true believer, while their opponents, the Wa‘ídites, and also the Khárijites, held him to be an unbeliever.
P. 225, l. 1. The Ḥadíth, "No monkery (rahbániyya) in Islam," probably dates from the third century of the Hijra. According to the usual interpretation of Koran, LVII, 27, therahbániyyapractised by Christian ascetics is condemned as an innovation not authorised by divine ordinance; but Professor Massignon (Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane, p. 123 foll.) shows that by some of the early Moslem commentators and also by the Ṣúfís of the third centurya.h.this verse of the Koran was taken as justifying and commending those Christians who devoted themselves to the ascetic life, except in so far as they had neglected to fulfil its obligations.
P. 225, l. 6 from foot. For the life and doctrines of Ḥasan of Baṣra, see Massignon,op. cit., p. 152 foll.
P. 228foll. It can now be stated with certainty that the name "Ṣúfí" originated in Kúfa in the second centurya.h.and was at first confined to the mystics of ‘Iráq. Hence the earliest development of Ṣúfiism, properly so called, took place in a hotbed of Shí‘ite and Hellenistic (Christian and Gnostic) ideas.
P. 233, l. 4 from foot. InRābi‘a the Mystic(Cambridge, 1928) Miss Margaret Smith has given a scholarly and sympathetic account of the life, legend, and teaching of this celebrated woman-saint. The statement that she died and was buried at Jerusalem is incorrect. Moslem writers have confused her with an earlier saint of the same name, Rábi‘a bint Ismá‘íl († 135).
P. 313foll. The text and translation of 332 extracts from the Luzúmiyyát will be found in ch. ii of myStudies in Islamic Poetry, pp. 43-289.
P. 318, l. 12. Since there is no warrant for the antithesis of "knaves" and "fools," these verses are more faithfully rendered (op. cit., p. 167):
They all err—Moslems, Christians, Jews, and Magians;Two make Humanity's universal sect:One man intelligent without religion,And one religious without intellect.
They all err—Moslems, Christians, Jews, and Magians;Two make Humanity's universal sect:One man intelligent without religion,And one religious without intellect.
P. 318, l. 7 from foot.Al-Fuṣúl wa ’l-Gháyát. No copy of this work was known before 1919, when the discovery of the first part of it was announced (J.R.A.S., 1919, p. 449).
P. 318, note 2. An edition of theRisálatu ’l-Ghufránby Shaykh Ibráhím al-Yáziji was published at Cairo in 1907.
P. 319, l. 6. The epistle of ‘Alí b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalabí (Ibnu ’l-Qáriḥ), to which theRisálatu ’l-Ghufránis the reply, has been published inRasá’ilu ’l-Bulaghá, ed. Muḥammad Kurd ‘Alí (Cairo, 1913).
P. 332, note 2. For rhymed prose renderings of the 11th and 12thMaqámas, seeTranslations of Eastern Poetry and Prose, pp. 116-124.
P. 367, l. 7 from foot. New light has recently been thrown upon the character of the Mu‘tazilite movement by the publication of the Mu‘tazilite al-Khayyáṭ'sKitábu ’l-Intiṣár(ed. H. S. Nyberg, Cairo, 1926), a third (ninth) century polemical work directed against the Shí‘ite freethinker Ibnu ’l-Ráwandí (cf. p. 375supra). It is now evident that this "heretical" sect played an active part as champions of Islam, not only in the early controversies which arose between Moslems and Christians in Syria but also against the more dangerous attacks which proceeded in the first hundred years of the ‘Abbásid period from the Manichæans and other "zanádiqa" in Persia and especially in ‘Iráq (cf. I. Guidi,La Lotta tra l'Islam e il Manicheismo(Rome, 1927)). In order to meet these adversaries on equal terms, the Mu‘tazilites made themselves acquainted with Greek philosophy and logic, and thus laid the foundations of an Islamic scholasticism. Cf. H. H. Schaeder,Der Orient und die Griechische Erbein W. Jaeger'sDie Antike, vol. iv, p. 261 foll.
P. 370, I. 3 foll. From what has been said in the preceding note it follows that this view of the relation between the Mu‘tazilites and theIkhwánu ’l-Ṣafárequires considerable modification. Although, in contrast to their orthodox opponents, the Mu‘tazilites may be described as "rationalists" and "liberal theologians," their principles were entirely opposed to the anti-Islamic eclecticism of theIkhwán.
P. 375, note 2. Professor Schaeder thinks that Middle Persianzandíkhas nothing to do with the Aramaiczaddíq(Z.D.M.G., vol. 82, Heft 3-4, p. lxxx).
Pp. 383-393. During the last twenty years our knowledge of early Ṣúfiism has increased, chiefly through the profound researches of Professor Massignon, to such an extent as to render the account given in these pages altogether inadequate. The subject being one of great difficulty and unsuitable for detailed exposition in a book of this kind, I must content myself with a few illustrative remarks and references, which will enable the student to obtain further information.
P. 383. Massignon's view is that Ṣúfiism (down to the fourth centurya.h.) owed little to foreign influences and was fundamentally Islamic, a product of intensive study of the Koran and of inward meditation on its meaning and essential nature. There is great force in his argument, though I cannot help believing that the development of mysticism, like that of other contemporary branches of Moslem thought, must havebeen vitally affected by contact with the ancient Hellenistic culture of the Sásánian and Byzantine empires on its native soil. Cf. A. J. Wensinck,The Book of the Dove(Leyden, 1919) andMystic Treatises by Isaac of Niniveh(Amsterdam, 1923).
P. 384, l. 1. The identity of third-century Ṣúfiism with the doctrines of the Vedanta is maintained by M. Horten (Indische Strömungen in der Islamischen Mystik, Heidelberg, 1927-8). Few, however, would admit this. The conversion of Ṣúfiism into a monistic philosophy was the work of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí (1165-1240a.d.). See p. 402 foll.
P. 384, l. 5. The so-called "Theology of Aristotle," translated from Syriac into Arabic about 830a.d., is mainly an abstract of theEnneadsof Plotinus. There is an edition with German translation by Dieterici.
P. 385, l. 11. All previous accounts of the development of mystical doctrines in Islam during the first three centuries after the Hijra have been superseded by Massignon's intimate analysis (Essai, chs. iv and v, pp. 116-286), which includes biographies of the eminent Ṣúfís of that period and is based upon an amazingly wide knowledge of original and mostly unpublished sources of information. A useful summary of these two chapters is given by Father Joseph Maréchal in hisStudies in the Psychology of the Mystics, tr. Thorold (1927), pp. 241-9.
P. 386, l. 6 from foot. For Dhu ’l-Nún, see Massignon,op. cit., p. 184 foll.
P. 389, l. 12.The Book of the Holy Hierotheoshas recently been edited in Syriac for the first time, with English translation, by F. S. Marsh (Text and Translation Society, 1927).
P. 391. For Báyazíd of Bisṭám, see Massignon,op. cit., p. 243 foll. The oldest complete Arabic version of his "Ascension" (Mi‘ráj)—a spiritual dream-experience—has been edited and translated into English inIslamica, vol. ii, fasc. 3, p. 402 foll.
P. 396, l. 8. See my essay on the Odes of Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ (Studies in Islamic Mysticism, pp. 162-266), which comprises translations of the Khamriyya and three-fourths of theTá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá.
P. 399, note 1. With Ḥalláj, thanks to the monumental work of Massignon (La Passion d'al-Ḥalláj, 2 vols., Paris, 1922), we are now better acquainted than with any other Moslem mystic. His doctrine exhibits some remarkable affinities with Christianity and bears no traces of the pantheism attributed to him by later Ṣúfís as well as by Von Kremer and subsequent European writers. Cf. the summary given by Father Joseph Maréchal,op. cit., pp. 249-281, andThe Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism(Cambridge, 1922), pp. 26-37.
P. 402, l. 9. For Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's theory of the Perfect Man, see Tor Andrae,Die Person Muhammeds, p. 339 foll., and for the same theory as expounded by ‘Abdu ’l-Karím al-Jílí († circ. 1410a.d.), a follower of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí, in his famous treatise entitledal-Insán al-Kámil, cf.Studies in Islamic Mysticism, pp. 77-142.
P. 456, l. 1 foll. Here, though he is out of place in such an academic company, mention should have been made of Ibn Baṭṭúṭa of Tangier († 1377), whose frank and entertaining story of his almost world-wide travels, entitledTuḥfatu ’l-Nuẓẓár, is described by its latest translator, Mr H. A. R. Gibb, as "an authority for the social and cultural history of post-Mongol Islam."
P. 465, last line. For a summary of the doctrines and history of the Wahhábís, see the articleWahhābīsby Professor D. S. Margoliouth in Hastings'Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics.
P. 469.La littérature arabe au xixesiècle, by L. Cheikho (Beyrouth, 1908-10), which deals chiefly with the literature produced by the Christian Arabs of Syria, deserves mention as one of the few works on the subject written in a European language. The influence of Western ideas on Moslem theology may be studied in theRisálatu ’l-tauḥídof the great Egyptian divine, Muḥammad ‘Abduh (1842-1905), which has been translated into French by B. Michel and Mustapha ‘Abd el Razik (Paris, 1925).
The following list is intended to give students of Arabic as well as those who cannot read that language the means of obtaining further information concerning the various topics which fall within the scope of a work such as this. Since anything approaching to a complete bibliography is out of the question, I have mentioned only a few of the most important translations from Arabic into English, French, German, and Latin; and I have omitted (1) monographs on particular Arabic writers, whose names, together with the principal European works relating to them, will be found in Brockelmann's great History of Arabic Literature, and (2) a large number of books and articles which appeal to specialists rather than to students. Additional information is supplied by E. G. Browne in hisLiterary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 481-496, and D. B. Macdonald in hisDevelopment of Muslim Theology, etc.(London, 1903), pp. 358-367, while the Appendix to H. A. R. Gibb'sArabic Literature(Oxford University Press, 1926) contains a well-chosen list of books of reference and translations. Those who require more detailed references may consult theBibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou relatifs aux Arabes publ. dans l'Europe chrétienne de 1810 à 1885, by V. Chauvin (Liège, 1892-1903), theOrientalische Bibliographie, edited by A. Müller, E. Kuhn, and L. Scherman (Berlin, 1887—), theHandbuch der Islam-Litteratur, by D. G. Pfannmüller (Berlin and Leipzig, 1923), and theCatalogue of the Arabic Books in the British Museum, by A. G. Ellis, 2 vols. (London, 1894-1902) with theSupplementary Catalogue, by A. S. Fulton and A. G. Ellis (London, 1926).
As a rule, titles of monographs and works of a specialistic character which have been already given in the footnotes are not repeated in the Bibliography.
1.Die Semitischen Sprachen, by Th. Nöldeke (2nd ed. Leipzig, 1899).An improved and enlarged reprint of the German original of his article, 'Semitic Languages,' in theEncyclopædia Britannica(9th edition).
2.A Grammar of the Arabic Language, by W. Wright, 3rd ed., revised by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1896-98).The best Arabic grammar for advanced students. Beginners may prefer to use the abridgment by F. du Pre Thornton,Elementary Arabic: a Grammar(Cambridge University Press, 1905).
3.Arabic-English Lexicon, by E. W. Lane, 8 parts (London, 1863-93).This monumental work is unfortunately incomplete. Among other lexica those of Freytag (Arabic and Latin, 4 vols., Halle, 1830-37), A. de Biberstein Kazimirski (Arabic and French, 2 vols., Paris, 1846-60, and 4 vols., Cairo, 1875), and Dozy'sSupplément aux Dictionnaires arabes, 2 vols. (Leyden, 1881), deserve special notice. Smaller dictionaries, sufficient for ordinary purposes, have been compiled by Belot (Dictionnaire arabe-français, Beyrout, 1928), and Wortabet and Porter (Arabic-English Dictionary, 3rd ed., Beyrout, 1913).
4.Abhandlungen zur Arabischen Philologie, by Ignaz Goldziher, Part I (Leyden, 1896).Contains masterly studies on the origins of Arabic Poetry and other matters connected with literary history.
5.Die Rhetorik der Araber, by A. F. Mehren (Copenhagen, 1853).
6.The Encyclopædia of Islam(Leyden, 1913—).A great number of Orientalists have contributed to this invaluable work, of which the first half (A-L) is now completed.
7.Chronique de Ṭabarí, traduite sur la version persane de ... Bel‘amí, by H. Zotenberg, 4 vols. (Paris, 1867-74).
8. TheMurúju ’l-Dhahabof Mas‘údí (Maçoudi: Les Prairies d'Or), Arabic text with French translation by Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, 9 vols., (Paris, 1861-77).The works of Ṭabarí and Mas‘údí are the most ancient and celebrated Universal Histories in the Arabic language.
9.Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici arabice et latine, by J. J. Reiske, 5 vols. (Hafniæ, 1789-94).
10.Der Islam im Morgen- und Abendland, by August Müller, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1885-87).
11.Histoire des Arabes, by C. Huart, 2 vols. (Paris, 1912).
12.A Short History of the Saracens, by Syed Ameer Ali (London, 1921).
13.Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme, by R. Dozy, translated from the Dutch by Victor Chauvin (Leyden and Paris, 1879).
14.The Preaching of Islam, a History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith, by T. W. Arnold (2nd ed., London, 1913).
15.Sketches from Eastern History, by Th. Nöldeke, translated by J. S. Black (London, 1892).
16.The Mohammadan Dynasties, by Stanley Lane-Poole (London, 1894).Indispensable to the student of Moslem history.
17.Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und Familien mit historischen und geographischen Bemerkungen in einem alphabetischen Register, by F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1852-53).
18.Ibn Khallikán's Biographical Dictionary, translated from the Arabic by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 4 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1842-71).One of the most characteristic, instructive, and interesting books in Arabic literature.
19.Géographie d'Aboulféda, traduite de l'arabe, by Reinaud and Guyard, 2 vols. (Paris, 1848-83).
20.Travels in Arabia Deserta, by C. M. Doughty, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1888).Gives a true and vivid picture of Bedouin life and manners.
21.Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah and Meccah, by Sir R. F. Burton, 2 vols. (London, 1898).
22.The Penetration of Arabia: a record of the development of Western knowledge concerning the Arabian Peninsula, by D. G. Hogarth (London, 1905).
23. Ḥájjí Khalífa,Lexicon bibliographicum et encyclopædicum, Arabic text and Latin translation, by G. Flügel, 7 vols. (Leipzig and London, 1835-58).
24.Die Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihre Werke(aus dem xxviii. und xxix. Bande der Abhand. d. Königl. Ges. d. Wiss. zu Göttingen), by F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1882).
25.Litteraturgeschichte der Araber bis zum Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts der Hidschret, by J. von Hammer-Purgstall, 7 vols. (Vienna, 1850-56).A work of immense extent, but unscientific and extremely inaccurate.
26.Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, by Carl Brockelmann, 2 vols. (Weimar, 1898-1902).Invaluable for bibliography and biography.
27.A Literary History of Persia, by E. G. Browne, vol. i from the earliest times to Firdawsí (London, 1902), and vol. ii down to the Mongol Invasion (London, 1906).The first volume in particular of this well-known work contains much information concerning the literary history of the Arabs.
28.A History of Arabic Literature, by Clement Huart (London, 1903).The student will find this manual useful for purposes of reference.
29.Arabic Literature: an Introduction, by H. A. R. Gibb (London, 1926).A trustworthy outline of the subject.
30.Arabum Proverbia, Arabic text with Latin translation, by G. W. Freytag, 3 vols. (Bonn, 1838-43).
31.Arabic Proverbs, by J. L. Burckhardt (2nd ed., London, 1875).
32.Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme, by A. P. Caussin de Perceval, 3 vols. (Paris, 1847-48).Affords an excellent survey of Pre-islamic legend and tradition.
33.Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, translated from the Annals of Ṭabarí, by Th. Nöldeke (Leyden, 1879).The ample commentary accompanying the translation is valuable and important in the highest degree.
34.Fünf Mo‘allaqát übersetzt und erklärt, by Th. Nöldeke (Vienna, 1899-1901).The omittedMu‘allaqasare those of Imru’u ’l-Qays and Tarafa.
35.The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, translated from the original Arabic by Lady Anne Blunt and done into English verse by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (London, 1903).
36.Hamâsa oder die ältesten arabischen Volkslieder übersetzt und erläutert, by Friedrich Rückert, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1846).Masterly verse-translations of the old Arabian poetry.
37.Translations of ancient Arabian poetry, chiefly Pre-islamic, with an introduction and notes, by C. J. Lyall (London, 1885).
38.Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber, by Th. Nöldeke (Hannover, 1864).
39.Studien in arabischen Dichtern, Heft iii,Altarabisches Beduinenleben nach den Quellen geschildert, by G. Jacob (Berlin, 1897).
40.Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, by W. Robertson Smith (2nd ed., London, 1903).
41.Lectures on the Religion of the Semites, First Series, by W. Robertson Smith, 3rd ed., revised by S. A. Cook (London, 1927).
42.Reste Arabischen Heidentums, by J. Wellhausen (2nd ed., Berlin, 1897).
43.Das Leben Mohammed's, translated from the Arabic biography of Ibn Hishám by G. Weil, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1864).
44.Muhammed in Medina, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1882).An abridged translation of Wáqidí's work on Muḥammad's Campaigns.
45.Das Leben und die Lehre des Moḥammad, by A. Sprenger, 3 vols. (Berlin, 1861-65).
46.Life of Mahomet, by Sir W. Muir, ed. by T. H. Weir (Edinburgh, 1923).
47.Das Leben Muhammed's nach den Quellen populär dargestellt, by Th. Nöldeke (Hannover, 1863).
48.The Spirit of Islam, by Syed Ameer Ali (London, 1922).
49.Mohammed, by H. Grimme, 2 vols. (Münster, 1892-95).
50.Die weltgeschichtliche Bedeutung Arabiens: Mohammed, by H. Grimme (Munich, 1904).
51.Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, by D. S. Margoliouth in 'Heroes of the Nations' Series (London and New York, 1905).
52.Mohammed and Islam, by A. A. Bevan inThe Cambridge Mediæval History, vol. ii, ch. 10 (Cambridge, 1913).
53.Die Person Muhammeds in Lehre und Glauben seiner Gemeinde, by Tor Andrae (Uppsala, 1918).
54.The origin of Islam in its Christian environment, by R. Bell (London, 1926).
55.Annali dell' Islām, by Leone Caetani, Principe di Teano, vol. i (Milan, 1905).Besides a very full and readable historical introduction this magnificent work contains a detailed account of Muḥammad's life during the first six years after the Hijra (622-628a.d.).
56.The Koran, translated into English with notes and a preliminary discourse, by G. Sale (London, 1734).Sale's translation, which has been frequently reprinted, is still serviceable. Mention may also be made of the English versions by J. M. Rodwell (London and Hertford, 1861) and by E. H. Palmer (the best from a literary point of view) in vols. vi and ix of 'The Sacred Books of the East' (Oxford, 1880); reprinted inThe World's Classics, vol. 328.
57.Geschichte des Qorâns, by Th. Nöldeke, 2nd ed., revised by F. Schwally (Leipzig, 1909-19).Cf.Nöldeke's essay, 'The Koran,' inSketches from Eastern History, pp. 21-59, or his article in theEncyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.).
58.The Teaching of the Qur’ān, by H. W. Stanton (London, 1920).
59.The Caliphate, by T. W. Arnold (Oxford, 1924).
60.Geschichte der Chalifen, by G. Weil, 3 vols. (Mannheim, 1846-51).Completed by the same author'sGeschichte des Abbasiden-Chalifats in Egypten, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1860-62).
61.Annals of the Early Caliphate, by Sir W. Muir (London, 1883).
62.The Caliphate, its rise, decline, and fall, by Sir W. Muir (2nd ed., London, 1924).
63.The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the last thirty years of Roman dominion, by A. J. Butler (London, 1902).
64.Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1902).An excellent history of the Umayyad dynasty based on the Annals of Tabarí.
65.The Eclipse of the Abbasid Caliphate, by H. F. Amedroz and D. S. Margoliouth, 7 vols. (Oxford, 1920-1).Arabic texts and translations valuable for the history of the fourth centurya.h.
66.The life and times of ‘Alí b. ‘Ísá, the Good Vizier, by H. Bowen (Cambridge, 1928).
67.Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen, nach arabischen Quellen, by F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1881).
68.Prolégomènes d'Ibn Khaldoun, a French translation of theMuqaddimaor Introduction prefixed by Ibn Khaldún to his Universal History, by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 3 vols. (inNotices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Impériale, vols. xix-xxi, Paris, 1863-68).
69.Culturgeschichte des Orients unter den Chalifen, by A. von Kremer, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1875-77).
70.Culturgeschichtliche Streifzüge auf dem Gebiete des Islams, by A. von Kremer (Leipzig, 1873).This work has been translated into English by S. Khuda Bukhsh in hisContributions to the History of Islamic Civilization(Calcutta, 1905; 2nd ed., 1929).
71.Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Islams, by A. von Kremer (Leipzig, 1868).A celebrated and most illuminating book.
72.La civilisation des Arabes, by G. Le Bon (Paris, 1884).
73.Muhammedanische Studien, by Ignaz Goldziher (Halle, 1888-90).This book, which has frequently been cited in the foregoing pages, should be read by every serious student of Moslem civilisation.
74.Islamstudien, vol. i, by C. H. Becker (Leipzig, 1924).
75.Umayyads and ‘Abbásids, being the Fourth Part of Jurji Zaydán'sHistory of Islamic Civilisation, translated by D. S. Margoliouth (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial, vol. iv, 1907).
76.Die Renaissance des Islams, by A. Mez (Heidelberg, 1922).
77.Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, by G. le Strange (Oxford, 1900).
78.A Baghdad Chronicle, by R. Levy (Cambridge, 1929).
79.The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, by G. le Strange (Cambridge, 1905).
80.Palestine under the Moslems, by G. le Strange (London, 1890).
81.Painting in Islam, by T. W. Arnold (Oxford, 1928).
82.Moslem Architecture, by G. T. Rivoira, translated by G. M. Rushforth (Oxford, 1919).
83.Arabian Society in the Middle Ages, by E. W. Lane, edited by Stanley Lane-Poole (London, 1883).
84.Die Araber im Mittelalter und ihr Einfluss auf die Cultur Europa's, by G. Diercks (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1882).
85.An account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, by E. W. Lane (5th ed., London, 1871).
86.Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence, and Constitutional Theory, by Duncan B. Macdonald (London, 1903).The best general sketch of the subject.
87.Asch-Schahrastâni's Religionspartheien und Philosophen-Schulen, translated by T. Haarbrücker (Halle, 1850-51).
88.The Traditions of Islam, by A. Guillaume (Oxford, 1924).See also No. 73, Pt. ii.
89.Les traditions islamiques trad. de l'arabe, by O. Houdas and W. Marçais (Paris, 1903-14).A translation of the celebrated collection of Traditions by Bukhárí.
90.A Handbook of early Muhammadan Tradition, by A. J. Wensinck (Leyden, 1927).
91.Mohammedanism, by C. Snouck Hurgronje (American lectures on the history of religions, 1916).
92.Vorlesungen über den Islam, by I. Goldziher (Heidelberg, 1910; 2nd ed., 1925).
93.The Early Development of Mohammedanism, by D. S. Margoliouth (London, 1914; re-issued, 1927).
94.L'Islam, croyances et institutions, by H. Lammens (Beyrout, 1926); translation by E. Denison Ross (London, 1929).
95.The Islamic Faith, by T. W. Arnold (Benn's Sixpenny Library, No. 42).
96.The History of Philosophy in Islam, by T. J. de Boer, translated by E. R. Jones (London, 1903).
97.Die Mutaziliten oder die Freidenker im Islam, by H. Steiner (Leipzig, 1865).
98.Die Philosophie der Araber im X. Jahrhundert n. Chr. aus den Schriften der lautern Brüder herausgegeben, by F. Dieterici (Berlin and Leipzig, 1861-79).
99.Averroes et l'Averroisme, by E. Renan (Paris, 1861).
100.Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe, by S. Munk (Paris, 1859).
101.Fragments, relatifs à la doctrine des Ismaélîs, by S. Guyard (Paris, 1874).