A Literary History of the Arabs Part 34

The reader may judge from these extracts whether the _a.s.semblies_ of ?ariri are so deficient in matter as some critics have imagined. But, of course, the celebrity of the work is mainly due to its consummate literary form--a point on which the Arabs have always bestowed singular attention. ?ariri himself was a subtle grammarian, living in Ba?ra, the home of philological science;[629] and though he wrote to please rather than to instruct, he seems to have resolved that his work should ill.u.s.trate every beauty and nicety of which the Arabic language is capable. We Europeans can see as little merit or taste in the verbal conceits--equivoques, paronomasias, a.s.sonances, alliterations, &c.--with which his pages are thickly studded, as in _tours de force_ of composition which may be read either forwards or backwards, or which consist entirely of pointed or of unpointed letters; but our impatience of such things should not blind us to the fact that they are intimately connected with the genius and traditions of the Arabic tongue,[630] and therefore stand on a very different footing from those euphuistic extravagances which appear, for example, in English literature of the Elizabethan age. By ?ariri's countrymen the _Maqamat_ are prized as an almost unique monument of their language, antiquities, and culture.

One of the author's contemporaries, the famous Zamakhshari, has expressed the general verdict in pithy verse--

"I swear by G.o.d and His marvels, By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine: ?ariri's _a.s.semblies_ are worthy To be written in gold each line."

[Sidenote: The religious literature of the period.]

Concerning some of the specifically religious sciences, such as Dogmatic Theology and Mysticism, we shall have more to say in the following chapter, while as to the science of Apostolic Tradition (_?adith_) we must refer the reader to what has been already said. All that can be attempted here is to take a pa.s.sing notice of the most eminent writers and the most celebrated works of this epoch in the field of religion.

[Sidenote: Malik b. Anas (713-795 A.D.).]

The place of honour belongs to the Imam Malik b. Anas of Medina, whose _Muwa??a'_ is the first great _corpus_ of Mu?ammadan Law. He was a partisan of the 'Alids, and was flogged by command of the Caliph Man?ur in consequence of his declaration that he did not consider the oath of allegiance to the 'Abbasid dynasty to have any binding effect.

[Sidenote: Bukhari and Muslim.]

The two princ.i.p.al authorities for Apostolic Tradition are Bukhari ( 870 A.D.) and Muslim ( 875 A.D.), authors of the collections ent.i.tled _?a?i?_. Compilations of a narrower range, embracing only those traditions which bear on the _Sunna_ or custom of the Prophet, are the _Sunan_ of Abu Dawud al-Sijistani ( 889 A.D.), the _Jami'_ of Abu 'Isa Mu?ammad al-Tirmidhi ( 892 A.D.), the _Sunan_ of al-Nasa'i ( 915 A.D.), and the _Sunan_ of Ibn Maja ( 896 A.D.). These, together with the _?a?i?s_ of Bukhari and Muslim, form the Six Canonical Books (_al-kutub al-sitta_), which are held in the highest veneration. Amongst the innumerable works of a similar kind produced in this period it will suffice to mention the _Ma?abi?u 'l-Sunna_ by al-Baghawi ( _circa_ 1120 A.D.). A later adaptation called _Mishkatu 'l-Ma?abi?_ has been often printed, and is still extremely popular.

[Sidenote: Mawardi ( 1058 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Arabic authorities on ?ufiism.]

[Sidenote: Ghazali ( 1111 A.D.).]

Omitting the great manuals of Moslem Jurisprudence, which are without literary interest in the larger sense, we may pause for a moment at the name of al-Mawardi, a Shafi'ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise on politics--the _Kitabu 'l-A?kam al-Sul?aniyya_, or 'Book of the Principles of Government.' His standpoint is purely theoretical. Thus he lays down that the Caliph should be elected by the body of learned, pious, and orthodox divines, and that the people must leave the administration of the State to the Caliph absolutely, as being its representative. Mawardi lived at Baghdad during the period of Buwayhid ascendancy, a period described by Sir W. Muir in the following words: "The pages of our annalists are now almost entirely occupied with the political events of the day, in the guidance of which the Caliphs had seldom any concern, and which therefore need no mention here."[631]

Under the 'Abbasid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the ?ufis were systematised and expounded. Some of the most important Arabic works of reference on ?ufiism are the _Qutu 'l-Qulub_, or 'Food of Hearts,' by Abu ?alib al-Makki ( 996 A.D.); the _Kitabu 'l-Ta'arruf li-Madhhabi ahli 'l-Ta?awwuf_, or 'Book of Enquiry as to the Religion of the ?ufis,' by Mu?ammad b. Is?aq al-Kalabadhi ( _circa_ 1000 A.D.); the _?abaqatu 'l-?ufiyya_, or 'Cla.s.ses of the ?ufis,' by Abu 'Abd al-Ra?man al-Sulami ( 1021 A.D.); the _?ilyatu 'l-Awliya_, or 'Adornment of the Saints,' by Abu Nu'aym al-I?fahani ( 1038 A.D.); the _Risalatu 'l-Qushayriyya_, or 'Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu 'l-Qasim al-Qushayri of Naysabur ( 1074 A.D.); the _I?ya'u 'Ulum al-Din_, or 'Revivification of the Religious Sciences,' by Ghazali ( 1111 A.D.); and the _'Awarifu 'l-Ma'arif_, or 'Bounties of Knowledge,'

by s.h.i.+habu 'l-Din Abu ?af? 'Umar al-Suhrawardi ( 1234 A.D.)--a list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic Theology there is none to compare with Abu ?amid al-Ghazali, surnamed 'the Proof of Islam'

(_?ujjatu 'l-Islam_). He is a figure of such towering importance that some detailed account of his life and opinions must be inserted in a book like this, which professes to ill.u.s.trate the history of Mu?ammadan thought. Here, however, we shall only give an outline of his biography in order to pave the way for discussion of his intellectual achievements and his far-reaching influence.

[Sidenote: Life of Ghazali according to the _Shadharatu 'l-Dhahab_.]

"In this year (505 A.H. = 1111 A.D.) died the Imam, who was the Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, Abu ?amid Mu?ammad ... of ?us, the Shafi'ite. His death took place on the 14th of the Latter Jumada at ?abaran, a village near ?us. He was then fifty-five years of age. Ghazzali is equivalent to Ghazzal, like 'A??ari (for 'A??ar) and Khabbazi (for Khabbaz), in the dialect of the people of Khurasan[632]: so it is stated by the author of the _'Ibar_.[633] Al-Isnawi says in his _?abaqat_[634]:--Ghazzali is an Imam by whose name b.r.e.a.s.t.s are dilated and souls are revived, and in whose literary productions the ink-horn exults and the paper quivers with joy; and at the hearing thereof voices are hushed and heads are bowed. He was born at ?us in the year 450 A.H. = 1058-1059 A.D. His father used to spin wool (_yaghzilu 'l-?uf_) and sell it in his shop. On his deathbed he committed his two sons, Ghazzali himself and his brother A?mad, to the care of a pious ?ufi, who taught them writing and educated them until the money left him by their father was all spent. 'Then,'

says Ghazzali, 'we went to the college to learn divinity (_fiqh_) so that we might gain our livelihood.' After studying there for some time he journeyed to Abu Na?r al-Isma'ili in Jurjan, then to the Imamu 'l-?aramayn[635] at Naysabur, under whom he studied with such a.s.siduity that he became the best scholastic of his contemporaries (_?ara an?ara ahli zamanihi_), and he lectured _ex cathedra_ in his master's lifetime, and wrote books.... And on the death of his master he set out for the Camp[636] and presented himself to the Ni?amu 'l-Mulk, whose a.s.sembly was the alighting-place of the learned and the destination of the leading divines and savants; and there, as was due to his high merit, he enjoyed the society of the princ.i.p.al doctors, and disputed with his opponents and reb.u.t.ted them in spite of their eminence. So the Ni?amu 'l-Mulk inclined to him and showed him great honour, and his name flew through the world. Then, in the year '84 (1091 A.D.) he was called to a professors.h.i.+p in the Ni?amiyya College at Baghdad, where a splendid reception awaited him. His words reached far and wide, and his influence soon exceeded that of the Emirs and Viziers. But at last his lofty spirit recoiled from worldly vanities. He gave himself up to devotion and dervishhood, and set out, in the year '88 (1095 A.D.), for the ?ijaz.[637] On his return from the Pilgrimage he journeyed to Damascus and made his abode there for ten years in the minaret of the Congregational Mosque, and composed several works, of which the _I?ya_ is said to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and Alexandria, he returned to his home at ?us, intent on writing and wors.h.i.+p and constant recitation of the Koran and dissemination of knowledge and avoidance of intercourse with men. The Vizier Fakhru 'l-Mulk,[638]

son of the Ni?amu 'l-Mulk, came to see him, and urged him by every means in his power to accept a professors.h.i.+p in the Ni?amiyya College at Naysabur.[639] Ghazzali consented, but after teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end his days in his native town."

[Sidenote: His princ.i.p.al works.]

Besides his _magnum opus_, the already-mentioned _I?ya_, in which he expounds theology and the ethics of religion from the standpoint of the moderate ?ufi school, Ghazali wrote a great number of important works, such as the _Munqidh mina 'l-?alal_, or 'Deliverer from Error,' a sort of 'Apologia pro Vita Sua'; the _Kimiya'u 'l-Sa'adat_, or 'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was originally written in Persian; and the _Tahafutu 'l-Falasifa_, or 'Collapse of the Philosophers,' a polemical treatise designed to refute and destroy the doctrines of Moslem philosophy. This work called forth a rejoinder from the celebrated Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who died at Morocco in 1198-1199 A.D.

[Sidenote: Shahrastani's 'Book of Religions and Sects.']

Here we may notice two valuable works on the history of religion, both of which are generally known as _Kitabu 'l-Milal wa-'l-Ni?al_,[640]

that is to say, 'The Book of Religions and Sects,' by Ibn ?azm of Cordova ( 1064 A.D.) and Abu 'l-Fat? al-Shahrastani ( 1153 A.D.).

Ibn ?azm we shall meet with again in the chapter which deals specially with the history and literature of the Spanish Moslems.

Shahrastani, as he is named after his birthplace, belonged to the opposite extremity of the Mu?ammadan Empire, being a native of Khurasan, the huge Eastern province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who edited the Arabic text of the _Kitabu 'l-Milal wa-'l-Ni?al_ (London, 1842-1846), gives the following outline of its contents:--

After five introductory chapters, the author proceeds to arrange his book into two great divisions; the one comprising the Religious, the other the Philosophical Sects. The former of these contains an account of the various Sects of the followers of Mu?ammad, and likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the _Ahlu 'l-Kitab_, or 'People of the Scripture'), that is, Jews and Christians; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation (_man lahu shubhatu 'l-Kitab_), such as the Magi and the Manichaeans.

The second division comprises an account of the philosophical opinions of the Sabaeans (?abians), which are mainly set forth in a very interesting dialogue between a Sabaean and an orthodox Mu?ammadan; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and some of the Fathers of the Christian Church; and also of the Mu?ammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn Sina or Avicenna, which the author explains at considerable length. The work terminates with an account of the tenets of the Arabs before the commencement of Islamism, and of the religion of the people of India.

[Sidenote: Grammar and philology.]

[Sidenote: The invention of Arabic grammar.]

[Sidenote: The philogists of Ba?ra.]

The science of grammar took its rise in the cities of Ba?ra and Kufa, which were founded not long after Mu?ammad's death, and which remained the chief centres of Arabian life and thought outside the peninsula until they were eclipsed by the great 'Abbasid capital. In both towns the population consisted of Bedouin Arabs, belonging to different tribes and speaking many different dialects, while there were also thousands of artisans and clients who spoke Persian as their mother-tongue, so that the cla.s.sical idiom was peculiarly exposed to corrupting influences. If the pride and delight of the Arabs in their n.o.ble language led them to regard the maintenance of its purity as a national duty, they were equally bound by their religious convictions to take decisive measures for ensuring the correct p.r.o.nunciation and interpretation of that "miracle of Divine eloquence," the Arabic Koran.

To this latter motive the invention of grammar is traditionally ascribed. The inventor is related to have been Abu 'l-Aswad al-Du'ili, who died at Ba?ra during the Umayyad period. "Abu 'l-Aswad, having been asked where he had acquired the science of grammar, answered that he had learned the rudiments of it from 'Ali b. Abi ?alib. It is said that he never made known any of the principles which he had received from 'Ali till Ziyad[641] sent to him the order to compose something which might serve as a guide to the public and enable them to understand the Book of G.o.d. He at first asked to be excused, but on hearing a man recite the following pa.s.sage out of the Koran, _anna 'llaha bariun mina 'l-mushrikina wa-rasuluhu_,[642] which last word the reader p.r.o.nounced _rasulihi_, he exclaimed, 'I never thought that things would have come to this.' He then returned to Ziyad and said, 'I will do what you ordered.'"[643] The Ba?ra school of grammarians which Abu 'l-Aswad is said to have founded is older than the rival school of Kufa and surpa.s.sed it in fame. Its most prominent representatives were Abu 'Amr b. al-'Ala ( 770 A.D.), a diligent and profound student of the Koran, who on one occasion burned all his collections of old poetry, &c., and abandoned himself to devotion; Khalil b. A?mad, inventor of the Arabic system of metres and author of the first Arabic lexicon (the _Kitabu 'l-'Ayn_), which, however, he did not live to complete; the Persian Sibawayhi, whose Grammar, ent.i.tled 'The Book of Sibawayhi,' is universally celebrated; the great Humanists al-A?ma'i and Abu 'Ubayda who flourished under Harun al-Ras.h.i.+d; al-Mubarrad, about a century later, whose best-known work, the _Kamil_, has been edited by Professor William Wright; his contemporary al-Sukkari, a renowned collector and critic of old Arabian poetry; and Ibn Durayd ( 934 A.D.), a distinguished philologist, genealogist, and poet, who received a pension from the Caliph Muqtadir in recognition of his services on behalf of science, and whose princ.i.p.al works, in addition to the famous ode known as the _Maq?ura_, are a voluminous lexicon (_al-Jamhara fi 'l-Lugha_) and a treatise on the genealogies of the Arab tribes (_Kitabu 'l-Ishtiqaq_).

[Sidenote: The philogists of Kufa.]

Against these names the school of Kufa can set al-Kisa'i, a Persian savant who was entrusted by Harun al-Ras.h.i.+d with the education of his sons Amin and Ma'mun; al-Farra ( 822 A.D.), a pupil and compatriot of al-Kisa'i; al-Mufa??al al-?abbi, a favourite of the Caliph Mahdi, for whom he compiled an excellent anthology of Pre-islamic poems (_al-Mufa??aliyyat_), which has already been noticed[644]; Ibnu 'l-Sikkit, whose outspoken partiality for the House of 'Ali b. Abi ?alib caused him to be brutally trampled to death by the Turkish guards of the tyrant Mutawakkil (858 A.D.); and Tha'lab, head of the Kufa school in his time ( 904 A.D.), of whose rivalry with al-Mubarrad many stories are told. A contemporary, Abu Bakr b. Abi 'l-Azhar, said in one of his poems:--

"Turn to Mubarrad or to Tha'lab, thou That seek'st with learning to improve thy mind!

Be not a fool, like mangy camel shunned: All human knowledge thou with them wilt find.

The science of the whole world, East and West, In these two single doctors is combined."[645]

Reference has been made in a former chapter to some of the earliest Humanists, _e.g._, ?ammad al-Rawiya ( 776 A.D.) and his slightly younger contemporary, Khalaf al-A?mar, to their inestimable labours in rescuing the old poetry from oblivion, and to the unscrupulous methods which they sometimes employed.[646] Among their successors, who flourished in the Golden Age of Islam, under the first 'Abbasids, the place of honour belongs to Abu 'Ubayda ( about 825 A.D.) and al-Asma'i ( about 830 A.D.).

[Sidenote: Abu 'Ubayda.]

[Sidenote: A?ma'i.]

Abu 'Ubayda Ma'mar b. al-m.u.t.h.anna was of Jewish-Persian race, and maintained in his writings the cause of the Shu'ubites against the Arab national party, for which reason he is erroneously described as a Kharijite.[647] The rare expressions of the Arabic language, the history of the Arabs and their conflicts were his predominant study--"neither in heathen nor Mu?ammadan times," he once boasted, "have two horses met in battle but that I possess information about them and their riders"[648]; yet, with all his learning, he was not always able to recite a verse without mangling it; even in reading the Koran, with the book before his eyes, he made mistakes.[649] Our knowledge of Arabian antiquity is drawn, to a large extent, from the traditions collected by him which are preserved in the _Kitabu 'l-Aghani_ and elsewhere. He left nearly two hundred works, of which a long but incomplete catalogue occurs in the _Fihrist_ (pp. 53-54). Abu 'Ubayda was summoned by the Caliph Harun al-Ras.h.i.+d to Baghdad, where he became acquainted with A?ma'i. There was a standing feud between them, due in part to difference of character[650] and in part to personal jealousies. 'Abdu 'l-Malik b. Qurayb al-A?ma'i was, like his rival, a native of Ba?ra. Although he may have been excelled by others of his contemporaries in certain branches of learning, none exhibited in such fine perfection the varied literary culture which at that time was so highly prized and so richly rewarded. Whereas Abu 'Ubayda was dreaded for his sharp tongue and sarcastic humour, A?ma'i had all the accomplishments and graces of a courtier. Abu Nuwas, the first great poet of the 'Abbasid period, said that A?ma'i was a nightingale to charm those who heard him with his melodies. In court circles, where the talk often turned on philological matters, he was a favourite guest, and the Caliph would send for him to decide any abstruse question connected with literature which no one present was able to answer. Of his numerous writings on linguistic and antiquarian themes several have come down to us, _e.g._, 'The Book of Camels' (_Kitabu 'l-Ibil_), 'The Book of Horses' (_Kitabu 'l-Khayl_), and 'The Book of the Making of Man'

(_Kitabu Khalqi 'l-Insan_), a treatise which shows that the Arabs of the desert had acquired a considerable knowledge of human anatomy. His work as editor, commentator, and critic of Arabian poetry forms (it has been said) the basis of nearly all that has since been written on the subject.

[Sidenote: Ibnu 'l-Muqaffa' ( _circa_ 760 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba ( 899 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Ja?i? ( 869 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi ( 940 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Abu 'l-Faraj al-I?fahani ( 967 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Tha'alibi ( 1037 A.D.).]

Belles-lettres (_Adab_) and literary history are represented by a whole series of valuable works. Only a few of the most important can be mentioned here, and that in a very summary manner. The Persian Ruzbih, better known as 'Abdullah Ibnu 'l-Muqaffa', who was put to death by order of the Caliph Man?ur, made several translations from the Pehlevi or Middle-Persian literature into Arabic. We possess a specimen of his powers in the famous _Book of Kalila and Dimna_, which is ultimately derived from the Sanscrit _Fables of Bidpai_. The Arabic version is one of the oldest prose works in that language, and is justly regarded as a model of elegant style, though it has not the pungent brevity which marks true Arabian eloquence. Ibn Qutayba, whose family came from Merv, held for a time the office of Cadi at Dinawar, and lived at Baghdad in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more than once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (_Kitabu 'l-Ma'arif_)[651]

and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (_Kitabu 'l-s.h.i.+'r wa-'l-Shu'ara_), and may add here the _Adabu 'l-Katib_, or 'Accomplishments of the Secretary,'[652] a manual of stylistic, dealing with orthography, orthoepy, lexicography, and the like; and the _'Uyunu 'l-Akhbar_, or 'Choice Histories,'[653] a work in ten chapters, each of which is devoted to a special theme such as Government, War, n.o.bility, Friends.h.i.+p, Women, &c. 'Amr b. Ba?r al-Ja?i? of Ba?ra was a celebrated freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the Mu'tazilites (_al-Ja?i?iyya_).[654] He composed numerous books of an anecdotal and entertaining character. Ibn Khallikan singles out as his finest and most instructive works the _Kitabu 'l-?ayawan_ ('Book of Animals'), and the _Kitabu 'l-Bayan wa-'l-Tabyin_ ('Book of Eloquence and Exposition'), which is a popular treatise on rhetoric. It so happens--and the fact is not altogether fortuitous--that extremely valuable contributions to the literary history of the Arabs were made by two writers connected with the Umayyad House. Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova, who was descended from an enfranchised slave of the Spanish Umayyad Caliph, Hisham b. 'Abd al-Ra?man (788-796 A.D.), has left us a miscellaneous anthology ent.i.tled _al-'Iqd al-Farid_, or 'The Unique Necklace,' which is divided into twenty-five books, each bearing the name of a different gem, and "contains something on every subject."

Though Abu 'l-Faraj 'Ali, the author of the _Kitabu 'l-Aghani_, was born at I?fahan, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a member of the tribe Quraysh and a lineal descendant of Marwan, the last Umayyad Caliph.

Coming to Baghdad, he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian antiquity, and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in al-Muhallabi, the Vizier of the Buwayhid sovereign, Mu'izzu 'l-Dawla.

His minor works are cast in the shade by his great 'Book of Songs.' This may be described as a history of all the Arabian poetry that had been set to music down to the author's time. It is based on a collection of one hundred melodies which was made for the Caliph Harun al-Ras.h.i.+d, but to these Abu 'l-Faraj has added many others chosen by himself. After giving the words and the airs attached to them, he relates the lives of the poets and musicians by whom they were composed, and takes occasion to introduce a vast quant.i.ty of historical traditions and anecdotes, including much ancient and modern verse. It is said that the ?a?ib Ibn 'Abbad,[655] when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of books about with him, but on receiving the _Aghani_ he contented himself with this one book and dispensed with all the rest.[656] The chief man of letters of the next generation was Abu Mansur al-Tha'alibi (the Furrier) of Naysabur. Notwithstanding that most of his works are unscientific compilations, designed to amuse the public rather than to impart solid instruction, his famous anthology of recent and contemporary poets--the _Yatimatu 'l-Dahr_, or 'Solitaire of the Time'--supplies indubitable proof of his fine scholars.h.i.+p and critical taste. Successive continuations of the _Yatima_ were written by al-Bakharzi ( 1075 A.D.) in the _Dumyatu 'l-Qa?r_, or 'Statue of the Palace'; by Abu 'l-Ma'ali al-?a?iri ( 1172 A.D.) in the _Zinatu 'l-Dahr_, or 'Ornament of the Time'; and by the favourite of Saladin, 'Imadu 'l-Din al-Katib al-I?fahani ( 1201 A.D.), in the _Kharidatu 'l-Qa?r_, or 'Virgin Pearl of the Palace.' From the tenth century onward the study of philology proper began to decline, while on the other hand those sciences which formerly grouped themselves round philology now became independent, were cultivated with brilliant success, and in a short time reached their zenith.

[Sidenote: History.]

The elements of History are found (1) in Pre-islamic traditions and (2) in the _?adith_ of the Prophet, but the idea of historical composition on a grand scale was probably suggested to the Arabs by Persian models such as the Pehlevi _Khuday-nama_, or 'Book of Kings,'

which Ibnu 'l-Muqaffa' turned into Arabic in the eighth century of our era under the t.i.tle of _Siyaru Muluki 'l-'Ajam_, that is, 'The History of the Kings of Persia.'

Under the first head Hisham Ibnu 'l-Kalbi ( 819 A.D.) and his father Mu?ammad deserve particular mention as painstaking and trustworthy recorders.