A Literary History of the Arabs Part 57

[606] Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 38.

[607] _Safar-nama_, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the translation.

[608] _Luzumiyyat_, ii, 280. The phrase does not mean "I am the child of my age," but "I live in the present," forgetful of the past and careless what the future may bring.

[609] See Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 46 sqq.

[610] See the article on ?ughra'i in Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 462.

[611] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 355.

[612] The spirit of fort.i.tude and patience (_?amasa_) is exhibited by both poets, but in a very different manner. Shanfara describes a man of heroic nature. ?ughra'i wraps himself in his virtue and moralises like a Mu?ammadan Horace. ?afadi, however, says in his commentary on ?ughra'i's ode (I translate from a MS. copy in my possession): "It is named _Lamiyyatu 'l-'Ajam_ by way of comparing it with the _Lamiyyatu 'l-'Arab_, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and maxims."

[613] _I.e._, the native of Abu?ir (Bu?ir), a village in Egypt.

[614] The _Burda_, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), verse 140; _La Bordah traduite et commentee par Rene Ba.s.set_ (Paris, 1894), verse 151.

[615] This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Mu?ammad gave his own mantle as a gift to Ka'b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited his famous ode, _Banat Su'ad_ (see p. 127 _supra_).

[616] _Maqama_ (plural, _maqamat_) is properly 'a place of standing'; hence, an a.s.sembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in particular, an a.s.sembly for literary discussion. At an early period reports of such conversations and discussions received the name of _maqamat_ (see Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p.

94). The word in its literary sense is usually translated by 'a.s.sembly,'

or by the French '_seance_.'

[617] _The a.s.semblies of al-?ariri_, translated from the Arabic, with an introduction and notes by T. Chenery (1867), vol. i, p. 19. This excellent work contains a fund of information on diverse matters connected with Arabian history and literature. Owing to the author's death it was left unfinished, but a second volume (including _a.s.semblies_ 27-50) by F. Steinga.s.s appeared in 1898.

[618] A full account of his career will be found in the Preface to Houtsma's _Recueil de textes relatifs a l'histoire des Seldjoucides_, vol. ii. p. 11 sqq. _Cf._ Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p.

360.

[619] This is a graceful, but probably insincere, tribute to the superior genius of Hamadhani.

[620] The above pa.s.sage is taken, with some modification, from the version of ?ariri published in 1850 by Theodore Preston, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who was afterwards Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic (1855-1871).

[621] Moslems had long been familiar with the fables of Bidpai, which were translated from the Pehlevi into Arabic by Ibnu 'l-Muqaffa' ( _circa_ 760 A.D.).

[622] _Al-Fakhri_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 18, l. 4 sqq.

[623] A town in Mesopotamia, not far from Edessa. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1101 A.D. (Abu 'l-Fida, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332).

[624] The 48th _Maqama_ of the series as finally arranged.

[625] Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 23.

[626] This has been done with extraordinary skill by the German poet, Friedrich Ruckert (_Die Verwandlungen des Abu Seid von Serug_, 2nd ed.

1837), whose work, however, is not in any sense a translation.

[627] A literal translation of these verses, which occur in the sixth _a.s.sembly_, is given by Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 138.

[628] _Ibid._, p. 163.

[629] Two grammatical treatises by ?ariri have come down to us. In one of these, ent.i.tled _Durratu 'l-Ghawwa?_ ('The Pearl of the Diver') and edited by Thorbecke (Leipzig, 1871), he discusses the solecisms which people of education are wont to commit.

[630] See Chenery, _op. cit._, pp. 83-97.

[631] _The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline, and Fall_, p. 573.

[632] Another example is 'Umar al-Khayyami for 'Umar Khayyam. The spelling Ghazzali (with a double _z_) was in general use when Ibn Khallikan wrote his Biographical Dictionary in 1256 A.D. (see De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 80), but according to Sam'ani the name is derived from Ghazala, a village near ?us; in which case Ghazali is the correct form of the _nisba_. I have adopted 'Ghazali' in deference to Sam'ani's authority, but those who write 'Ghazzali' can at least claim that they err in very good company.

[633] Shamsu 'l-Din al-Dhahabi ( 1348 A.D.).

[634] 'Abdu 'l-Ra?im al-Isnawi ( 1370 A.D.), author of a biographical work on the Shafi'ite doctors. See Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litt._, vol. ii, p. 90.

[635] Abu 'l-Ma'ali al-Juwayni, a famous theologian of Naysabur ( 1085 A.D.), received this t.i.tle, which means 'Imam of the Two Sanctuaries,'

because he taught for several years at Mecca and Medina.

[636] _I.e._, the camp-court of the Seljuq monarch Malikshah, son of Alp Arslan.

[637] According to his own account in the _Munqidh_, Ghazali on leaving Baghdad went first to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, and then to Mecca.

The statement that he remained ten years at Damascus is inaccurate.

[638] The MS. has Fakhru 'l-Din.

[639] Ghazali's return to public life took place in 1106 A.D.

[640] The correct t.i.tle of Ibn ?azm's work is uncertain. In the Cairo ed. (1321 A.H.) it is called _Kitabu 'l-Fi?al fi 'l-Milal wa 'l-Ahwa wa 'l-Ni?al_.

[641] See p. 195 _supra_.

[642] Kor. ix, 3. The translation runs ("This is a declaration) _that G.o.d is clear of the idolaters, and His Apostle likewise_." With the reading _rasulihi_ it means that G.o.d is clear of the idolaters and also of His Apostle.

[643] Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 663.

[644] See p. 128.

[645] Ibn Khallikan, No. 608; De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 31.

[646] See pp. 131-134, _supra_.

[647] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 197.

[648] _Ibid._, p. 195.

[649] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitabu 'l-Ma'arif_, p. 269.

[650] While Abu 'Ubayda was notorious for his freethinking proclivities, A?ma'i had a strong vein of pietism. See Goldziher, _loc. cit._, p. 199 and _Abh. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, p. 136.

[651] Professor Browne has given a _resume_ of the contents in his _Lit.

Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 387 seq.