A Literary History of the Arabs Part 61

The following narrative (which has been condensed as far as possible) differs in some essential particulars from the accounts given by Ibn Khaldun (_History of the Berbers_, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p.

64 sqq.) and by Ibn Abi Zar' (Tornberg, _Annales Regum Mauritaniae_, p.

100 sqq. of the Latin version). _Cf._ A. Muller, _Der Islam_, vol. ii, p. 611 sqq.

[793] See note on p. 423.

[794] The province of Tunis.

[795] _Murabi?_ is literally 'one who lives in a _riba?_,' _i.e._, a guardhouse or military post on the frontier. Such buildings were often occupied, in addition to the garrison proper, by individuals who, from pious motives, wished to take part in the holy war (_jihad_) against the unbelievers. The word _murabi?_, therefore, gradually got an exclusively religious signification, 'devotee' or 'saint,' which appears in its modern form, _marabout_. As applied to the original Almoravides, it still retains a distinctly military flavour.

[796] See Goldziher's article _Materialien zur Kenntniss der Almohadenbewegung in Nordafrika_ (_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41, p. 30 sqq.).

[797] 'Abdu 'l-Wa?id, _History of the Almohades_, ed. by Dozy, p.

135, l. 1 sqq.

[798] The Berbers at this time were Sunnite and anti-Fa?imid.

[799] Almohade is the Spanish form of _al-Muwa??id_.

[800] Stanley Lane-Poole, _The Mohammadan Dynasties_, p. 46.

[801] Renan, _Averroes et l'Averrosme_, p. 12 sqq.

[802] See a pa.s.sage from 'Abdu 'l-Wahid's _History of the Almohades_ (p.

201, l. 19 sqq.), which is translated in Goldziher's _?ahiriten_, p.

174.

[803] The Arabic text, with a Latin version by E. Poc.o.c.k, was published in 1671, and again in 1700, under the t.i.tle _Philosophus Autodidactus_.

An English translation by Simon Ockley appeared in 1708, and has been several times reprinted.

[804] The true form of this name is Absal, as in Jami's celebrated poem.

_Cf._ De Boer, _The History of Philosophy in Islam_, translated by E. R.

Jones, p. 144.

[805] Jurji Zaydan, however, is disposed to regard the story as being not without foundation. See his interesting discussion of the evidence in his _Ta'rikhu 'l-Tamaddun al-Islami_ ('History of Islamic Civilisation'), Part III, pp. 40-46.

[806] The life of Ibnu 'l-Kha?ib has been written by his friend and contemporary, Ibn Khaldun (_Hist. of the Berbers_, translated by De Slane, vol. iv. p. 390 sqq.), and forms the main subject of Maqqari's _Naf?u 'l-?ib_ (vols. iii and iv of the Bulaq edition).

[807] Schack, _op. cit._, vol. i, p. 312 seq.

[808] Cited in the _Shadharatu 'l-Dhahab_, a MS. in my collection. See _J.R.A.S._ for 1899, p. 911 seq., and for 1906, p. 797.

[809] The Arabic text of the Prolegomena has been published by Quatremere in _Notices et extraits des ma.n.u.scrits de la Bibliotheque Imperiale_, vols. 16-18, and at Beyrout (1879, 1886, and 1900). A French translation by De Slane appeared in _Not. et Extraits_, vols. 19-21.

[810] _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout ed. of 1900), p. 35, l. 5 sqq. = Prolegomena translated by De Slane, vol. i, p. 71.

[811] _Muqaddima_, p. 37, l. 4 fr. foot = De Slane's translation, vol.

i, p. 77.

[812] Von Kremer has discussed Ibn Khaldun's ideas more fully than is possible here in an admirably sympathetic article, _Ibn Chaldun und seine Culturgeschichte der islamischen Reiche_, contributed to the _Sitz. der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften_, vol. 93 (Vienna, 1879). I have profited by many of his observations, and desire to make the warmest acknowledgment of my debt to him in this as in countless other instances.

[813] _Muqaddima_, Beyrout ed., p. 170 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 347 sqq.

[814] _Muqaddima_, p. 175 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 356 sqq.

[815] An excellent appreciation of Ibn Khaldun as a scientific historian will be found in Robert Flint's _History of the Philosophy of History_, vol. i, pp. 157-171.

[816] Schack, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 151.

[817] E. J. W. Gibb, _A History of Ottoman Poetry_, vol. ii, p. 5.

[818] The nineteenth century should have been excepted, so far as the influence of modern civilisation has reacted on Arabic literature.

[819] These Ismal'ilis are the so-called a.s.sa.s.sins, the terrible sect organised by ?asan b. ?abba? (see Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 201 sqq.), and finally exterminated by Hulagu. They had many fortresses, of which Alamut was the most famous, in the Jibal province, near Qazwin.

[820] The reader must be warned that this and the following account of the treacherous dealings of Ibnu 'l-'Alqami are entirely contradicted by s.h.i.+'ite historians. For example, the author of _al-Fakhri_ (ed. by Derenbourg, p. 452) represents the Vizier as a far-seeing patriot who vainly strove to awaken his feeble-minded master to the gravity of the situation.

[821] Concerning the various functions of the Dawidar (literally Inkstand-holder) or Dawadar, as the word is more correctly written, see Quatremere, _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks_, vol. i, p. 118, n. 2.

[822] The MS. writes Yajunas.

[823] _Al-kalb_, the Arabic equivalent of the Persian _sag_ (dog), an animal which Moslems regard as unclean.

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

[825] Mameluke (Mamluk) means 'slave.' The term was applied to the mercenary troops, Turks and Kurds for the most part, who composed the bodyguard of the Ayyubid princes.

[826] There are two Mameluke dynasties, called respectively Ba?ri (River) Mamelukes and Burji (Tower) Mamelukes. The former reigned from 1250 to 1390, the latter from 1382 to 1517.

[827] See Lane, _The Modern Egyptians_, ch. xxii.

[828] See Sir T. W. Arnold, _The Caliphate_, p. 146.

[829] Ed. of Bulaq (1283 A.H.), pp. 356-366.

[830] _Ibid._, p. 358.

[831] These verses are cited in the _?adiqatu 'l-Afra?_ (see Brockelmann's _Gesch. d. Arab. Litt._, ii, 502), Calcutta, 1229 A.H., p.

280. In the final couplet there is an allusion to Kor. iv, 44: "_Verily G.o.d will not wrong any one even the weight of an ant_" (mithqala dharratin).

[832] Hartmann, _Das Muwa[vs][vs]a?_ (Weimar, 1897), p. 218.

[833] Literally, 'The Shaking of the Skull-caps,' in allusion to the peasants' dance.

[834] See Vollers, _Beitrage zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache in Aegypten_, _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41 (1887), p. 370.

[835] Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 3.

[836] It should be pointed out that the _Wafayat_ is very far from being exhaustive. The total number of articles only amounts to 865. Besides the Caliphs, the Companions of the Prophet, and those of the next generation (_Tabi'un_), the author omitted many persons of note because he was unable to discover the date of their death. A useful supplement and continuation of the _Wafayat_ was compiled by al-Kutubi ( 1363 A.D.) under the t.i.tle _Fawatu 'l-Wafayat_.